Monday, May 20, 2002

Work on rapid detection of biowarfare agents will likely hav an even greater impact on detection of food-borne pathogens in food and the environmment. Many of the available tests take days to obtain a conclusive results, while the new DNA signature tests take just hours. The method is based on the polymerase chain reaction. I have taught the use of similar tests in the Food Microbiology laboratory that here at UW-Madison and they are simple, yet powerful. 3:50:39 PM    comment []

Pro-whalers setback at Japan meeting. The anti-whaling camp scores an unexpected victory in the first vote at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission. [BBC News: sci/tech] Yeah. 12:06:16 PM    comment []

Virus outbreak hits file swappers. The popular file-swapping system Kazaa has been struck by a computer virus. [BBC News: sci/tech] I do not feel too sorry for the people using file swapping software. They are normally pirating other peoples content anyway. You get what you deserve. 12:04:04 PM    comment []

Parenting suffers in e-mail overload. Employees in the UK spend more time sorting out their office e-mails than playing with their children, according to a government study. [BBC News: sci/tech] Boy I think this one is complete bull. It says employees spend 50 minutes sorting through Email a day. Well maybe. It also claims working partents spend less than 29 minutes a day playing with their kids. I sincerely doubbt that. I spend hours with my kids everyday interacting, not just in the same room. Is everyone else ignoring theirs. I don't see that in my neighborhood. 12:01:00 PM    comment []

Fail-Safe Nuclear Fission. Popular Mechanics May 19 2002 10:09PM ET [Moreover - moreover...] Maybe it is time to look at nuclear power again. I still think we should invest in fusion technology. 11:49:08 AM    comment []