In The News

Chinese Astronauts to Compete for Final Frontier

Joan Johnson-Freese March 14, 2003
A chain reaction of space activity, begun by Soviet-U.S competition in the 1960’s, has been duly catalyzed by China’s own manned space effort. The Middle Kingdom began its ventures into space in 1999, but soon it hopes to be only the third nation to have achieved human spaceflight. If this does happen, China’s position vis-à-vis the world - and particularly vis-à-vis the US - is bound to change...

Broadband Driven by Online Games

Sirivish Toomgum March 11, 2003
Although the Minister of Information and Communications Technology in Thailand raised concerns over the effects of the massive population of players of online games, it is clear that these gamers are driving up the demand for broadband service. One particular game, Ragnarok, has a registered community of Thai players passing 700,000. Paradoxically, as Thai broadband technology develops, matching...

Offence to Lodge Patent Outside Singapore First

Angela Tan March 4, 2003
As traditional trade barriers continue to disintegrate, innovators around the world are searching for the next billion-dollar invention that will transform global society. But while some inventors want to patent their products overseas, few realize that they might be committing a crime in the process. The lack of “world patents” means that any invention can be subject to the patent laws of the...

Development of Biotech Crops is Booming in Asia

David Barboza February 21, 2003
Despite unease in some parts of the world about the safety of genetically modified food, farmers in some Asian countries are jumping on the biotech bandwagon. Because GM crops are already increasing production in places like the United States, many Asian farmers have little choice but to plant them if they want to stay competitive. Governments are scrambling, too, investing huge sums of money...

Weapons That Disable Circuitry May Get First Use in Iraq

Seth Schiesel February 20, 2003
Along with a host of smarter, more powerful bombs and planes, the United States is preparing a new type of weapon for war in Iraq: the directed-energy device. The devices use microwaves to disable anything digital and could destroy, for example, computerized Iraqi control centers. The US, with its computer-dependent military, is especially vulnerable to these weapons, however, and terrorist...

$3 Million U.S. Computer Theft, Hatched It Seems in Pakistan

David Rhode January 20, 2003
Through a complicated system of sham online auctions and falsely registered mailboxes, a 25-year old Pakistani man reportedly stole more than $3 million in computer equipment from U.S. companies. He was able to do all this in his own home through the internet, taking full advantage of the integrated world economy. – YaleGlobal

In Virtual Museums, an Archive of the World

James Gorman January 12, 2003
Museums around the US are attempting to move their collections into cyberspace. Once completed, digitization projects such as that at the American Museum of Natural History will allow anyone around the globe with a connection to the internet to browse and study images and notes on millions of fossils, plants, animals, and – of course – pieces of art. "The goal, officials at several museums...