Raymond Chiao, of the University of California at Berkeley, believes that superconductors can convert electromagnetic radiation into gravitational radiation
Wind power is set to become a significant feature of the Australian electricity market with more than 1,600 megawatts to be introduced by 2005. This is in sharp contrast to a decision by John Howard, who has bowed to coal exporters demands by refusing to ratify the Kyoto climate change treaty aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions
The CSIRO’s Dr John Rankin and Dr Terry Norgate told the Green Processing 2002 Conference in Cairns that metals can help in achieving globally sustainable development
Australian scientists announced a breakthrough in efforts to clone the extinct Tasmanian Tiger, saying they had replicated some of the animal’s genes using DNA extracted from preserved male and female pups
The Pentagon plans to use genetically modified bugs that eat
the enemy’s fuel and ammunition supplies without harming humans. Should be loads of fun when that escapes into the surrounding environment
Users of the TiVo digital video recorder have reacted angrily to a new sponsorship feature that automatically records certain programmes, adverts and other promotional material
The US spacecraft Mars Odyssey has reportedly discovered vast quantities of frozen water just below the planet’s surface — a finding being hailed as one of the most important ever made about the red planet
Mummified, rotting moths are being used as a slow-release pesticide. Roundworms grown inside the moths’ bodies contain a bacteria which emerge to kill other soil bugs. If the moths are coated in clay and starch they can be easily scattered among crops
Scientists at the University of Florida say a new form of solid nitrogen salt could power smaller and lighter spacecraft
According to a United Nations study on the state of the global environment, almost a quarter of the world’s mammals face extinction within 30 years
While the events of 11 September have focussed the attention of CIOs on catastrophic outside threats to operations, they should keep their attention closer to home. Australian CIOs and IT managers are being put on alert after a survey found that computer crime here has been higher than in the US
IBM researchers have created transistors out of carbon nanotubes that can outperform similar silicon transistors, a development that helps build the case that carbon may one day become a building block of computing
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla hope to wash away the problem of land mines with technology that harnesses — and focuses — the power of water, as a child’s plastic water pistol does
With all the excitement over fingerprint scanners, it comes as no surprise that they can be easily fooled with the use of gelatine
Australian scientists have given the green light to using waste glass in concrete construction. This means local council, recyclers, municipal engineers, and private contractors can look at using glass concrete for a range of construction applications including bike paths, footpaths, kerbs, gutters and similar work
Friends of the Earth is calling for better testing of chemicals in products used by consumers, without using animals. It says the chemical industry promotes the use of unnecessary tests on laboratory animals, while attacking new standards for chemical products. The environmental group refers to the industry’s criticism of new safety suggestions in the interests of animal welfare as hypocritical
Guinness has recognised a NASA invention as the world’s lightest solid. The material is nicknamed solid smoke
because of its cloudy appearance and super-light weight. It weighs only three milligrams per cubic centimetre and is 99.8% air
A Los Angeles radio station is planning to auction off a Russian Buran space shuttle and the minimum asking price is $6 million
Bugs that eat roads and buildings. Biocatalysts that break down fuel and plastics. Devices that stealthily corrode aluminium and other metals. These are just a few of the non-lethal weapons that the US has tried to develop, or is trying to develop. But quite how close such weapons are to reality we may never know. The US National Academy of Sciences is refusing to release dozens of reports proposing or describing their development, even though the documents are supposed to be public records
Some penguins avoid the bends by using a technique almost the same as human divers. The condition, also known as decompression sickness, happens when nitrogen enters the bloodstream. But Adélie and King penguins slow down and surface at an angle which helps with decompression
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