March, 2004

March 29, 2004 NewScientist is reporting that it may be possible to prevent the "bends" with a pill. See also How SCUBA Works. Nuclear fusion researchers hope to have an energy-producing reactor by 2014. See also How Nuclear Power Works. New Technology allows people to control robotic limbs directly from their brains. See also How the Brain Works. New building design will try to fight flab by making you walk more. See also How Skyscrapers Work. March 28, 2004 Three people timed the ball on a roulette wheel and won $1.5 million. See also How Slot Machines Work. The BBC is reporting that common bacteria may be the cause of certain cancers. See also How Cancer Works. AP is reporting that rip currents in Florida have taken four lives over the last week. See also How Rip Currents Work. Space.com is reporting that the X-43A Scramjet successfully reached Mach 7. See also How Hypersonic Planes Work. New Technology allows people to control robotic limbs directly from their brains. See also How the Brain Works.

March 26, 2004
	It may soon be possible to directly control video games with brain waves! (See also How Video Games Work)
	Bacteria may be the cause of some cancers. (See also How Cancer Works)
	The "world's most intelligent firearm" can shoot both lethal and non-lethal bullets. (See also How Guns Work)
	Shaking a minefield with seismic waves helps to find the mines. (See also How Landmines Works)
	The first consumer device based on electronic paper is scheduled for April release. (See also How Electronic Paper Will Work)
	NASA will be test-fly its 5,000 MPH scramjet plane on Saturday. (See also How Hypersonic Planes Work)
	Rip currents in Florida have taken four lives over the last week. (See also How Rip Currents Work)
	New technology that allows people to control robotic limbs directly from their brains is being tested in Parkinson's disease patients. (See also How the Brain Works)
March 25, 2004
	Deep-Fried Chocolate Sandwich Sells Like Hotcakes. (See also How Chocolate Works)
	There probably is life on Mars now, but it hitchhiked from earth on the Mars Rovers. (See also How the Mars Rovers Work)
	Does your lawn look awful? Now there's a contest for the nation's worst lawn, and you can win $10,000! (See also How Grass Works)
	Now, instead of waking up to a buzzing, beeping alarm clock, you can wake up to the refreshing scent of mint, or lemon. (See also How Clocks Work)
March 24, 2004
	Over 400 robots converge on San Francisco for the Robolympics (with photos). (See also How Robots Work)
	Replace Internet Explorer with a new browser, or add capabilities on to IE, using this handy chart.
	Microsoft plans to launch its new search engine in July. (See also How Search Engines Work)
	The Opera Web browser is about to get the ability to speak. (See also How Web Pages Work)
	GM forgets to program leap years into the new Grand Prix, and now the dashboard is showing the wrong day of the week. (See also How Car Computers Work)
	China announces some big moon plans - satellites, rovers, manned missions and moon bases. (See also How Rockets Work)
	The RIAA web site has been down for five days because of denial of service attacks running through the MyDoom Virus. (See also How Computer Viruses Work)
	A new off-road version of the Segway scooter lets you head for rugged terrain in style (with photo). (See also How Segways Work)
March 23, 2004
	The number 11 continues to mystify people. (See also How Nostradamus Works)
	A nice roundup of 10 cool gadgets appearing at CeBIT 2004 right now (with photos)...
	...and Toshiba is showing off concept gadgets for its tiny 0.85-inch hard disks (nice photo of a cool widescreen wristwatch). (See also How CES 2004 Worked)
	MP3 files will soon get surround sound. (See also How MP3 Files Work)
	If it is not a meth lab, then it is a marijuana greenhouse - more and more suburban homes being used in the drug trade. (See also How Marijuana Works)
	There are some VERY strange devices you can plug into your computer's USB port. (See also How USB Works)
	Al-Quaeda may have suitcase nuclear bombs purchased from Russina scientists. (See also How Nuclear Bombs Work)
March 22, 2004
	Russia is planning a new rocket with a 6-person reusable capsule. (See also How Rockets Work)
	Companies are ready to release truly tiny, full-function PCs based on the new Nano-ITX motherboard. (See also How Motherboards Work)
	Scientist revives 30-million-year-old bacteria trapped in amber, discovers new antibiotic. (See also How Cells Work)
	Alessia, the baby who got eight organ transplants, is thriving (with photo). (See also How Organ Transplants Work)
	New Trekkie "com badges" from Vocera let you communicate just like Captain Picard. (See also How WiFi Works)
	The proliferation of camera phones is making it easier to catch criminals. (See also How Cell Phones Work)
	Mars rover is heading for the hills at 50 meters per day. (See also How the Mars Rovers Work)
	Cool descriptions of outrageous construction projects - space elevator, $100B vacuum train tunnel, 2,000 ft skyscraper, etc. (See also How Skyscrapers Work)
	Breaking news: viruses released today will auto-install. Make sure patches and virus-checkers are up to date. (See also How Computer Viruses Work)
March 19, 2004
	New form of concrete is semi-transparent! (See also How Light Works)
	Mars rover spots a shooting star on Mars - the first meteor ever seen from another planet. (See also How Meteors Work)
	The number of people using the Web in the U.S. grows to 200 million -- about 75% of the population. (See also How the Internet Works)
	13-year-old chess whiz beats Karpov and is on his way to becoming youngest grand master. (See also How Chess Computers Work)
	100-foot asteroid will come within 26,500 miles of hitting earth. (See also How Asteroids Work)
	NannieBots are now patrolling chat rooms searching for pedophiles. (See also How C Programming Works)
	A report on the ongoing effort to create the perfect donut. (See also How Krispy Kreme Works)
	Virgin installs some VERY unusual urinals at Kennedy airport (with photo). (See also How Toilets Work)
	AMD releases several new processors for laptops, but Intel still leads on power consumption. (See also How Microprocessors Work)
March 18, 2004
	New system replaces cable and satellite TV - beams 32 digital channels over normal airwaves for $20/month. (See also How Cable TV Works)
	The Pentagon is building a giant solar-powered blimp that will fly at 70,000 feet. (See also How Blimps Work, CES solar cells)
	Companies use MRI brain scans to figure out how we respond to ads and make buying decisions. (See also How MRI Works, How Advertising Works)
	New 92-inch display provides 6,400 x 1,200 pixel resolution for people who like LOTS of windows on the desktop (with photo). (See also How Computer Monitors Work)
	All kinds of stuff gets flushed down the toilet. (See also How Sewer Systems Work)
	A space tourism company is now looking at sites for its first spaceport. (See also How Space Tourism Works)
	Virus creators share their code online so that lots more people can create viruses. (See also How Computer Viruses Work)
	Arizona senate approves nation's highest speed limit on interstate highways - 80 MPH (See also How Radar Detectors Work)
March 17, 2004
	Your car's air bag control computer may be keeping track of your driving. (See also How Air Bags Work)
	Landfill near DC is so smelly that it forces the evacuation of an office building. (See also How Landfills Work)
	Guinness certifies that Toshiba's tiny 0.85-inch hard drive is the world's smallest (with photo). (See also CES 2004 Products)
	Tiny robots are powered by muscle tissue and glucose. (See also How Muscles Work)
	City council falls prey to dihydrogen monoxide hoax (after you read the article, Google dihydrogen monoxide). (See also How Much Water Is There on Earth?)
	Superlight laptop weighs only 1.99 pounds. (See also How Laptops Work)
	Woman gets a new cell phone with Chris Rock's old number. (See also How Cell Phones Work)
	People who live close to casinos declare bankruptcy more often than people who don't. (See also How Slot Machines Work)
March 16, 2004
	"News Feeds" offer a whole new on-ramp to the Web. (See also How Blogs Work)
	Congress may require car companies to open the interface to car computers so that small mechanics can compete. (See also How Car Computers Work)
	Frozen lobsters come back to life when you thaw them out! (See also How Food Preservation Works)
	NASA announces the discovery of Senda, a big icy rock orbiting three times further out than Pluto. (See also How Telescopes Work)
	A huge Zelda fan commissions his own "Master Sword of Zelda" for $3,300 (with photos) (See also How Sword Making Works)
	Many of the technologies seen in STAR TREK are now with us today. Still waiting for the transporter room though. (See also How Teleportation Will Work)
	DARPA is showing off a bunch of cool technology at its annual conference. (See also How Robots Work)
March 15, 2004
	New tool points toward easy downloading of giant media files like videos and games. (See also How the Internet Infrastructure Works)
	Stem cells may hold the cure for balding men. (See also How Hair Replacement Works)
	Russian nuclear bombs are being dismantled and now fuel U.S. nuclear power plants. (See also How Nuclear Power Plants Work)
	Solar cells get more efficient by adding red wine? (See also How Solar Cells Work)
	Beer can be aged in stainless steel tanks, or in wooden barrels. Barrels are better. (See also How Beer Works)
	Build your own LCD picture frame to display your digital photos. (See also How LCDs Work)
	New CalTech chip makes super-small radar possible. (See also How Radar Works)
March 13, 2004
	Learn how jumbo jets can avoid heat seeking missiles like the Stinger (See also How Stinger Missiles Work)
	The bad news: No one won the $1 million offered by DARPA in the robot race. The good news: Two of the robots made it seven miles. (See also How Robots Work)
	Keyboards, mice and phones can harbor 400 times more germs than toilet seats (See also How Viruses Work, How Antibiotics Work)
	New sewage treatment option produces plenty of electricity. (See also How Sewage Treatment Works)
	LucasArts has released new clips showing scenes from its Star Wars Battlefront game. (See also How Video Games Work)
	Hitachi has announced a new hard disk able to hold 400 GB, and...
	...IBM thinks it may be producing 6 terabyte drives within 10 years using heated write heads. (See also How Hard Disks Work)
	Get this clear acrylic case and you can carry your PC anywhere you go like a briefcase. (See also How PCs Works)
March 12, 2004
	The robotic contestants are getting ready for the DARPA road race with the qualifiers. (See also How Robots Work)
	The first full view of the crater Bonneville on Mars is now available. (See also How the Mars Rover Works)
	Church shows a bootleg copy of "Passion" to the youth group. 12-year-olds can't handle it. (See also How Movie Ratings Work)
	LucasArts has released new clips showing scenes from its Star Wars Battlefront game. (See also How Video Games Work)
	A Fedex plane blows all 8 tires while landing at Ft. Lauderdale airport (with photos). (See also How Tires Work)
March 11, 2004
	Pop star George Michael plans to give up the commercial music scene. Instead, he will publish all future music for free on the Web. (See also How MP3 Files Work)
	Kids get off the bus and catch a gator on the way home from school. (See also How Alligators Work)
	The Hubble space telescope has taken an amazing image of 10,000 of the earliest galaxies. (See also How the Hubble Space Telescope Works)
	Two french engineers claim they can double the data flowing through wireless links. (See also How Wireless Networking Works)
	The salads at McDs appear to have more fat than the hamburgers. (See also How Dieting Works)
	Perhaps a million people own computers infected by viruses that turn them into spam zombies. ISPs are starting to cut off these zombie customers. (See also How Viruses Work)
	Teens who pledge virginity get STDs at the same rate as teens who don't. How can that be? (See also How AIDS Works)
	Can you double the space on your hard drive by recovering "hidden" partitions? Who knows. Here are instructions if you want to try (not for the feint of heart). (See also How Hard Disks Work)