New Florence. New Renaissance.

2008's biggest science stories

"2008 was a year of sweeping change, as China reinvented itself for its Olympic close-up and relative newcomer Barack Obama fought his way to victory in an election that carried hefty implications for the future of science policy in the U.S. But it was also a time of frustrating stasis: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ground to a halt shortly after its heralded start-up and sits dormant as the year draws to a close, and the 25th anniversary of the identification of the virus that causes AIDS passed without a cure in sight.

It was a year when scientists looked out into the heavens, unraveling the secrets of planets both near and far. Others turned their gaze inward, tracing the importance of our genes in defining who we are and what our future holds or sounding the alarm on the risks a common chemical might pose to our bodies. Human tragedies, too, had their place: Soaring food prices took their toll worldwide and the investigation of the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks came to an abrupt end with the apparent suicide of a scientist believed to be behind them."

Scientific American - top 10 science stories of 2008

Photo Credit: Time which named Obama 2008 Person of the Year - of course, not just with a science lens

Innovative Capers

Wired on the best capers of 2008 - I am sure Hollywood will work them into some upcoming movies...here's a couple:

"..a robber disguised as a gardener pepper-sprayed an armored car driver using a pesticide sprayer and ran off with a bag stuffed with $400,000 in cash. When police arrived seconds later, they found the sidewalk crowded with dozens of men decked out in the same attire as the perp: blue shirt, Day-Glo vest, safety mask and glasses. While the cops hacked through a forest of suspects, the real perp fled to a nearby creek and escaped in a waiting inner tube....Turns out the unwitting decoys had been lured to the crime scene by a Craigslist ad that promised construction work to those showing up in a "yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask … and, if possible, a blue shirt."

"To ensure that Smith answered the calls and took his punishment like a man, Weigman social engineered the phone company into giving him near real-time access to Smith's billing data, then repeatedly used Caller ID spoofing to make the harried security official think people were returning his own calls: when Smith phoned a travel agent to book a flight, his phone would ring a few minutes later, displaying the number of the travel agency he'd just called."

Photo: Poster of my favorite caper movie The Sting

Time's 2008 in Medicine

37 slides on progress in everything from Autism to Alzheimer's

Photo Credit of Cadaceus via Wikipedia which also provides background and how the symbol came to be used to be used as an icon for medicine

The hotel guest of 2020

"It is the year 2020. The past twelve years have been a flurry of development in the areas of design, nanotechnology, robotics, medicine, the internet, security and law. Contrary to popular opinion, the hotel industry has not been slow on the uptake. It’s been the decade of hospitality renaissance. A coming of age, an evolution of service as it should be…and a tribute to true personalization. Here’s a look at the hotel guest experience in the year 2020 and how guests have helped the industry become truly magnificent:"

The Talent Jungle Hospitality Newsletter

World's smallest GPS watch

"Recently awarded a "Best of Adventure Gear" 2009 nod from National Geographic Adventure Magazine, this outdoor hands-free tool is compatible with mapping services such as Google Earth (export your journey and view it with 3D satellite imagery) and National Geographic Topo, the latter of which also lets you download a predetermined route from a PC to the X10 via USB before setting out to your destination. The GPS unit will show direction, altitude, speed, barometer pressure, remaining distance (to destination or preselected waypoints), distance traveled and estimated time of arrival.

When it’s time to call it a day, a "Find Home" option will guide you back to your starting point, while "Track Back" takes you back through each waypoint. The X10 can store up to 50 routes or 500 waypoints."

USA Today

Tech Secrets for the Road Warrior

Courtesy of PC World, "15 mobile tech tricks and tools that'll have you working better, smarter, and faster on the go."

• Use Your Laptop as a Wi-Fi Hotspot
• Set Up a Laptop Security System
• Automatically Lock Your Computer When You Walk Away, and Unlock It When You Return
• Set Up AIM Forwarding to Your Cell
• Use Your Cell Phone as an Internet Hotspot
• Beef Up Your Voicemail
• Send Group SMS Messages
• Name That Tune
• Check Your Bank Account Balance With a Text Message
• Save the Cost of a 411 Call
• Bring the Subway Map With You
• Shop Amazon via SMS
• Stay Up-to-Date With Your Favorite Blog via SMS
• Go Straight to Voicemail With SlyDial
• Instantly Find Yourself on a Google Map

Photo Credit of Mad Max 2 - Spotlight Posters

All I want for Christmas is ...a book

Merry Christmas!

Forget electronics...gift me a book on innovation or science and technology

BusinessWeek's list

New Scientist's list

Come to think of it, would not mind a gift that combines electronics and books...

Track Santa on your phone

Courtesy of NORAD on Christmas Eve - which "uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets."

If you have Google Maps on your PDA, just search for "norad santa" to see Santa's location on Christmas Eve.

CompUSA Retail 2.0

"CompUSA took the model of its web site -- one of the best for providing information, pictures and how-to videos, among other things -- and brought it into the retail stores, said Fiorentino. "Shoppers will get the online experience inside the store. They will know everything about the product before getting it home and unpackaged."

Among the highlights of Retail 2.0 at Dadeland (the Miami prototype store), and planned for other stores in the future:

-- All desktops, laptops, monitors and televisions -- more than 170 total screens -- are connected to dedicated computers, providing direct, single key access to all production information on the item from the Internet and allowing further discovery -- even outside of the CompUSA website.

-- In every aisle, additional stations are available so customers can obtain buying advice, type in a printer name to find out what ink they need or their computer model to determine what RAM to add for the capabilities they want.

-- CompUSA will offer workshops every weekend that will be podcast on its web site as well. Look for sessions such as 'How to build a PC at home,' or 'How to design a Facebook page.'"

Here's a video (in HD - but it should ask if you want to run in lower resolution)

The world's first computer?

"More than a hundred years ago an extraordinary mechanism was found by sponge divers at the bottom of the sea near the island of Antikythera. It astonished the whole international community of experts on the ancient world. Was it an astrolabe? Was it an orrery or an astronomical clock? Or something else? For decades, scientific investigation failed to yield much light and relied more on imagination than the facts. However research over the last half century has begun to reveal its secrets. It dates from around the 1st century B.C. and is the most sophisticated mechanism known from the ancient world. Nothing as complex is known for the next thousand years. The Antikythera Mechanism is now understood to be dedicated to astronomical phenomena and operates as a complex mechanical "computer" which tracks the cycles of the Solar System."

"During the first data-gathering phase in the autumn of 2005, the most innovative technologies were used to reveal unknown elements of the mechanism. This research was carried out by two world-class high technology companies, Hewlett Packard (US) and X-Tek Systems (UK). X-Tek's superb three-dimensional x-rays were imaged using software from the leading German company, Volume Graphics. Technical support was also provided by the University of Keele (UK). The whole process was filmed by Tony Freeth's Film and Television production company, Images First, for a forthcoming TV documentary."

The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

Read also in New Scientist (subscription required)

Photo Credit: HP Labs