Big-Picture Biotech:
""Systems biology" aims to provide a clearer picture of how diseases work?and how to prevent them."

Technology Review: World-Changing Technologies 2003

"10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World
Technology Review identifies the developments that will dramatically affect the way we live and work—and profiles the leading innovators behind them."

Putting Teeth in the Biological Weapons Ban:

"A biological attack could create an almost unimaginable catastrophe. According to an estimate by the U.S. Congress's former Office of Technology Assessment, 100 kilograms of anthrax, released from a low-flying aircraft over a large city on a clear, calm night, could kill 1-3 million people. This figure is comparable to the casualties from a one-megaton hydrogen bomb. When disseminated as an aerosol, anthrax spores (analogous to microscopic seeds) are inhaled deep into the victim's lungs and travel to the lymph nodes, where they germinate and multiply. The bacteria then secrete potent toxins, giving rise in about three days to a devastating illness. For the victims to have any chance at all of surviving, antibiotics must be administered intravenously before the onset of acute symptoms. "

"Iraq acknowledged in 1995 that prior to the Gulf War, it had produced large quantities of anthrax spores, botulinum toxin, and a fungal poison called aflatoxin, filled them into at least 166 aerial bombs and Scud missile warheads, and stock-piled them ready for use. Although Iraq claimed to have destroyed its biological arsenal after the war, U.N. inspectors suspect that Iraq may still be hiding a cache of anthrax spores and germ filled warheads. "

"... could easily adapt laboratory or industrial equipment in "a matter of hours" to produce stocks of biological warfare agents."

Corn That Clones Itself:

"If they?re allowed out of the lab and into the field, crops genetically engineered to reproduce through cloning could feed the world?s poor."

"... is the second-most widely grown crop after rice; it’s a remarkably efficient factory for converting sunlight, soil, and water into food for people and animals. Within the next few years, corn is projected to pass rice and take over the top spot. "

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Advertising | MPs challenge supermarkets on obesity:

Politicians in UK consider usng the "club cards" that supermarkets etc. use, to inform and affect peoples buying habits in the pursue of better public health. Some worries about the "big brother" issues about givng government access to such "monitoring tools".

K D.

Extract:

"'You have enormous power with these,' he said, holding up a Sainsbury's Nectar card. 'Perhaps there is a use for these to steer people, in some respects, towards more healthy products.'
Mr North admitted the information gathered through loyalty cards could be used to influence customers but said it could alienate them if they felt they were being patronised.
'We do have a club card. Can it be used as a way of understanding customers? Yes, absolutely. Can it be used to point out new opportunities to customers? Yes it can but underlying that is the question of how it's done,' he said."

Fast Company | He Struck Gold on the Net (Really):
"At first, Goldcorp's geologists were appalled at the idea of exposing their super-secret data to the world. 'This is a very conservative, very private industry,' says Dr. James M. Franklin, former chief geoscientist for the Geological Survey of Canada and a judge in the Goldcorp Challenge. 'Confidentiality and secrecy about reserves and exploration have been its watchwords. This was a totally unconventional thing to do.'"

Medieval Global Warming:

"Medieval Global Warming
A controversy over 14th century climate shows the peril of letting politics shape the scientific debate."

"There are also the valid concerns of politicians who have to make decisions in a timely way. In 1947, Harry Truman grew so annoyed at the prevarications of economists that he joked that he wanted a one-armed advisor—who could not hedge his conclusions with the phrase “on the other hand.”

Some people think that science is served by open debate between left-handed and right-handed advocates, just as in politics. But the history of science shows it is best done by people who have two hands each. Present results with caution, and insist on equivocating. Leave it to the president and his advisors to make decisions based on uncertain conclusions. Don’t exaggerate the results. Use both hands. We cannot afford to lower our standards merely because the problem is so urgent."

Medieval Global Warming:

"Medieval Global Warming
A controversy over 14th century climate shows the peril of letting politics shape the scientific debate."

"There are also the valid concerns of politicians who have to make decisions in a timely way. In 1947, Harry Truman grew so annoyed at the prevarications of economists that he joked that he wanted a one-armed advisor—who could not hedge his conclusions with the phrase “on the other hand.”

Some people think that science is served by open debate between left-handed and right-handed advocates, just as in politics. But the history of science shows it is best done by people who have two hands each. Present results with caution, and insist on equivocating. Leave it to the president and his advisors to make decisions based on uncertain conclusions. Don’t exaggerate the results. Use both hands. We cannot afford to lower our standards merely because the problem is so urgent."

O'Reilly Network: Free Radical: Ian Clarke has Big Plans for the Internet:

"Ian Clarke, Freenet's creator and project coordinator, was selected as one of the top 100 innovators of 2003 by MIT's Technology Review magazine."

" Freenet is free software which lets you publish and obtain information on the Internet without fear of censorship. To achieve this freedom, the network is entirely decentralized and publishers and consumers of information are anonymous. Without anonymity there can never be true freedom of speech, and without decentralization the network will be vulnerable to attack."

- here is an old article, and the main link.

K

"by Richard Koman - 11/14/2000

Freenet - one of the Big Three of P2P (the others, of course, are Napster and Gnutella) - has mostly been written about, even by founder Ian Clarke, as a censorship-proof network, where no one knows where a specific piece of information exists. Even the owners of Freenet nodes don't know what content exists on their computers. But Freenet is much more than an anonymity system: Clarke has built into it the seeds of a radically new Internet. "

Related Articles:
A Directory of Peer-to-Peer Projects
How Ray Ozzie Got His Groove Back
Open Source Roundtable: Free Riding on Gnutella
O'Reilly's Peer-to-Peer Conference
How the Peer-to-Peer Working Group Ought to Be Organized

http://freenet.sourceforge.net/

MIT Technology review:
http://www.technologyreview.com