2014
Year of the Horse
Islamic calendar 1434-35

22nd Olympic Winter Games in Windhoek, Namibia
Graviton breakthrough allows measurement of mass of universe
Virtual rioting on the datanets in protest at online policing
Internet has 4,000 million users
100th anniversary of outbreak of World War I -
Battle of the Somme (1916) recreated in full on Simnet

Demand for LEPs exceeds supply - electronurseries warn of price hikes
Rogue fungicide threatens European vineyards
Hungary declares national emergency over runaway mildew bacteria
At last! Holograms go to the movies!
Daytime soap classic The Bold and the Beautiful recorded on hologram cubes
Pelmano tablets improve short-term memory, but IQ levels unchanged
Super artificial skin senses weak electrical fields - new breakthrough in gene manipulation

SatWebTicker 11.2.2014

Demand for LEPs exceeds supply - electronurseries warn of price hikes

The global demand for LEPs - light-emitting plants - is so great that nurseries are unable to keep up. As a result, prices for LEPs have almost doubled in less than two months.

Individuals, companies, and organizations are so desperate to place light-emitting plants in their yards and garden areas that in several US states we have even seen the emergence of LEP exchanges, where prices are fixed daily much as shares on the Dow-Nikkei Index.

The wild rush to get horticulturally lit up all stems from the discovery by the Athens-based Luciferase Corporation that it was possible to combine the genes of various plants and certain bacteria that have bioluminescent properties. The result was a patent for plants that glow in the dark and create dramatically beautiful effects. The assortment of light-emitting plants now runs from small shrubs and grasses all the way to large deciduous trees and conifers.

The light-emitting forest growing near the site of the Luciferase Corporation's research laboratories has become a popular tourist attraction for Greeks and foreigners alike. Busloads of visitors pour into the woods every evening to gaze at the modern equivalent of a romantic enchanted forest.

Even though demand for LEPs is running high, the Greek company has been very tight about granting production licences to other plant nurseries. The Luciferase CEO Mikis Alexandridis commented at yesterday's press briefing that the company would attempt to ease the situation by granting a few new licences in the near future. The company is nevertheless eager to keep production at a relatively low level, in order that the LEPs will retain their present luxury goods status. There are also fears that if there were more opportunities to steal plants from outside growers, then illegal cloning and copying of the designs would soon follow.

The Luciferase Corporation has also guaranteed that the LEPs will not lose their market value by ensuring that the plants cannot reproduce, and even the cloning process has been made more difficult by certain genetic processes. Thus when the plant dies, the owner is obliged to buy a new one from Luciferase or one of its licensees.

Care of the LEPs does not come cheap, either, as the bioluminescence requires the combining of certain chemicals - basically the oxidization of luciferin - and hence demands an unusually energy-rich soil for the plant to flourish. The Luciferase Corporation and its licence-holders therefore offer plant-owners a special fertilizer compound, meaning the company collects both ways. Nature conservation organizations and NADA (the Natural Development Association) have expressed concerns that some of the chemicals in the fertilizer are not naturally occurring in soil, and their environmental effects have not been sufficiently well documented.

In addition to the Luciferase Forest of Light in Greece, there are other impressive LEP parks in Copenhagen, Denmark, and close to the Swiss capital, Bern. The first such exhibit in the United States was in Central Park, NYC, at the Tavern On The Green restaurant, and now the two largest displays are at Disneyland in California, and at the Elvis ThemePark just outside Memphis. Other large collections of LEPs can be seen in Shanghai and Nanking, in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, and in Osaka, Japan.

NetWeb Europe 22.9.2014

Rogue fungicide threatens European vineyards

The rogue anti-mildew bacteria developed by World Biochemicals is spreading like wildfire across Central Europe. It is currently threatening vineyards in the Alsace, Mosel, Rheingau and Rheinhessen regions, but EU oenology experts fear this is only the overture to destruction on a far greater scale.

The bacteria was developed initially by the huge Swiss-based consortium to remove the problem of damp-related mildew in old buildings. The GE programming limited the bacteria's focus to two strains of mildew. In laboratory trials and during the first phase of in situ applications last winter the bacteria behaved as expected and results in Switzerland were impressive, pushing WB's shares to new highs in London and Frankfurt. However, this summer, perhaps as a result of record temperatures in Central Europe, the bacteria began to develop an appetite for other forms of fungus. It is currently spreading northward into French and German vineyards and eating the yeast genus known as Saccharomyces ellipsoideus which lives on the skin of the grape and is essential to the conversion of sugar to ethyl alcohol in the winemaking process. The first indications of similar destruction among indigenous grape varieties - Mavrud and Gamza - in the wine-growing regions of Bulgaria have also been reported.

Global foodstuffs production at risk?

In view of the seriousness of the situation, the EU has banned all cross-border transport of grapes, vine plants, and wines. Many Union biotech specialists are nevertheless sceptical about the value of such measures, and forecast that the spread of the fungicide will spell the end of viniculture in Europe, and in time, across the entire planet.

Lois Germain-Yquem, Director-General of the EU's Biotechnology Research Unit, stated to reporters that the bacteria showed no signs of stabilizing, but that further mutations were possible. If this should happen, the risk could extend for example to mycelia of various kinds present in the soil, which are vital to maintaining soil fertility, or even to laboratories manufacturing antibiotics. It has also been suggested that yeasts for baking and brewing will be targeted, and European cheese producers are anxiously awaiting confirmation of tests carried out on surface or injected moulds used in such household names as Stilton, Port Salut, or Gorgonzola. Director-General Germain-Yquem said that these are only the first dangers that will have to be faced. He noted that to a very great extent, all life on earth is dependent upon moulds and fungi.

Security measures "merely a band-aid on a severed artery"

The problems that have emerged from the runaway bacteria have led to angry attacks on the EU Gene Control Authority and the European Commission, who granted permission for the anti-mildew bacteria to be applied in building maintenance and retrofit work. Both bodies gave assurances that the genetic programming on the bacteria had been tested and found safe. They refused to listen to arguments from independent experts who opposed the use of genetically engineered bacteria on the grounds that bacteria were known to be able to alter shape through so-called "fertility genes" within plasmids in the DNA. The United States and certain Asian countries have already drafted tight security precautions. For example, travellers arriving in these countries are subjected to complete bacterial screening of themselves and their luggage. Passengers are disinfected with a liquid solution in large showers hastily erected at ports, airports and major frontier crossings, and clothing and luggage is irradiated. Similar radiation procedures are in effect on mail and parcels deliveries. According to Thomas da Silva, Foreign Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka, these measures are no more than a futile holding action, since winds and wild animals will sooner or later carry the bacteria from one country to another.

NetWeb Europe 27.9.2014

Non-EU countries demand stringent action and massive compensation

Hungary declares national emergency over runaway mildew bacteria

The panic caused by the spread of the mutant fungicide shows no sign of abating. There are now real fears that the global economy, and even world peace, is at stake.

Hungary is the first country to declare a state of emergency over the bacterial fungicide. It has also demanded the immediate resignation of the entire European Commission and the EU Gene Control Authority. Belgian police have placed the GCA Director under house arrest, and there were ugly scenes at the EU Headquarters in Brussels yesterday as a large crowd broke into the complex. The demonstrators were disappointed however, as the committee rooms revealed only the holographic images of the Union's Commissars. The whereabouts of the Commission members is unknown.

China, India, the U.S. and Brazil have all sent angry diplomatic signals to Brussels, demanding speedy action to eradicate the rogue fungicide. They have also announced that they will be claiming full and immediate compensation for any damage caused by the bacteria, and that they "will make sure one way or another that compliance is total", as the Brazilian communiqué noted. The disgraced Gene Control Authority has allocated EUR 3,500M to research establishments for developing a means of killing the bacteria. The Norwegian Biomechanics Institute in Trondheim reports that it is developing a viral bacteriophage that is believed also to be effective against mildew bacteria. The Institute also commented, however, that unleashing the virus could result in the wholesale destruction of all forms of bacteria, with obviously terminal effects on human and animal life on the planet.

Huge tailbacks and queues have built up at frontiers and airports in numerous countries following the introduction of disinfection controls on travellers. Many smaller and remote border crossings have also closed completely, as it was not possible to ship in the necessary disinfecting and radiation equipment. The homepages of numerous major governmental and regional authorities have also been gridlocked as millions of people search for information on the rogue fungicide or make suggestions on how it should be eradicated.

According to an unconfirmed report received a few moments ago, EU Commission President Justin Thyme will speak on NetWeb in three hours' time.

TimeOut 10.10.2014

At last! Holograms go to the movies!

In response to huge public demand, the world's first moving holograms will be on show for an extra week, until next Friday, at the Blair Science Centre in the Millennium Dome.

The animated hologram has been described as one of the greatest scientific puzzles of recent decades, and its invention has been hailed as an advance to match that of the videophone. For years, scientists have tried in vain to producing moving holographic images. At one point the task was widely held to be quite impossible. Finally the Chinese-born Prof. Lee Cheng came up with an idea for getting holograms moving after he delved back into the folk beliefs of his native land - according to which different colours stand for different properties, and their variations have an impact on the destiny of China.

In the laboratories of the Beijing Institute of Technology Prof. Lee developed a computer model with which it was possible - using a special camera - to break up each of the parts of the laser beam required to produce a hologram into its component colours and the colours then into sections of differing lengths. By dividing and re-composing the laser image in this way it was possible to produce a moving hologram.

The Millennium Dome exhibition features nine moving hologram images. The earliest three depict moving objects and are in black and white - or rather in tones of grey, as initially it was not possible to produce moving white light. The six later examples also show moving objects, but among them are some images of people, including a young child feeding itself.

Professor Lee, who attended the opening of the show last week, said at the press briefing that development in this field can be expected to take off relatively quickly from now on. He estimated that the first hologrammatic movies would become available within before the end of the decade, but that at first they could only be shown in special theatres, because the networks are as yet unable to cope with the transfer of the vast amount of information required.

Further information on opening times and admission prices:
sat.web. UK-56-444-MD-HOL

TV & MV Weekly 17.10.2014

Daytime soap classic The Bold and the Beautiful recorded on hologram cubes

The long-running American soap opera legend "The Bold and The Beautiful" has been recorded in its entirety on four optical memory cubes.

The romance & intrigue drama-series totalled around 2,200 hours of programming, and was transmitted - often in daytime slots - from the early 1990s through to 2005. At the time, The Bold and the Beautiful was said to produce a drug-like addiction amongst its more devoted followers, and the series collected large television audiences in several countries, where the original American dialogue was dubbed or sub-titled.

The rights to the series are now held by Microsoft Disney. Robin C. Winnie, Executive Vice-President, Publications, reported this week that MDCorp. has recorded the episodes on hologram cubes largely for the benefit of collectors. Owners of autodidactic computers will also welcome the news, since they have long argued that the dialogue in the series is extremely clear and simple, and because the often convoluted plots cover the full range of human communication, expressions, and misunderstandings. This makes it ideal fare to feed to computers attempting to learn to interact with human users.

Winnie went on to say that the orders for the first cubes had come mainly from the elderly. Many of the buyers had been regular addicts of the series earlier on television, and now wished to see it again from the beginning.

Younger viewers are less enthusiastic about The Bold and the Beautiful. A certain amount of interest has been generated, however, by the version produced for Sony Multivision, in which the original actors and actresses can be replaced by persons from the register of videophone users, for example neighbours and relatives.

Young people are also rather turned off by the old-fashioned passive aspect of the series. They prefer interactive simulations, such as virtual adventures, or multivision productions featuring 3-D emoto-elements. These require a great deal more recording capacity than old movies, however, and hence a hologram cube can accommodate only around three hours of one of the latest programmes, whereas roughly 600 hours of The Bold and the Beautiful can be compressed into the same space.

Microsoft Disney has acquired the rights to numerous other classic series from the TV-era, and Robin C. Winnie announced that the company would be launching some of these next spring. Among the series that fans can look forward to are Star Trek (the space travel cult classic that reappeared in several new reincarnations), Peyton Place (a 1960s drama of life in America), and the popular children's magazine show Sesame Street. Sony is also reportedly developing multivision versions of these titles that will allow the user to play a particular role and interact with other characters via videophone links.

SatWeb 29.10.2014

Pelmano tablets improve short-term memory, but IQ levels unchanged

An extensive study just published by the WHO has confirmed the long-held assertion that a good memory is not the same thing as intelligence.

The WHO study was carried out following demands from consumer associations in a number of countries for a ban on sales of memory-enhancing tablets. The advertisements for the drugs have claimed that regular doses increase IQ levels. Manufacturers of the memory pills, above all the Semi Medi Conservatory., whose Pelmano tablets have seized some 80% of the market, have countered the demands by claiming that studies on schoolchildren in a number of countries have indicated better grades among pupils taking the drugs. Schoolchildren and students currently pop nearly 70 million of these tablets daily, and demand is growing rapidly.

The World Health Organization commissioned memory and IQ tests in a total of 61 countries. More than 8000 people took part, drawn from different age-groupings and social strata. All the tested individuals underwent nine tests, both before taking the treatment and afterwards.

The tests used included MC-Memory (examining short- and long-term memory faculties) and VarSapiens (a standard IQ benchtest for comprehension and deduction). The results indicated that the Pelmano tablets improved memory levels by an average of 19%. On the other hand, the figures for the IQ tests showed only an improvement of 0.12% after treatment with the drug.

In its conclusions, the WHO did recognize that the memory tablets may have other beneficial effects besides improved memory, since the increased capacity to remember may increase interest in learning new things. Nevertheless, further studies are planned on the effects of the drug on users' health, as in certain cases there are reasons to suspect that excessive or sustained use can cause semi-psychotic states.

In news just in, Semi Medi and other pharmaceuticals companies producing the memory-enhancing drugs have announced that they are willing to accept the findings of the WHO study and respect the earlier decisions of consumer authorities.

SatWeb 30.11.2014

Super artificial skin senses weak electrical fields - new breakthrough in gene manipulation

The arrival on the market of super artificial skin has generated a host of new professions.

The most significant of the new professions is that of the electronics and electrical detector. The electrodermis organogenetic skin developed for this purpose can sense even weak electrical currents, resistances, or charges. An experienced electrodetector can match the performance of a conventional universal test meter, with the only condition being that the maximum voltage cannot exceed 32V. Skilled detectors are capable of sensing down to 100mV.

The great advantage of the electrodetectors over metering devices is speed. Using a test meter often involves finding a suitable place to put the cables, whereas the detector simply places two fingers in the right spot. Furthermore, the detector is always "on" - in other words the detection process is a constant one, and requires no external power source.

Several manufacturers of electronic devices have already hired and trained hundreds of electrodetectors. Electrical and electronic repair shops have also availed themselves of the services of these new skilled workmen.

The pressure and heat sensitivities developed for other artificial skin applications have also led to new professional skills entering the job market. People fitted with pressure sensitive skin have been used for example at airports to measure local air pressure variations, and are employed to cover the entire runway and airport approach areas looking for emerging microturbulence fronts or microburst-generated wind shear. Skin developed for heat sensitive applications is already in use in the detection of mould and mildew damage to buildings.

The first artificial skin grown in cell culture was released in 1997 by the Swiss-based Novartis Pharma AG. The Apligraf bilayered graftskin construct then introduced - initially for the treatment of venous leg ulcers - has since been further developed and modified and has been in use for over fifteen years in the care of serious wounds and burns. The company began work on a range of sophisticated second-generation organogenetic skin formats some six years ago when it was observed that the properties of Apligraf constructs could be altered with genes taken from animals and spliced with living human keratinocytes and fibroblasts.

Hannula I. & Linturi R. 1998: 100 Phenomena.
Yritysmikrot Oy, Helsinki 1998. Copyright notices ISBN 952-9508-18-2