Technology News for November 23, 2007

Scientists give thumbs down to rainmaking technology
International scientists have already given rainmaking technology funded by the Australian government the thumbs down, says an adviser to the World Meteorological Organization. ANI

T-ray beam to revolutionise improve airport security, medical scans
An international team led by Ulrich Welp at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, US, has come closer to producing a beam of terahertz waves or T-rays that could revolutionise airport security and medical scans. ANI

Landlines may soon be history
A British company claims that it has developed a device that can bring an end to the traditional landline telephones, and make mobile technology more efficient. Technologists at Bath-based PicoChip have named this technology femtocell, which is as small as a paperback book. ANI

2000-year-old Iron Age comb unearthed in Warwickshire
A 2,000-year-old Iron Age comb has been unearthed in Warwickshire, and is said to be one of nearly 60,000 archaeological finds made by members of the public in a year.The comb, found in Tanworth-in-Arden by metal detector enthusiast Russell Peach, was one of the most notable of the antiquities unearthed in 2006. ANI

Rising tides intensify non-volcanic tremor in Earths crust: Study
University of Washington (UW) researchers have reportedly found evidence that episodic tremor-and-slip events contributing to ultra-slow-motion earthquakes under Western Washington and British Columbia on a regular basis, about every 14 months, are actually affected by the rise and fall of ocean tides. ANI

DNA molecule liquid crystal phase points to a new scenario on first life on Earth
A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Milan has discovered some unexpected forms of liquid crystals of ultra-short DNA molecules immersed in water, which could reveal information about the emergence of life on Earth. ANI

Making more than your colleagues matters more than the amount
Nothing motivates a man more than money - especially if his colleagues are getting less. ANI