7:16 PM
A severe drought is threatening China's wheat crop and could result in shortages of drinking water. The drought could cause wheat prices to increase significantly if China has to import food to feed more than a billion people--wheat prices are already at record highs and are partially responsible for the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. China's Shandong province (where they get a large amount of their country's food) has only received 15% of its normal rain levels so their land is drying out and their crops are dying. Chinese media confirmed the UN's report and reported that their agricultural areas were having their worst drought in 60 years:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/drought-china-threatens-wheat-crop-and-send-global-prices-soaring
Researchers are investigating how Iceland's magma flows could be a source of renewable, low-cost electric power. Iceland already gets 1/3 of its electric power and 95% of their home heating energy from steam and hot water that occurs naturally in volcanic rocks. The higher the temperature and pressure, the more cost-effective it becomes to generate electric power, so volcanic flows that naturally at high temperatures may be an effective energy source. They say that their work can lead to high-grade energy sources anywhere young volcanic rocks occur (Hawaii!):
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=118683&org=NSF&from=news
Artificial retina is enabling some people who have been blind for decades to see. A tiny video camera and transmitter (hidden in a pair of glasses) that sends an electronic signal to stimulate the retina's remaining healthy cells, causing them to relay the data to the optic nerve:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/02/Life-Science-Artificial-retina-helps-some-blind-people/
Hackers released the decompiled code of the Stuxnet worm, which they obtained when they hacked a US security company (HBGary). Stuxnet is the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever designed adn security experts worry that we could see versions of Stuxnet made for malicious purposes in weeks:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/hackers-release-stuxnets-decompiled-code-online
Security experts have discovered a technique to access passwords stored on a locked iPhone in just 6 minutes, without having to crack the phone's passcode. Keeper software solves this problem--Keeper is an app for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc., that is approved by the US Government and even supports the protection of top secret information:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=055&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1102&RELTYPE=IN&PRODCODE=00000&PRODLETT=BH&CommonCount=0
LightSquared, the VC-backed company building a nationwide LTE network, said that it has signed deals with 2 US operators and is in discussion with 3 more. They said they also have a deal with a major retailer that they will reveal next month:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lightsquared-has-inked-deals-two-us-operators/2011-02-16
Sony Ericsson said that they will be releasing a LTE phone soon and revealed how their close partnership with Google on their PlayStation phone resulted in Google helping them get a deal with Verizon for the PlayStation phone. All of the phones they have announced are Android phones and despite how they used to make Windows Mobile-baed smartphones they don't see a reason why they would do a Windows Mobile phone now:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sony-ericsson-plans-lte-devices-crows-verizon-deal/2011-02-16
Girl in Myanmar may set the Guinness World Record with 12 fingers and 14 toes, breaking the record that 2 people from India set with 12 fingers and 13 toes each:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpZmAPIgk9tCfSjZ_N29972d58IA?docId=9cdd79ac596e4969a57e8d5ab4a96ac8
This is a good example of why they say to keep your seat belt fastened when you are seated during a flight. A passenger and a crew member suffered broken bones due to sudden turbulence on a flight from Japan to Hawaii:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110211/wl_asia_afp/japanusairaccidentjal
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/drought-china-threatens-wheat-crop-and-send-global-prices-soaring
Researchers are investigating how Iceland's magma flows could be a source of renewable, low-cost electric power. Iceland already gets 1/3 of its electric power and 95% of their home heating energy from steam and hot water that occurs naturally in volcanic rocks. The higher the temperature and pressure, the more cost-effective it becomes to generate electric power, so volcanic flows that naturally at high temperatures may be an effective energy source. They say that their work can lead to high-grade energy sources anywhere young volcanic rocks occur (Hawaii!):
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=118683&org=NSF&from=news
Artificial retina is enabling some people who have been blind for decades to see. A tiny video camera and transmitter (hidden in a pair of glasses) that sends an electronic signal to stimulate the retina's remaining healthy cells, causing them to relay the data to the optic nerve:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/02/Life-Science-Artificial-retina-helps-some-blind-people/
Hackers released the decompiled code of the Stuxnet worm, which they obtained when they hacked a US security company (HBGary). Stuxnet is the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever designed adn security experts worry that we could see versions of Stuxnet made for malicious purposes in weeks:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/hackers-release-stuxnets-decompiled-code-online
Security experts have discovered a technique to access passwords stored on a locked iPhone in just 6 minutes, without having to crack the phone's passcode. Keeper software solves this problem--Keeper is an app for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc., that is approved by the US Government and even supports the protection of top secret information:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=055&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1102&RELTYPE=IN&PRODCODE=00000&PRODLETT=BH&CommonCount=0
LightSquared, the VC-backed company building a nationwide LTE network, said that it has signed deals with 2 US operators and is in discussion with 3 more. They said they also have a deal with a major retailer that they will reveal next month:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lightsquared-has-inked-deals-two-us-operators/2011-02-16
Sony Ericsson said that they will be releasing a LTE phone soon and revealed how their close partnership with Google on their PlayStation phone resulted in Google helping them get a deal with Verizon for the PlayStation phone. All of the phones they have announced are Android phones and despite how they used to make Windows Mobile-baed smartphones they don't see a reason why they would do a Windows Mobile phone now:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sony-ericsson-plans-lte-devices-crows-verizon-deal/2011-02-16
Girl in Myanmar may set the Guinness World Record with 12 fingers and 14 toes, breaking the record that 2 people from India set with 12 fingers and 13 toes each:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpZmAPIgk9tCfSjZ_N29972d58IA?docId=9cdd79ac596e4969a57e8d5ab4a96ac8
This is a good example of why they say to keep your seat belt fastened when you are seated during a flight. A passenger and a crew member suffered broken bones due to sudden turbulence on a flight from Japan to Hawaii:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110211/wl_asia_afp/japanusairaccidentjal