Man uses 35 cable modems to provide WiFi, sued by Comcast – “In Maryland, an individual that installs building-wide WiFi access in residential buildings apparently fed the wireless routers using 35 different Comcast residential accounts. Now, the cable giant wants its money back…”

How insecticides work – “Chemical mode of action Insecticides are materials designed to kill or otherwise control insects. Most traditional insecticides accomplish this by interfering with the nervous system of the target insect…”

Telepathy at work – “A Honda Motor Co. employee puts on a headgear with codes attached during a demonstration of Honda’s new technology linking brain thoughts with robotics…”

‘Polypill’ brings benefit of five drugs for the hassle of one – “A “polypill” containing three blood-pressure-lowering drugs, as well as a statin and aspirin, could slash the risk of heart attack and stroke in healthy people. That’s the implication of a study of 2053 people – the first time a pill containing so many drugs has been tested in a large group of adults…”

The Worm That Ate the Web – “The latest version of Conficker isn’t the first bot to plague the Internet, but it may be the smartest and most sophisticated. And it starts phoning home Wednesday…”

Online Crime Surging in Recession, Report Says – “Fraud on the Internet reported to U.S. authorities increased by 33 percent last year, rising for the first time in three years, and is surging this year as the recession deepens, federal authorities said on Monday…”

Commentary: War on drugs is insane – ” What do you suppose the total price tag is for this failed war on drugs? One senior Harvard economist estimates we spend $44 billion a year fighting the war on drugs. He says if they were legal, governments would realize about $33 billion a year in tax revenue. Net swing of $77 billion. Could we use that money today for something else? You bet your ass we could. Plus the cartels would be out of business. Instantly. Goodbye crime and violence….”

HMNH’s Fragile Flora – “The trouble with soft-bodied sea-life like jellyfish and anemones is that the tend to lose their beauty and form in a jar of formaldehyde. The trouble with plants is that, when pressed, they lose all three dimensionality and vibrancy of color. These flat pressings simply aren’t the best way to study botany…”

Laptop Battery Power Tips – “But it’s still way too easy to run out of juice in flight, or during the course of a long day away from a wall socket. Here are some tips for keeping your laptop running as long as possible when you’re on the go…”

Countdown to Nuclear Fusion: National Ignition Facility Warms Up – “Researchers in California are preparing to fire 192 lasers at a minuscule pellet of fuel to create their first nuclear fusion reaction, the same reaction that takes place in the center of the sun. Within two to three years, the researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) expect to be creating fusion reactions that release more energy than it takes to produce them. If they’re successful, it will be the first time this has been done in a controlled way–in a lab rather than a nuclear bomb, that is–and could eventually lead to fusion power plants…”

‘Toilet row’ lowers space morale – ” The International Space Station, once a place where astronauts would share food and facilities, is said to be embroiled in a Cold War-like stand-off…”

Sunday Night’s Virginia Fireball: a Meteor, Not a Rocket Reentry – “The confusion over whether the great Virginia fireball Sunday night was a meteor or a Russian rocket re-entry has been resolved — in favor of a meteor…”

Mars ‘journey’ experiment begins – ” A Big Brother-style experiment to test whether humans could travel to Mars and back has begun in Moscow…”

[See lots more interesting articles]