5:53 PM
Armed robot systems have reached maturity and are now being deployed as armed sentries guarding one of our nuclear security sites against intruders:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/deployment-robotic-armed-sentries-rise
The TSA says that religious reasons will *not* enable anyone to go through airport security without going through a full-body scanner or getting a pat-down screening:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/tsa-religion-offers-no-exemption-airport-screening
Companies in the US and Australia are ramping up production of Rare-Earth elements to reduce China's monopoly (and take advantage of the high prices of the elements), but it will take years before their rich sites are at full production levels. There are 13 million tons of extractable rare earths in the US, 5.4 million tons in Australia, and China had 36 million tons last year (less now since they basically have had a global monopoly:
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26655/?p1=A2
Oil rigs are extremely vulnerable to attack and the economic and environmental damage is significant. A militant organization in Nigeria is already attacking oil rigs to kidnap rig workers and blackmail their employers for money and political concessions--and they have shown militants all over the world just how easy it is to do so. Their small group is already costing Nigeria $1 billion per month in lost oil revenue!
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/militants-kidnap-7-nigerian-exxon-platform
The WWF said today that carbon pollution and over-use of Earth's natural resources have become so critical that we will need a second planet to meet our needs by 2030. In 2007, Earth's 6.8 billion people were living 50% beyond the planet's threshold of sustainability and even with modest UN projections for population growth, consumption and climate change we will need 2 Earths by 2030 to absorb CO2 waste and keep up with natural resource consumption:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVErlPYwKkFbXoORnVZ_7185vfqw?docId=CNG.c668be9320e3376a10d767deb0b0649f.871
New type of prosthetic eye may someday enable the estimated 25 million blind people in the world to see again. The breakthrough has already been demonstrated with blind mice and they are now testing it with primates and plan to enable this to be used on humans as soon as possible:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/65484/title/A_new_way_for_blind_mice_to_see
Review recommends limiting human exposure to carbon nanotubes (CNTs), suggesting that product designers treat CNTs as if they are hazardous. It suggests strong engineering controls for CNT research and manufacturing and states that the governance of the technology is crucial as nanotechnologies exceed our capacity to assess human and environmental consequences of the commercial use of nanotechnology"
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/11/Materials-Health-University-analysis-suggests-limiting-exposure-to-carbon-nanotubes/
Many Windows Phone 7 users have been unpleasantly surprised when they use the MicroSD card slot on their smartphone. Windows Phase 7 immediately formats any MicroSD card inserted into the phone, so all data on the card is lost. Even worse, taking the SD card out of the phone results in the Windows Phase 7 device bricking--if the MicroSD card is lost or formatted back into its normal format then the phone will only be able to make emergency calls from then on:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/smartphones/windows-phone-7-eats-micro-sd-cards-381
AT&T has started selling their satellite smartphone for users needing to communicate where no wireless network coverage exists--perfect for disaster recovery workers and others. The phone and service is not cheap, of course (extra $25 per month more than the regular AT&T voice and data service, 65 cents per minute for phone calls, $5 per megabye for data, 40 cents per text message):
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/att-begins-sales-satellite-smartphone
One LOTD reader told me that I should read up on this story and I was shocked appalled at what I found. This column gives a nice summary of the facts: 2 sisters are serving double consecutive life sentences in Mississippi state prison for a robbery in which no one was injured and only $11 was taken! They have already been in prison for 16 years and one sister is seriously ill (both of her kidneys have failed)...but the Governor has not pardoned them even though he has already pardoned 4 killers and suspended the life sentence of another killer. The evidence didn't even prove that they were involved with the robbery--they are accused of luring the victims to a spot where other teenagers robbed them. The people who actually performed the robbery were released in prison after 2 years but the sisters somehow are in prison for life!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?_r=1
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/deployment-robotic-armed-sentries-rise
The TSA says that religious reasons will *not* enable anyone to go through airport security without going through a full-body scanner or getting a pat-down screening:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/tsa-religion-offers-no-exemption-airport-screening
Companies in the US and Australia are ramping up production of Rare-Earth elements to reduce China's monopoly (and take advantage of the high prices of the elements), but it will take years before their rich sites are at full production levels. There are 13 million tons of extractable rare earths in the US, 5.4 million tons in Australia, and China had 36 million tons last year (less now since they basically have had a global monopoly:
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26655/?p1=A2
Oil rigs are extremely vulnerable to attack and the economic and environmental damage is significant. A militant organization in Nigeria is already attacking oil rigs to kidnap rig workers and blackmail their employers for money and political concessions--and they have shown militants all over the world just how easy it is to do so. Their small group is already costing Nigeria $1 billion per month in lost oil revenue!
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/militants-kidnap-7-nigerian-exxon-platform
The WWF said today that carbon pollution and over-use of Earth's natural resources have become so critical that we will need a second planet to meet our needs by 2030. In 2007, Earth's 6.8 billion people were living 50% beyond the planet's threshold of sustainability and even with modest UN projections for population growth, consumption and climate change we will need 2 Earths by 2030 to absorb CO2 waste and keep up with natural resource consumption:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVErlPYwKkFbXoORnVZ_7185vfqw?docId=CNG.c668be9320e3376a10d767deb0b0649f.871
New type of prosthetic eye may someday enable the estimated 25 million blind people in the world to see again. The breakthrough has already been demonstrated with blind mice and they are now testing it with primates and plan to enable this to be used on humans as soon as possible:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/65484/title/A_new_way_for_blind_mice_to_see
Review recommends limiting human exposure to carbon nanotubes (CNTs), suggesting that product designers treat CNTs as if they are hazardous. It suggests strong engineering controls for CNT research and manufacturing and states that the governance of the technology is crucial as nanotechnologies exceed our capacity to assess human and environmental consequences of the commercial use of nanotechnology"
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/11/Materials-Health-University-analysis-suggests-limiting-exposure-to-carbon-nanotubes/
Many Windows Phone 7 users have been unpleasantly surprised when they use the MicroSD card slot on their smartphone. Windows Phase 7 immediately formats any MicroSD card inserted into the phone, so all data on the card is lost. Even worse, taking the SD card out of the phone results in the Windows Phase 7 device bricking--if the MicroSD card is lost or formatted back into its normal format then the phone will only be able to make emergency calls from then on:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/smartphones/windows-phone-7-eats-micro-sd-cards-381
AT&T has started selling their satellite smartphone for users needing to communicate where no wireless network coverage exists--perfect for disaster recovery workers and others. The phone and service is not cheap, of course (extra $25 per month more than the regular AT&T voice and data service, 65 cents per minute for phone calls, $5 per megabye for data, 40 cents per text message):
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/att-begins-sales-satellite-smartphone
One LOTD reader told me that I should read up on this story and I was shocked appalled at what I found. This column gives a nice summary of the facts: 2 sisters are serving double consecutive life sentences in Mississippi state prison for a robbery in which no one was injured and only $11 was taken! They have already been in prison for 16 years and one sister is seriously ill (both of her kidneys have failed)...but the Governor has not pardoned them even though he has already pardoned 4 killers and suspended the life sentence of another killer. The evidence didn't even prove that they were involved with the robbery--they are accused of luring the victims to a spot where other teenagers robbed them. The people who actually performed the robbery were released in prison after 2 years but the sisters somehow are in prison for life!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?_r=1