Scientists are turning to automated processes and technologies in a bid to cope with ever higher volumes of data. But automation offers so much more to the future of science than just data handling, says Stephen H. Muggleton.

Exceeding human limits�

Initial tests on dead chickens suggest the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has spread to the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials have said.

Bird flu discovered in Gaza Strip

A lot of folks have asked me "What went wrong with Friendster? Why is MySpace any different?" I guess i never directly answered that question, even though i've addressed the causes in other talks. Still, i guess it would be helpful to piece some of it together and directly attend to this question.

Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?

Just got my monthly issue of Relix magazine. It comes with a free CD, about a dozen songs from bands ranging from Frank Zappa to Keller Williams.

Each band gets exactly one song as a showcase.

So, the question: should you put your best song on the free CD?

Seth's Blog: Your best stuff

MIT researchers have developed a tiny light detector that may allow for super-fast broadband communications over interplanetary distances. Currently, even still images from other planets are difficult to retrieve.

"It can take hours with the existing wireless radio frequency technology to get useful scientific information back from Mars to Earth. But an optical link can do that thousands of times faster," said Karl Berggren, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).

Berggren, who is also affiliated with the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), developed the detector with colleagues from the RLE, Lincoln Laboratory and Moscow State Pedagogical University.

The result will be real-time collection of large amounts of data from space. The work may ultimately permit the transmission of color video between astronauts or equipment in outer space and scientists on Earth.

MIT light detector may speed up interplanetary communications - MIT News Office

Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Committee, my name is
Lawrence Lessig, and I am a professor of law at Stanford Law
School. For the past decade I have been researching the relationship
between technology and Internet policy, and in particular, the
relationship between the architecture of the Internet and innovation.
I am therefore happy to have the opportunity to address the question
that this Committee is now considering — whether Congress
should enact rules to protect network neutrality.
To answer that question, this Committee must keep in view a
fundamental fact about the Internet: as scholars and network
theorists have extensively documented, the innovation and explosive
growth of the Internet is directly linked to its particular architectural
design. It was in large part because the network respected what
Saltzer, Clark and Reed called “the ‘end-to-end’ principle” that the
explosive growth of the Internet happened. If this Committee wants
to preserve that growth and innovation, it should take steps to
protect this fundamental design.

Lessig_Testimony 2 before Hearing on Net Neutrality

Something has gone very wrong with the United States patent system.

Patently Ridiculous - New York Times

Make a marshmallow shooter.

MakeZine.com: HowToons

Racing games are always popular, as the success of recent four-wheeled titles have shown, but there seems to be a definite shift away from traditional motor sport disciplines toward a more freeform street racing style.

Need for Speed, Project Gotham Racing and Ridge Racer all focus on road cars rather than the racing variety, which is why it is refreshing to get hold of the TOCA Race Driver 3 game and have a whole swathe of real race cars to choose from.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Polished racer to impress speed freaks

Bon Echo Alpha 1 is a developer preview release of our next generation Firefox browser and it is being made available for testing purposes only. Bon Echo Alpha 1 is intended for web application developers and our testing community. Current users of Mozilla Firefox 1.x should not use Bon Echo Alpha 1.

Mozilla Bon Echo Alpha 1 Release Notes