Column of the WolfA daily mix of news covering technology, science, human rights, wolf news, stupid human tricks and many other topics.Bacteria make Major Evolutionary Shift in the Lab- June 11, 2008 A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait. And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance eventshttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007698 Swedish Left Party Wants to Legalise Piracy- June 11, 2008 This Sunday, the Swedish Left Party voted in favour of a motion calling for the legalisation of sharing copyrighted files for personal use. The party, which currently holds 22 seats in the Swedish parliament, sees piracy as something positive, much like public librarieshttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007697 Snow Leopard will Accelerate Macs - Next Year- June 11, 2008 Apple previewed the next generation of its popular Mac OS X operating system &8212; Snow Leopard &8212; on the opening day of the Mac-maker's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Franciscohttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007696 US ISPs Block Child Porn- June 11, 2008 Three major US internet provides have agreed to block access to web sites and online discussion groups featuring child pornography. The pervasiveness of child pornography on the internet is horrific and it needs to be stopped, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on the agreement with Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cablehttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007695 Apple Unveils Faster, Cheaper iPhone- June 10, 2008 Apple has unveiled a next-generation iPhone with faster internet access that will run on advanced wireless networks and sell for as low as US$199 &8212; half the current entry-level pricehttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007694 Paper Stronger Than Cast Iron- June 10, 2008 All paper is made of cellulose, which at the nanoscale level is quite strong, but paper processing makes large, fragile fibers that break easily. Researchers in Sweden have have come up with a manufacturing process that keeps the fibers small, resulting in nanopaper with over 1.6 times the tensile strength of cast iron (214 megapascals vs 130 mPa). And since cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on the planet, it's cheap to use compared to other exotic, expensive-to-produce options...http://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007693 Scientists Develop Fastest Computer- June 10, 2008 Scientists unveiled the world's fastest supercomputer on Monday, a $100 million machine that for the first time has performed 1,000 trillion calculations per second in a sustained exercisehttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007692 Encyclopaedia Britannica Dips Toe in Wiki Waters- June 10, 2008 The encyclopaedia Britannica web site is rolling out a new system allowing readers to potentially contribute to articles. Britannica has long been a vocal critic of Wikipedia's user-generated content, and has repeatedly attacked the accuracy of its articles. Unsurprisingly then, it is keen to stress that its new web site will not be following the Wiki-model, describing it as a collaborative process but not a democratic one. Indeed, under the new Britannica scheme those who wish to contribute...http://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007691 Google's Experimental Gmail Toys- June 9, 2008 In a first, Google is opening up its testing process by calling on tens of millions of Gmail users to put new features of the service through their paces. Gmail Labs has launched 13 settings for users to play around with and tell engineers directly what they think of themhttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007690 Disc Sniffer Dog Dies- June 9, 2008 A dog trained to sniff out pirated discs, from a Malaysian unit that has faced threats from criminals, has been found dead. Manny, a one-year-old golden Labrador which arrived in Malaysia in February, died about a week ago and that authorities were trying to determine how it diedhttp://www.redwolf.com.au/column/archive/2008_06.html#007689 |