Archive for October, 2008
Drug smugglers “sink” to new “low”
• October, 2008October 20, 2008 Telegraph, London MIAMI: Colombia’s drug barons used to favour powerboats to export their illegal cargoes, leading law enforcers on high-speed chases as they swamped the US with narcotics. But in an attempt to evade American surveillance, they are diverting their smuggling trade beneath the waves. The US Coast Guard and military patrols have reported a dramatic increase in do-it-yourself “semi-submersible” vessels that evade radar and sonar, barely breaking the ocean surface as they slowly creep through the Pacific or the Caribbean.
Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones – UK
• October, 2008October 19, 2008 by David Leppard Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance. Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society. A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of…
Holographic television to become reality
• October, 2008October 7, 2008 By Mike Steere For CNN LONDON, England (CNN) — Picture this: you’re sat down for the Football World Cup final, or a long-awaited sequel to the “Sex and the City” movie and you’re watching all the action unfold in 3-D on your coffee table. It sounds a lot like a wacky dream, but don’t be surprised if within our lifetime you find yourself discarding your plasma and LCD sets in exchange for a holographic 3-D television that can put Cristiano Ronaldo in…
Bat-like Solar Spy Plane
• October, 2008Written by Raegan Payne Imagine a six-inch spy plane that sends back visual and chemical data in real time, runs on vibrations as well as sun and wind power – and looks like a bat! Thanks to a five-year $10-million grant from the Army the University of Michigan College of Engineering will be making this Batman wet dream a reality. The renewable robot will be developed at U-M’s newly created Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology a mouthful also appropriately known as COM-BAT.…
Heavy Metal-Eating “Superworms” Unearthed in U.K.
• October, 2008Heavy Metal-Eating “Superworms” Unearthed in U.K. James Owen for National Geographic News October 7, 2008 Newly evolved “superworms” that feast on toxic waste could help cleanse polluted industrial land, a new study says. These hardcore heavy metal fans, unearthed at disused mining sites in England and Wales, devour lead, zinc, arsenic, and copper. The earthworms excrete a slightly different version of the metals, making them easier for plants to suck up. Harvesting the plants would leave cleaner soil behind. “These worms seem to be able…
New Lego Building Blocks for Uncle Sam…
• October, 2008New Lego Building Blocks for Uncle Sam… <<editors note>> I stumbled upon a link to prefab prison cells… n seriously… if they start building those by the masses… I would start wondering where the hell they will be used n who or what they will be used for… Introduction right below followed by a link to the page: CAFR1 NATIONAL REPORT – 09/21/08 New Lego Building Blocks for the Big Boys! I received the following communication today. It appears the Government has new Lego building…
Robot with Rat-Brain
• October, 2008Robot with Rat-Brain <<video>> <<editors note>> So… what could robots with human brains do…