“IT’S ALIVE!” – “First I asked him when the last time was that Earth had spoken with ICE. He said that, as far as he could tell, the last time was nine years ago, in 1999. I remarked that it’s pretty amazing that they were able to pinpoint it in the sky after nine years…”

Aussie exposes online poker rip-off – “Detective work by an Australian online poker player has uncovered a $US10 million cheating scandal at two major poker websites and triggered a $US75 million legal claim…”

Tree-Powered Forest Fire Alert Network Gets Its Power From Bioenergy – “Though it’s been known for some time that there was a small amount of electrical potential between many plants and the soil (the effect is described in an article at PLoS One) only recently has anyone put that trickle of electricity to use…”

‘Intelligent’ computers put to the test’ – “Can machines think? That was the question posed by the great mathematician Alan Turing. Half a century later six computers are about to converse with human interrogators in an experiment that will attempt to prove that the answer is yes…”

Computers figuring out what words mean – “The Internet got smarter this week with the release of a semantic map that teaches computers the meanings behind words — and gives the machines a vocabulary far larger than that of a typical US college graduate…”

Rotten smell raises Apple toxin fears – “Apple is investigating damning claims, published in a leading French newspaper, that its computers emit a toxic odour containing chemicals including the cancer-causing benzene…”

Huge system for web surveillance discovered in China – “A group of Canadian human-rights activists and computer security researchers has discovered a huge surveillance system in China that monitors and archives certain Internet text conversations that include politically charged words…”

World’s First 100% Renewable Jet Fuel is Created – “My interest was piqued when, a few days ago, the EERC claimed to have invented the world’s first 100% renewable jet fuel…”

Solar power and wind energy – DIY projects – “A significant portion of equipment that can make use of solar or wind power does not require an industrial grade manufacturing equipment. With just a little mechanical know-how and knowledge of basic circuits, one can create devices that generate heat and electricity from the sun and wind….”

Bomb-proof thermometer peeks inside big bangs – “Conventional temperature sensors such as thermocouples, which measure the voltage produced when a metal is subject to a temperature gradient, are too slow to react and are easily damaged, says Sutton….”

The US Army Is Developing Solar-Powered Combat Aircrafts – “The US Army is looking to the future and its researchers are trying to build solar-powered winged vehicles for combat and surveillance. The new combat aircrafts will destroy the enemy target without any damage to the environment (if that’s possible) and they will also prevent the army from destroying friendly or non-hostile targets…”

‘Pre-crime’ detector shows promise – “Project Hostile Intent as it was called aimed to help security staff choose who to pull over for a gently probing interview – or more…”

NASA, USAF in $30m hypersonic boffinry push – “The US air force and NASA have launched a joint research push to advance hypersonic flight technology. The air force research lab and space agency are seeking university and industry partners, and are offering $30m in funding…”

Top 10: Outrageous Dubai Construction Projects – “What do you get when you combine two parts obscene oil revenues, one part economic growth diversity with two parts Western-financed military security? Unequaled development coffers. The tiny emirate of Dubai, possibly sensing a change in global oil markets, has embarked on an unrivaled series of outrageous construction projects, each seemingly larger and more grandiose than the last…”

Emails show journalist rigged Wikipedia’s naked shorts – “Two and a half years ago, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne penned an editorial for The Wall Street Journal, warning that widespread stock manipulation schemes – including abusive naked short selling – were threatening the health of America’s financial markets. But it wasn’t published…”

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