UMF NETWORKS

Brain-to-brain (”B2B”) communication has been achieved for the first time by Dr. Christopher James of the University of Southampton.

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Electronics such as phones and laptops may start shedding their power cords within a year.

That’s the prediction of Eric Giler, CEO of WiTricity, a company that’s able to power light bulbs using wireless electricity that travels several feet from a power socket.

WiTricity’s version of wireless electricity — which converts power into a magnetic field and sends it sailing through the air at a particular frequency — still needs to be refined a bit, he said, but should be commercially available soon.

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Nuclear weapons: Explosion over Bikini Atoll Photograph: U.S. Department of Energy-Nevada/Corbis

Latest data on how many nuclear weapons there are in the world shows that – even with some being dismantled – there are still 23,574. So between the US, Russian, China, North Korea and the other nuclear powers, we can be destroyed many times over
• Get the data

Counting nuclear weapons is a bit like counting votes – a lot depends on who is doing the counting, and how.

The disarmament treaty currently being negotiated between the US and Russia applies to deployed strategic warheads, along with their delivery systems, but that leaves out most of the weapons both countries are sitting on.

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On Sept. 2, 1859, an incredible storm of charged particles sent by the sun slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, overpowered it, and caused havoc on the ground. Telegraph wires, the high-tech stuff of the time, suddenly shorted out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires. Colorful aurora, normally visible only in polar regions, were seen as far south as Cuba and Hawaii.

Earth’s magnetic field normally protects the surface of the planet from some storms. In 1859, the planet’s defenses were totally overwhelmed. Over the past decade, similar but less powerful storms have likewise busted through, giving scientists insight into what will eventually happen again.

The outlook is not rosy.

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A species of crustacean with no eyes and venom-injecting fangs has been discovered in an underwater volcanic cave in the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa.

Researchers discovered the new animal during a diving expedition through the world’s longest submarine lava tube, called the Tunnel de la Atlantida, or “tunnel to Atlantis.” The divers were searching for specimens of a closely related crustacean species that they’d discovered 25 years ago in the same cave. But after capturing several of the sea creatures, the researchers noticed something peculiar.

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Landing in stores October, Windows 7 is sparking a surprisingly heated debate (in our forums, at least) on whether or not upgrading from XP is a good idea. If you’re in the “nay” camp, we’re going to lay out seven reasons why you should consider switching your stance to “yay.”

When scanning our list, we politely encourage you to ask yourself, “Do I really want to continue using an eight-year-old operating system?” Followed by “Don’t I deserve better?” Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that’s both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver. Not convinced? Then read on.

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It is possible to successfully fend off a zombie attack, according to Canadian mathematicians. The key is to “hit hard and hit often.”

Oh yes, somebody actually did a study on mathematics of a hypothetical zombie attack, and published it in a book on infectious disease. So, while we still don’t know what to do if a deadly asteroid takes aim at Earth, an unlikely but technically possible situation, we now know what to do in case of a zombie attack.

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The popular Digsby instant messenger client not only bundles half a dozen “optional” crapware applications, it’s also using your computer to crawl the web, do stock market research, and more. It’s time to uninstall.

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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/08/botnet-tweets/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6014609/Scientists-make-artificial-leaf-to-generate-clean–power.html