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REDMOND, Washington, Sep 19, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Microsoft Corp. on Thursday disclosed more flaws in its Windows operating systems, the most serious of which could let an outside attacker take over a computer. The software company advised that all users of Windows install a free patch to fix flaws in its "virtual machine" for translating applications written in the Java programming language. Microsoft termed the threat "critical." Microsoft also disclosed "moderate" flaws in Windows 2000 and XP and advises administrators of Windows 2000 servers and end users of Windows XP to download a patch. The flaws...

The discovery of a molecule that repairs damaged DNA could pave the way for more effective and reliable cancer treatment. The molecule, called AlkB, can hamper chemotherapy treatments purposely targeted to damage tumour DNA, says the study published in the magazine Nature. Inhibiting the mechanism or using it to shield healthy tissue from chemotherapy damage could thus mark an important advance in cancer treatment, say the study's authors. The discovery of the mechanism "was both surprising and very exciting," lead researcher Barbara Sedgwick said. 'Surprise' AlkB uses a chemical process called oxidative demethylation to repair DNA, depending on the presence...

Proposal: Removing Earth's Radiation Belts By Leonard David posted: 07:00 am ET 16 September 2002 Here's a cinch of an idea: How about a little Van Allen Belt tightening? By using highly charged orbiting space tethers, the Earth's cocoon of menacing and deadly radiation belts might be easily and largely aced out. For one, satellites in the future could live longer not having to fend off the frenzy of energetic particles. Moreover, human-carrying spacecraft would be far safer zooming about in Earth orbit or speeding outward to distant destinations. The novel concept is called the High Voltage Orbiting Long...

SCIENTISTS DEVELOP ATOMIC-SCALE MEMORY Caption: An atomic-scale memory chip, made by removing individual atoms from a silicon wafer, has been created by a team of scientists led by Franz Himpsel, professor of physics. The feat, reported in the journal Nanotechnology, represents a first crude step toward a practical atomic-scale memory where atoms of silicon would represent the binary 1s and 0s that computers use to store data. Photo by: courtesy Franz Himpsel Date: August 2002 MADISON - In 1959, physics icon Richard Feynman, in a characteristic back-of-the-envelope calculation, predicted that all the words written in the history of the world...

In the parking lot of a building squeezed between Interstate 80 and the Sacramento River, Kota Manabe did something at once elemental and revolutionary: He topped off the tank of a sport utility vehicle. The only suggestions that anything was out of the ordinary were the flame-retardant suit the Toyota engineer wore and the fuel he pumped into the Highlander: pure hydrogen. "Basically, it's just like refueling at a normal station,' fellow engineer Kyo Hattori said. Almost. While hydrogen is the most-abundant element in the universe, as an automotive fuel it's about as commonplace as moon travel. There are only...

DETROIT (Jan. 7, 2002) — When Rick Wagoner, President and CEO of General Motors Corp., asked a simple "What if?" question, the answer he got surprised even him. It's a futuristic concept vehicle called AUTOnomy. "We started with the premise, 'What if we were inventing the automobile today rather than a century ago? What might we do differently?'" Wagoner said. "AUTOnomy is more than just a new concept car; it's potentially the start of a revolution in how automobiles are designed, built and used." More on the AUTOnomy: Outside-the-box design 24 patents sought for AUTOnomy Clearly it's cleaner Specifications AUTOnomy...

<p>Microsoft Corp. is pushing further into digital rights management with a plan for a DRM server due to go into beta testing later this year.</p> <p>DRM technology enables content creators, such as record companies, to encrypt content and define who can decrypt it and how they can use it. Microsoft is counting on increasing adoption of the technology to help drive demand for many of its current and future products.</p>

Electric signals can be transmitted at least four times faster than the speed of light using only basic equipment that would be found in virtually any college science department. Scientists have sent light signals at faster-than-light speeds over the distances of a few metres for the last two decades - but only with the aid of complicated, expensive equipment. Now physicists at Middle Tennessee State University have broken that speed limit over distances of nearly 120 metres, using off-the-shelf equipment costing just $500. Jeremy Munday and Bill Robertson made a 120-metre-long cable by alternating six- to eight-metre-long lengths of two...

AMD yesterday published revised its processor roadmaps, showing later than expected launches for 64-bit Clawhammers and 32-bit Bartons. Clawhammer chips are now, in AMD's phrase expected to "ship for revenue" Q1, 2003 - previously they were slated for shipping in Q4 this year. This means that Hammer-enabled systems should be available to the general public at the turn of Q1/Q2, 2003, AMD tells us(The server version - Opteron - is still supposed to launch in H1 next year. So no movement there.) Similarly, Barton, the upcoming iteration of the AMD Athlon XP, is showing production slippage, with launch rescheduled from...

A site calling itself www.democrats.com has a series of hysterical posts about TransOrbital's plan to send a private mission to the Moon. "While Nation Looks the Other Way on 9/11 Anniversary, Bush Gives Moon to Private Corporation for 'Industrial Development' Like all the other international laws, Bush is now ignoring those pertaining to space. As America is distracted by 9/11 remembrances and warnings of new threats, His Heinous has turned the moon over to a private, for-profit corporation called TransOrbital that has a far-reaching, frigthening agenda for the corporate domination of space. All TransOrbital had to do was promise not...

A new electronic tagging system to track livestock could be operating in New South Wales in a little over a year. The State Government has decided to adopt the system, which forms part of the National Livestock Identification Scheme. The Government says the Electronic Livestock Identification or ELI will have a dramatic impact on combating stock theft and disease outbreaks. The Government will spend more than $5 million setting up the technology at sale yards, abattoirs and other key livestock locations. Farmers will eventually have to replace tagging of their stock with microchips, which will provide a life history of...

With a crackling sound like that of frying eggs, an undulating thread of intense, blue-white light dances across the small space between the tips of two metal rods. Using his spark-gap transmitter, a mild-mannered 31-year-old physics professor demonstrates electromagnetic phenomena to students in a dimly lit classroom at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. The year is 1887, and Heinrich Hertz is generating radio waves. Seven years later a young Italian named Guglielmo Marconi reads a journal article by Hertz while vacationing in the Alps and abruptly rushes home with a vision of a wireless telegraph in his head. Soon...

In February, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the commercial deployment of a new wireless technology that can transmit data, voice and video over short distances with more flexibility than other radio frequencies. Known as ultra wideband (UWB), the FCC said the technology holds "great promise for a vast array of new applications." The agency somberly noted that UWB promises "significant benefits" for public safety, pointing out the technology's ability to power radar imaging of objects buried under the ground or behind walls, providing a rescue workers at catastrophic disasater sites with a valuable, lifesaving tool. UWB also may lead to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Microsoft's flagship word processor has a security flaw that could allow the theft of computer files by "bugging" a document with a hidden code, the company disclosed Thursday. It was exploring how to fix the problem and whether to extend the repair to an older version of the software still used by millions. The attack begins when a bugged document goes out, usually with a request to be revised and returned to the sender -- a common form of daily communication. When the document is changed and sent back, the targeted file accompanies it. "It has the...

Windows XP contains massive security hole Install the Service Pack and, shush, don't tell anyone... MICROSOFT'S RUSH to get Windows XP SP1 out and about may have been motivated by a desire to hide a vulnerability afflicting the operating system (cough) that allows hackers to delete files from a computer accessing a tweaked web page. According to this Spanish-language site, a Googled translation of which is here, "a defect in Windows XP allows that anyone can erase archives of our computer if click becomes on a connection maliciously constructed, as much when visiting a malignant Web site, like a...

Hardware Intel: Where no chip has gone before By Michael Kanellos Special to ZDNet NewsSeptember 12, 2002, 11:50 AM PT SAN JOSE, Calif.--The nanotechnology era is here, and Intel is looking at all the options. News FocusIntel Developer Forum news On Thursday, at its Developer Forum here, The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker disclosed a number of technology changes and avenues of research that will direct the future development of its chips. The company, for instance, confirmed that it is working on a multiple-gate transistor, called the Tri-Gate transistor, that will, if eventually incorporated into commercially released chips, increase the...

Typically software makers like Microsoft provide a simple means of uninstalling software--particularly software such as Media Player 9 Series that has yet to be officially released. The Redmond, Wash.-based company released the public beta version last week amid much fanfare in Hollywood. Windows Me and XP users must rely on a feature called "System Restore" to roll back their Windows installation to a time before they installed Media Player 9 Series if the want to uninstall it. The clunky alternative doesn't really remove all Windows Media Player 9 Series files and could potentially wipe out other system changes. David Caulton,...

Who's gunning for Game Boy and Google? By Dan Farber, Tech UpdateSeptember 5, 2002 10:16 AM PT The impact of technology on society, economics, business practices and corporate culture has been profound. I state the obvious. While technology is not going to bring peace to the Middle East, ignite tech spending, or replace the dreadful stream of television programming, it has broken through borders and enabled new, powerful forms of communication. But it also has spawned some very bizarre and repressive government policies. The sage Greek parliament gets an award for passing the most absurd technology-related legislation. The recently...

Intel Rubbishes AMD's Hybrid Plans DATE: 09/12/2002 The head of Intel Corp's server chip division rubbished AMD's 32/64-bit hybrid processor proposition yesterday, saying that if it's such a good idea, why hasn't anyone done it before? Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's enterprise, speaking after a keynote speech at the vendor's developer forum in San Jose, questioned the logic of supporting both 64-bit and 32-bit computing on the same processor. Advanced Micro Devices Inc is pushing its hybrid approach as a way for corporations to smooth their transition from legacy 32-bit applications to 64-bit computing. Fister...

LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Another novel approach to fighting cancer stumbled this week following disappointing trial results for experimental drug Avastin, leading scientists to question whether drug trials are being designed properly. ADVERTISEMENT Avastin is being developed by Genentech, the world's No. 2 biotechnology company. Late Monday, Genentech (NYSE:DNA - News) said advanced breast cancer patients given chemotherapy and Avastin, which blocks a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, fared no better than patients who took the chemotherapy drug alone. News of the failed trial sent the South San Francisco, California-based company's shares, which have lost nearly half...