Microchips
Forget Hall Monitors, School Investigates Tracking Students with RFID
(READ WRITE WEB) – A forward-thinking school district in Connecticut is looking to crack down on wayward students, faculty and even equipment by making use of radio frequency identification RFID in its schools. New Canaan Public Schools hopes to increase the efficiency of its security efforts by embedding RFID tags into student and faculty... »
Hacker Tries to Read a Radio Identification Tag From 29 Floors Up
(VENTUREBEAT.COM) — Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are becoming pervasive as the barcodes of the 21st century. They are being used in everything from Wal-Mart merchandise to U.S. passport cards. But the problem, as demonstrated by hacker Chris Paget at the Defcon security conference today, is that they have no security and can be... »
Where’s Jimmy? Just Google His Bar Code
(FOX NEWS) — /snip/ “Our world is becoming instrumented,” IBM’s chairman and CEO, Samuel J. Palmisano said at an industry conference last week. “Today, there are nearly a billion transistors per human, each one costing one ten-millionth of a cent. There are 30 billion radio RFID tags produced globally.” Having one in every person... »
A brain-recording device that melts into place
(Physorg.com) – Scientists have developed a brain implant that essentially melts into place, snugly fitting to the brains surface. The technology could pave the way for better devices to monitor and control seizures, and to transmit signals from the brain past damaged parts of the spinal cord. via Physorg.com »
Your Bionic Brain: The Merging of Brain and Machine
(FOX NEWS) — The six-million dollar man was pure fantasy in the 70s — but largely realistic technology today. And the future of this tech is even wilder: Implantable brain electrodes may be just around the corner. Futurists and science-fiction writers have long speculated about merging human and machine, especially human brains and computers.... »
Molecules could create tiny circuits on computer chips
(PhysOrg.com) — As the features on computer chips become increasingly smaller, finding ways to fabricate the chips has become a big challenge. In a new study, researchers from MIT have demonstrated that certain molecules can be deposited on mostly empty chips, where they arrange themselves into patterns that form the outlines of tiny functioning... »
Tiny nano-electromagnets turn a cloak of invisibility into a possibility
(Physorg.com) – This breakthrough is of major importance in the quest for magnetic meta-materials with which light rays can be deflected in every possible direction. This could make it possible to produce perfect lenses and, in the fullness of time, even invisibility cloaks. via Physorg.com »
Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time
(PhysOrg.com) – By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech synthesizer. The “thought-to-speech” process takes about 50 milliseconds – the same amount of time for a non-paralyzed, neurologically intact person to speak their thoughts. via PhysOrg.com »
Fake Fingerprints fool Japanese Security
(BBC) – A Chinese woman managed to enter Japan illegally by having plastic surgery to alter her fingerprints, thus fooling immigration controls, police claim. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8400222.stm »
11 Charged in Global Theft, Sale Of 40 Million Card Numbers
Aug 6, 2008 (WASHINGTON POST) — Federal prosecutors charged 11 people yesterday with the theft and sale of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from at least nine U.S. retailers in what they said was one of the largest and most complex hacking and identity theft cases ever brought. Full Report... »
One Step Closer to Armageddon Strain’s “BioStrain Chip”
By SHARON K. GILBERT Mar 25, 2008 IT’S A LITTLE UNSETTLING to see a novel come to life, but the following news article from Reuters is disturbingly similar to the plot of my second book, The Armageddon Strain. In my fictional world, a company called BioStrain produces a nanochip with the capability of diagnosing... »
Do Nanoparticles Pose a Health Risk?
(Graphic: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) Mar 14, 2008 (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN) — /SNIP/ In 2006 the EPA began to regulate nanosilver as a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. As a result, companies employing such nanosilver particles (as an antimicrobial in a wide array of merchandise from computers... »
Feds warn states of ID deadline, travel hassles
Mar 4, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security officials are pushing recalcitrant states to adopt stricter driver’s license standards to end a standoff that could disrupt domestic air travel. States have less than a month to send a letter to the Homeland Security Department seeking an extension to comply with the Real ID law... »
The hands-free way to steal a credit card
FEB 22, 2008 WASHINGTON D.C. (C|NET)–Adam Laurie, an RFID security expert, used the Black Hat DC 2008 conference here, to demonstrate a new Python script he’s working on to read the contents of smart-chip-enabled credit cards. As part of his presentation Wednesday, Laurie asked for someone from the audience to volunteer a smart card.... »
Derek and Sharon hope to see you in Canton, Ohio in October!
