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Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 7:47 AM
Subject: Nanobacteria - life, but not as we know it welcome to the New Scientist newsletter, which this week reveals the best evidence yet of a controversial new form of life, a new approach to biometrics that could secure your identity card and the small world networks inside your head. If you would prefer to receive an HTML version of this newsletter, please visit: http://www.prq0.com/quickstart/survey.asp?e=XbcajfijDE-RaA&oid=UcjjbCB EDITOR'S CHOICE: DEAD OR ALIVE? Doctors in the US have come up with the best evidence yet for the existence of nanobacteria, potentially a new form of life. Most scientists are sceptical because many of the structures claimed to be nanobacteria are simply too small to be alive - one biologist describes nanobacteria as "the cold fusion of microbiology". But the latest research suggests that nanobacteria taken from diseased arteries are not only capable of self-replication, but also contain DNA and RNA. The work could have important implications, because some claim nanobacteria cause a wide range of diseases in humans....MORE http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995009 TOP STORIES: New biometric approach secures ID cards The technology enhances security and privacy, potentially countering many of the objections to ID card schemes http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995010 Small world networks key to memory Researchers have built a computer model that can reproduce an important aspect of the human brain's short-term memory http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995012 Climate change heralds thirsty times ahead A new modelling study suggests that, while river flows will increase overall, those supplying most of the world's people will begin to dry up http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995011 Four-winged birds may have been first fliers A new study of Archaeopteryx supports the idea that the first birds were four-winged gliders, not two winged flappers http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995013 Cosmic dark age found in shadows The earliest structures in the universe may be visible by the shadows they cast in the afterglow of the big bang http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995014 Smart glasses detect eye contact Besides being useful in singles bars, the inventors say the system could play a key role in video blogging, a hi-tech form of diary keeping http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995015 Galaxy cluster X-rays confirm dark energy Space telescope observations show that 75 per cent of the Universe's energy is in a repulsive form, driving accelerating expansion http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995007 Wi-Fi networks can be jammed from PDAs It was thought jamming would require powerful and expensive equipment, but Australian students have proved this wrong http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995000 Longest scientific study yet backs Atkins diet New research supports the claimed benefits of the controversial low-carbohydrate diet http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995003 New Mars rock hints at short-lived lakes The dark rock may be a basaltic sandstone - if confirmed, it would mean that any watery periods in Mars' past were cold and brief http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995004 Placebo effect revealed in calmed brain cells A study of Parkinson's disease patients unveils the action of the placebo effect on an unprecedented biological scale http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994996 AND FINALLY... Watch any Country and Western movie and you will notice that gun powder is stored in wooden barrels. But surely a wooden barrel would shrink in the heat and leak powder through the cracks? Find out why it does not in this week's Last Word section...MORE http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw1093 THIS WEEK'S PRINT EDITION: To subscribe to New Scientist magazine go to: http://www.qssa.co.uk/new_scientist/default.asp?promcode=1854&stu=no&rb=ng FEATURES WHEN LIGHT STANDS STILL The dark state, a weird hybrid of radiation and matter, is finally coming under our control OUT OF ASIA Modern humans almost certainly evolved in Africa. But our deeper roots could lie elsewhere OVERACTIVE HEALING Inflammation is a normal part of the body's defences, so why is it implicated in so many diseases? TECHNOLOGY: HACKING THE GRID Why waste time attacking a supercomputer when powerful networks of PCs are up for grabs NEWS The man who breaks genetic rules Battle for control of mobile gaming Rewriting the supernova rules To subscribe to New Scientist magazine go to: http://www.qssa.co.uk/new_scientist/default.asp?promcode=1854&stu=no&rb=ng |
