JJ Nitro

5 May 2008, for New Scientist

As energy prices soar, and governments and organisations start to sweat over their carbon footprint, the energy consumption of the internet is coming under scrutiny.

US academics and researchers from companies Intel and Microsoft are developing strategies to cut the consumption of computer-network hardware.

1 May 2008, for National Geographic News

When babies gurgle "goo-goo, ga-ga," it might seem they simply can't control their vocalizations.

But a specific part of infants' brains may be devoted to creating this seemingly random babbling, suggests a new study of songbirds called zebra finches. 

1 May 2008, for New Scientist

As if computer viruses and worms aren't enough of a nuisance, malicious hardware, which will be much more difficult to detect, could soon become a threat too.

Today, computer viruses, which are programs downloaded either as an email attachment or when someone visits a website, are responsible for most computer attacks.

28 April 2008, for New Scientist

It can't rival Spider-Man yet, but a new micromachine that works like a spider's silk duct might finally lead the way to producing industrial quantities of high-quality artificial spider silk.

Spider silk is super-light, super-strong and elastic too. Existing human materials lack its useful combination of properties, and proposed uses span everything from bulletproof vests to optic fibres.

25 April 2008, for National Geographic News

In addition to heating up faster than almost anywhere else on the planet, the Arctic has gotten wetter and snowier because of global warming, according to a new study.

The extra precipitation could freshen ocean water in the Arctic and North Atlantic, researchers say, which might disrupt the so-called ocean conveyor belt, a current that runs through the Atlantic and carries warm water northward from the Equator.

24 April 2008, for New Scientist

A simple-to-make "superlens" can focus 10 times more sharply than a conventional lens. It could shrink the size of features on computer chips, or help power gadgets without wires.

No matter how powerful a conventional lens, it cannot focus light down to more than about half its wavelength, the "diffraction limit". This limits the amount of data that can be stored on a CD, and the size of features on computer chips.

23 April 2008, for New Scientist

Improvements to methods of tracking and recording weather patterns finally make it possible to properly test technologies designed to alter them, say experts.

Weather modification attempts to bring rain to dry areas, or divert storms. But decades of tests have generated only heated arguments and even lawsuits. All techniques developed so far are essentially unproven.

22 April 2008, for New Scientist

A gel that can smuggle insulin past the stomach and slowly release the drug into the blood could do away with diabetics' daily injections.

Pills made from the new material could also deliver other protein-based drugs, such as human growth hormone, that must be protected from being digested in the stomach.

22 April 2008, for New Scientist

Beating the "botnets" – armies of infected computers used to attack websites – requires borrowing tactics from the bad guys, say computer security researchers.

A team at the University of Washington, US, want to marshal swarms of good computers to neutralise the bad ones. They say their plan would be cheap to implement and could cope with botnets of any size.

22 April 2008, for National Geographic News

Being a "locavore" and eating foods grown near where you live may not help the environment as much as you might think, according a new study.

When it comes to global warming, focusing simply on where food comes from will make only a small difference, the study's authors say.