Scientific American

Microsoft is changing its tune on computer security, two years after its much-heralded foray into the security space turned out to be less than spectacular. Instead of charging customers $50 per year for its Windows Live OneCare subscription security service, Microsoft says that beginning June 30 it will instead offer free software code-named "Morro," designed to seek and destroy viruses, spyware, rootkits and Trojans. [More]

Most lasers rely on continuous waves of energy to generate heat that allows doctors to make cuts during surgery, computers to burn information onto CDs and DVDs, and scanners to read bar codes. But a newer type of laser promises to do all of these things more efficiently using quick, short blasts of energy. This pulsed-laser technology has been around since the 1980s but high cost has kept it from becoming widely used. Petaluma, Calif.–based Raydiance, Inc., however, hopes to overcome that obstacle with the latest version of its ultrashort pulse (USP) laser system unveiled Wednesday. [More]

The more we learn about Mars, it seems, the icier the Red Planet appears to be. The recently departed Phoenix lander dug up water ice and even spotted falling snow from its position in the northern polar plains. And now data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter point to vast glaciers buried beneath thin layers of crustal debris, much closer to the equator. [More]

Piracy on the high seas is making a comeback this year, particularly off the coast of the African nation Somalia, where raiders are using increasingly more powerful and sophisticated technologies to attack ships and hold their crew and cargo for ransom. Technology makers are hoping to come to the rescue with ultra-loud sound systems, electrified guardrails and other gadgets designed to help shippers avoid becoming the next victim. [More]

What exactly makes a fish organic? Apparently, one that feeds on a non-organic diet. [More]

Attention, shoppers: If the cart you selected has a handle greased with Vaseline, you may be an unwitting participant in an undercover experiment. [More]

[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]

The Bush Administration's push for "midnight regulations" in the last moments of office continues. [More]

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]

The jury is still out on the relationship between cell phone use and brain tumors. But the American Association of Neurological Surgeons has issued a statement to remind people that cell phones present lots of other risks to your brain. Of course, we all know about yapping while driving. A Harvard study finds that 2,600 people die each year in accidents related to cell distraction and 12,000 more are injured. Canadian research shows that you’re four times more likely to be in an accident while on the phone. [More]

Irene Pepperberg is associate research professor at Brandeis University and the author of a new book, Alex and Me. She and Jonah Lehrer, the editor of Mind Matters, discuss what Alex and other African Grey Parrots can teach us about the evolution of intelligence and the concept of zero. [More]

Rules for Genetically Engineered AnimalsAfter years of anticipation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released in September preliminary guidelines for genetically engineered animals [see “Does the World Need GM Foods?”; SciAm, April 2001]. The agency, which deemed that cloned meat poses no extra risk, wants to regulate engineered animals as it does drugs. Producers would have to substantiate claims and demonstrate safety. Consumer groups complain that the draft sets no provision for labeling and that safety trials can be done behind closed doors, as is the case for drug applications. Public comment on the draft ended in mid-November, and the FDA was to issue its final guidelines shortly thereafter.

A good working definition of quantum mechanics is that things are the exact opposite of what you thought they were. Empty space is full, particles are waves, and cats can be both alive and dead at the same time. Recently a group of physicists studied another quantum head spinner. You might innocently think that when a particle rolls across a tabletop and reaches the edge, it will fall off. Sorry. In fact, a quantum particle under the right conditions stays on the table and rolls back.

This effect is the converse of the well-known (if no less astounding) phenomenon of quantum tunneling. If you kick a soccer ball up a hill too slowly, it will come back down. But if you kick a quantum particle up a hill at the same speed, it can make it up and over. The particle will have “tunneled” across (although no actual tunnel is involved). This process explains how particles can escape atomic nuclei, causing radioactive alpha decay. And it is the basis of many electronic devices.

A large-scale study released this week showed that the herb gingko biloba has no effect in preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. But alternative medicine aficionados may find hope in a new research touting the bennies of another "herb" in preserving memory. [More]

The tiny Furby-like pygmy tarsier, presumed to be extinct, was found during a recent expedition to Indonesia. And the cuddly, huge-eyed nocturnal critter is the very definition of cute. [More]

Could next election season's dirty tricks include disclosures about the candidates' genes? [More]

Quantum computers are a sort of holy grail of information science. Their inherent computational advantage comes from their fundamental computational unit, the quantum bit ("qubit"). Unlike a digital bit in a classical computer, which can take the form of either 0 or 1, a qubit can be both zero and one simultaneously, throwing open the door to vastly more powerful computation. And although a usable computer based on qubits remains a far-flung fantasy, investigators continue to make strides toward their realization. [More]

The international commission charged with saving the once abundant bluefin tuna of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea is meeting this week in Morocco to discuss ways to reverse the decline of the dwindling fish. On the watch of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the bluefin population has plummeted as much as 90 percent due to illegal and chronic over-fishing. [More]

President-elect Barack Obama has tapped former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health, the Associated Press is reporting. [More]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week fined electronics recycler Jet Ocean Technology of Chino, Calif., just over $10,000 for illegally exporting cathode-ray tubes from old television sets to China. Jet Ocean is only the second electronics recycler to be penalized for shipping and deliberately mislabeling the tubes, which contain the brain-damaging metal lead. It falsely labeled the cargo as "mixed metal scrap" when it shipped it out--and as "scrap metal" when China (after being warned by Greenpeace of the true contents) refused to accept delivery and returned it. [More]

You may recall that President George W. Bush pledged to do something about climate change when campaigning for the presidency back in 2000--but reneged on that promise once in office. But it appears that President-elect Barack Obama will not follow suit, telling a gathering of governors yesterday that "few issues facing America--and the world--are more urgent than combating climate change":