http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/technology.htm en-us sepp@lastrega.com Sat, 3 Feb 2007 19:46:44 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/02/03/synthetic_biology_replace_oil_addiction_with_a_sugar_binge.htm Today, sugar is a cheap and sweet, if unhealthy and addictive, addition to our daily meals. But if the plans of an upstart biotechnology company established with funds from Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are anywhere close to what's in stock for the future, we may yet end up paying a premium price to satisfy our sweet tooth. Sugar Beets have many food uses - Image: Northern-Crops.com Amyris Biotechnologies, according to an article on ABC13, plans to divert sugar into the gas tank of our cars and trucks and - why not - airplanes as well. Their cutting-edge speciality - synthetic biology - promises to turn the sweet stuff into fuel. Not ethanol but gasoline or... Society Sepp Hasslberger Sat, 3 Feb 2007 19:46:44 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/01/31/health_supreme_newsgrabs_31_january_2007.htm Sepp Hasslberger's News Grabs - a selection of alternative health news and related bits of interesting information ... In this issue: EU law 'will hit internet sales' - Nutrient Risk Assessment - EU: 'dossiers' for nutrient sources - U.S. Gov't Food Safety a Sham - FDA's Big PharmaProtection Racket - Thailand decides to ignore pharma patents - Mobile phones 'linked to tumour' - Quackbusters "On the Ropes" - Doctor asks BMJ to end Reporting Bias - Reputations for sale - Spread of Cancer Halted With Micronutrient Combination - Drug company 'hid' suicide link - Depleted Uranium, Diabetes, Cancer - WHO Chief in Population Control Vaccine Scandal - Research into safety of nanotechnology - 'Origami lens' slims high... NewsGrabs Sepp Hasslberger Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:33:05 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/12/14/biofuels_hard_choice_want_food_or_fuel.htm It's been just over two year ago that Georges Monbiot warned us of the dark side of an apparently good idea: replacing petroleum based fuels with others based on bio-mass. My article reporting on this drew some critical comments, but the initial fears seem to be borne out now as we are getting closer to implementing the biofuel option. In May 2005, US president Bush urged widespread adoption of both biodiesel and ethanol production from agricultural products, as part of a strategy to reduce US dependence on oil imports. What he apparently didn't consider were the knock-on effects of such a strategy on food prices and ultimately on the ability of agriculture to assure a supply of... Environment Sepp Hasslberger Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:28:38 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/10/17/electromagnetic_pollution_campaign_issue_in_ontario_local_elections.htm One of the most widespread, but perhaps least acknowledged health problems today is the effect of electromagnetic pollution from ubiquitous mobile phone and computing networks as well as electric power transmission lines. Now this issue is entering local politics in a campaign for upcoming Ontario Municipal Elections and is perhaps soon to enter the National political scene in Canada. Martin Weatherall, candidate for Mayor of the Blandford-Blenheim Township, says he is making severe electrical pollution of our environment the main subject of his election platform. The issue is not an easy one, so he is telling his electorate: "You will need to conduct some basic research to understand the dangers that we are all facing, but the... Environment Sepp Hasslberger Tue, 17 Oct 2006 20:34:37 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/05/02/dolphins_dead_off_zanzibar_is_navy_sonar_to_blame.htm Some four hundred dolphins have been found dead along the shore of a tourist destination on Zanzibar's northern coast. Villagers, fishermen and hotel residents found the dolphins' carcasses on Friday and alerted officials. What killed the dolphins is not clear, though scientists ruled out poisoning. The Australian Sunday Times, in its report about the incident, says "Experts are investigating the possibility that sonar from US submarines could have been responsible for a similar incident in Florida in March. The US Navy patrols the East Africa coast." In November last year, Truthout reported that the United Nations Environment Program issued a report that said high-intensity naval sonar poses a serious threat to whales, dolphins and porpoises that depend... Health Sepp Hasslberger Tue, 2 May 2006 12:25:29 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/24/lowtech_solar_water_purification_it_works.htm TANZANIA - A village is piloting a new way to purify water with simple means. The method is so simple it hurts to think that it has not been put into wide use. Take a transparent plastic water bottle, fill it up with water, lay it on a black roof for several hours. If the sun is beating down good, one hour is enough. The combination of the sun's ultra violet rays and heat kills any pathogenic germs - the ones that spread much illness in Africa. The beautiiful simplicity of the solution brings to mind another invention that received the Rolex prize a year ago: a no-electricity refrigerator made of two ceramic pots one inside the... Health Sepp Hasslberger Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:24:29 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/01/30/mesh_networks_and_city_wireless_will_transform_the_internet.htm Will internet access be controlled and monopolized by a handful of global internet access providers? Can governments prevent access to certain sites? Perhaps there is an alternative in the making. Hundreds of municipalities are recognizing that facilitating internet access is part of their responsibility towards citizens, and they are planning to bypass traditional internet access providers, opening access to the net in a more direct way. According to an article of DMeurope.com, over 400 cities world wide are currently planning to deploy broadband networks in their areas, and 2006 should see a doubling of the numbers. Rome, along with New York, San Francisco and Paris, is among the major cities planning to provide citizens and visitors with... Technology Sepp Hasslberger Mon, 30 Jan 2006 10:53:36 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/01/02/will_2006_bring_free_energy_breakthrough.htm We have been somewhat thoughtless in our choice of energy technologies in the past, perhaps sidetracked by commercial interests vested in the exploitation, transformation and sale of oil. Not that there weren't any other choices we could have made years ago. We probably would not have wars to control the oil and to preserve the petrodollar, if these choices had been made in time. Now, climate change and oil prices are forcing change. The advocates of "free energy" are finding they have an audience - finally. Image credit: caramba4u In a year-end report on developments at the new-energy technologies frontier, Sterling D. Allan of Pure Energy Systems has pulled together the major developments in the budding field... Technology Sepp Hasslberger Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:16:16 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/12/14/the_cell_phone_experiment_is_mobile_communication_worth_the_risk.htm Undoubtedly mobile phones and wireless broadband are immensely useful, but there is a persistent question: what are the risks of using these technologies? Many of us asking the "risk" question are - alas - not necessarily informed or even willing to consider the benefits of networking, and those planning the digital and mobile revolution have hardly heard about the risks. Providers are reluctant to discuss the health implications of the pulsed microwave radiation that makes mobile communications possible - it might be bad for business. But are we missing the boat altogether? Are we betting on a technology that may be our downfall some years down the line? The indicators are there - big red lights flashing... Health Sepp Hasslberger Wed, 14 Dec 2005 17:52:10 GMT http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/11/05/will_hydrinos_replace_oil_as_power_source.htm Randall Mills of Blacklight Power has been working for years perfecting a discovery that could change not only the way we make and use energy but also bring a host of new materials. Mills says that hydrogen, the most abundant element, has a hidden store of energy locked up inside it. He has found a way to unlock that store and extract energy from hydrogen atoms by changing the electron's orbit. With a closer orbit of its electron, the hydrogen atom not only is free to give up some of its energy, but it also acquires new properties and a new name: hydrino. The discovery is a no-no according to the current physics rule books. So Mills... Science Sepp Hasslberger Sat, 5 Nov 2005 19:19:28 GMT