Topic: - on January 21, 2003 at 4:24:17 PM CET
Thumbs down for electric toothbrush
Most electric toothbrushes are no better for your teeth and gums than the traditional type powered only by elbow grease, researchers have found.
Scientists from the Universities of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Sheffield found that only one type of electric toothbrush produced better results despite being many times more expensive.
¬> BBC
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Topic: - on January 19, 2003 at 12:31:23 PM CET
Gene test to help you beat death sparks row on ethics
Do you want to know how you will die and when? Or would you rather live without that knowledge? Such a dilemma might only be expected to face characters in a science fiction novel or film. Until now.
The Observer can reveal that genetic tests that promise to foretell accurately our medical future are being sold in growing numbers across Britain.
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Topic: - on January 18, 2003 at 6:15:49 PM CET
Scientists explain Arctic stone circles
Researchers may have an explanation for the natural near-perfect circles of stones that cover the ground in parts of Alaska and the Norwegian islands of Spitsbergen. According to scientists, the circles are not the result of ancient art but due to cyclic freezing and thawing of the ground that drives a simple feedback mechanism that generates the patterns.
¬> <a href="news.bbc.co.uk"target="_blank">BBC
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Topic: - on January 16, 2003 at 1:51:22 PM CET
Yes - in 10 years we may have no bananas
It is a freakish, doped-up, mutant clone which hasn't had sex for thousands of years - and the strain may be about to tell on the nation's fruitbowl favourite. Scientists based in France have warned that, without radical and swift action, in 10 years' time we really could have no bananas.
¬> Guardian ¬> <a href="news.bbc.co.uk"target="_blank">BBC
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Topic: - on January 13, 2003 at 6:41:31 PM CET
Big Brother in small packages
The generic name for this technology is RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification. RFID tags are miniscule microchips, which already have shrunk to half the size of a grain of sand. They listen for a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique ID code. Most RFID tags have no batteries: They use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response.
You should become familiar with RFID technology because you'll be hearing much more about it soon. Retailers adore the concept, and CNET News.com's own Alorie Gilbert wrote last week about how Wal-Mart and the U.K.-based grocery chain Tesco are starting to install "smart shelves" with networked RFID readers. In what will become the largest test of the technology, consumer goods giant Gillette recently said it would purchase 500 million RFID tags from Alien Technology of Morgan Hill, Calif.
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Topic: - on January 13, 2003 at 12:25:17 AM CET
Diophantische Zahlenspielereien
Er rechnet, wie andere atmen." Dies wurde Leonhard Euler, dem größten Mathematiker des 18. Jahrhunderts, nachgesagt. Ähnliches lässt sich heute von Don Zagier behaupten, Direktor des deutschen Max Planck Instituts für theoretische Mathematik in Bonn, der Mittwoch in Wien einen Vortrag hält.
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Topic: - on January 10, 2003 at 11:34:57 PM CET
Truffle gene identified
FRENCH scientists have identified the genetic code of the truffle, enabling anti-fraud investigators to distinguish between true examples of the prized fungus and an inferior Chinese variety flooding the market.
The breakthrough is a major advance in the campaign to protect Tuber Melanosporum - the classic black Perigord truffle beloved of gourmets round the world - from its physically almost indistinguishable rival Tuber Indicum, which has been imported to France from China in growing quantities since 1994.
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Topic: - on January 10, 2003 at 10:58:00 AM CET
Internet helps write the book of life
A hugely ambitious project to find and name every species on Earth within the next 25 years has been launched by scientists.
The internet and the development of DNA sequencing technology make the goal achievable, they say.
This should create "a one-stop shop" of data which both amateur and professional naturalists can use.
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Topic: - on January 9, 2003 at 10:34:06 AM CET
Einstein behält Recht
Zum ersten Mal ist es Forschern gelungen, die Geschwindigkeit der Schwerkraft zu messen. Das mit Hilfe des Gasplaneten Jupiter gewonnene Ergebnis bestätigt die Vermutungen Einsteins.
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Topic: - on January 6, 2003 at 9:32:17 AM CET
2002 Big Year For Cryptozoology Despite `Bigfoot Death'
Those pipe-smoking pundits may be declaring Bigfoot dead, but researchers still insist 2002 was a big year for cryptozoological discoveries.
Researcher Loren Coleman says that while the death of Bigfoot hoaxster Ray Wallace attracted most of the media attention, there were plenty of legitimate reports of strange undiscovered creatures.
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Topic: - on January 3, 2003 at 12:55:28 AM CET
Der lange Marsch in den Weltraum
Noch in diesem Jahr will China die ersten Taikonauten in den Weltraum bringen und beginnt damit, ein ernsthafter Konkurrent in der Weltraumtechnologie für Russland und die USA zu werden.
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Topic: - on January 3, 2003 at 12:17:40 AM CET
Alarm vom Augenlid
Über 200 Menschen werden jährlich auf deutschen Autobahnen getötet, weil sich übermüdete Fahrer überschätzen und am Steuer einschlafen. Ein Forschungsauto mit Infrarot-Kamera erkennt nun, ob sein Fahrer einzunicken droht - doch was soll es mit diesem Wissen tun?
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