PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column: "the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware is all you need to become your cul de sac's wireless ISP. Going further, if a bunch of your friends in town had similarly configured WRT54Gs, they could seamlessly work together and put out of business your local telephone company."

New Scientist: "Nearly half the neckties worn by 42 doctors at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queen's (NYHMCQ) contained bacteria which can cause dangerous conditions like pneumonia and blood infections, the researchers found."

Boston.com / News / World / Researchers zero in on a cause of aging: "Taking a major step toward identifying one cause of aging, researchers have shortened the life of mice and created signs of old age by injecting a small genetic defect in the mice's mitochondria, the tiny power plants within each cell."

Globetechnology: "Chiropractic treatment, the most widely used of all the alternative medicines, has had its doubters since Daniel David Palmer made what is believed to be the first recorded chiropractic adjustment in 1895.

A century later, technology intended to quantify the effect of techniques used to alleviate back pain is making inroads at chiropractic colleges and among practitioners, though in limited measure."

New Scientist: "Clubbers in Spain are choosing to receive a microchip implant instead of carrying a membership card. It is the latest and perhaps the most unlikely of uses for implantable radio frequency ID chips."

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > At the Ready, Sheet Music Minus the Sheets: "Mr. Garson was carrying his music in digital form, scanned into his MusicPad Pro Plus, a five-pound tablet computer made by a company called Freehand Systems. The $1,200 device, with a 12-inch liquid-crystal-display touchscreen, is the first of a class of computers that enable musicians to store music and edit it onscreen. Soon it will also allow them to communicate with one another over wireless networks."

Silicon Valley: "The electroactive polymers produced by his company Artificial Muscle respond to an electrical charge in much the same way that human muscle responds to nerve impulses: by expanding and contracting."

Forbes.com: Seiko Epson unveils first 40" colour OLED display: "OLED screens are seen as a promising next-generation display since they emit light directly and, unlike conventional LCDs, do not require a backlight that can add an extra millimetre or two of depth. OLEDs also have a faster response time and consume less power. "

Google tests waters with terabyte e-mail limit - News - ZDNet: "Several users of the search engine's Gmail Web-based e-mail service noticed Tuesday that their storage limits had quietly been raised to 1 million megabytes, or 1 terabyte. That's four times the typical capacity of a new high-end PC's hard drive."

Wired News: New Drill for Tomorrow's Dentists: "Another line of research could eliminate the need for most of this dental technology. Forsyth researchers hope to begin human clinical trials of a cavity vaccine soon. The vaccine worked in animals -- it stimulated the immune system to prevent the development of cavities. In humans it would be squirted into the nose rather than injected or swallowed. The researchers anticipate a one-time treatment at 12 to 24 months of age would provide a lifetime free of cavities."

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Psychological Stress Better Predictor of Back Pain Than Standard Diagnostic Techniques: "Doctors often have a difficult time diagnosing a physical cause for some patients"

New Scientist: "Although broadly supportive of the Atkins regime, Yancy warns that the diet could pose risks including the higher 'bad' cholesterol, bone loss and kidney stones. Because of this, he discourages first-time dieters from using the regime."

Foveon - News: "First introduced in 2002, the X3 image sensor has only been available in a professional class digital camera. Now with the introduction of the Polaroid x530, consumers are able to enjoy the many benefits of X3 technology in an affordable full-featured point-and-shoot digital camera. The Polaroid x530 is scheduled to ship to retailers in June 2004 with a suggested retail price of $399."

Wired News: Camera Phones Link World to Web: "Rael Dornfest, editor in chief of MobileWhack, said he was pleased that Semacode would get people to think about the camera phone as more than a tool for taking pictures.
'I've long been saying that what you walk around with in your pocket is not a camera phone, it's a mobile sensor,' he said. 'Even an initial implementation of something takes it from the realm of the magical and turns it into something tangible, and there's just a visceral reaction to that, which inspires thoughts of possible applications.'"

The New York Times > New York Region > In Fetal Photos, New Developments: "When the baby would not cooperate, choosing instead to shield herself with tiny hands from the prenatal equivalent of paparazzi, Ms. Johnson turned to a trick she picked up during the 20 years she has performed ultrasounds in doctors' offices.
She gave the mother chocolate.
'It goes straight to the baby,' Ms. Johnson said. 'It's a sugar rush.'
Sure enough, the image on the screen soon became clearer, and a big smile could be discerned."

New Scientist: "Working with David Miller and his colleagues at the University of Leeds in the UK, Krawetz's team has now identified six RNA molecules present in human sperm but not unfertilised eggs."

(R&D Digest) Exploring the Capabilities of Terahertz Imaging (MDDI archive, Feb 02): "Although terahertz (THz or T-ray) wave radiation occupies a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave bands, it has been the focus of limited research to date. It has continued, however, to be generally viewed as offering great potential for biomedical applications."

New Scientist: "Five healthy babies have been born to provide stem cells for siblings with serious non-heritable conditions. This is the first time 'saviour siblings' have been created to treat children whose condition is not genetic, says the medical team."

New Scientist: "Knobbly rubber insoles worn inside sports shoes should reduce knee and ankle injuries, according to Australian physiotherapists. The insoles radically improve athletes' awareness of the orientation of their feet."

New Scientist: "An electromagnet in the heel of the shoe keeps track of how much the sole is compressed with each step the wearer takes. A small microprocessor hidden in the centre of the sole uses this reading to determine whether the heel should provide more or less padding for the wearer. A motor tightens or loosens a wire every four steps to make the heel to compress more or less."

CNN.com - Remote medicine on frontier of space - May 10, 2004: "A trial on the international space station is using ultrasound -- low-frequency sound waves -- to look for injuries inside the body during spaceflight."

Forbes.com:: "White children who are spanked when they're under 2 years old are more likely to have behavioral problems by the time they reach school age than black or Hispanic children who are spanked."