Free Republic

Everyone will have their educational and work achievements tracked from birth to the age of 30 under radical plans to improve social mobility. Ministers will unveil seven new ‘Life Chance Indicators’ next week as part of a plan to help children from poorer homes do better. The indicators measure everything from a person’s weight at birth to their university achievements and earnings at the age of 30. Five-year-olds will be tested for their ‘readiness for school’, including their academic ability and ability to listen. The measures will be used to judge whether initiatives such as the Sure Start programme to...

BAMBERG, Germany — Warner Barracks and other U.S. Army Europe gate guards soon will hold the key to access: A hand-held computer that will check, verify and track every person entering a military facility. Under the Installation Access Control System, gate security will scan every military ID card and have the ability to check a person’s photo, fingerprint and vehicle information, said Sgt. Mark McConnaughhay, physical security inspector for 279th Base Support Battalion’s Provost Marshal Office. “Since registration involves providing a photo and fingerprint, gate guards won’t have to take an ID card at face value anymore,” McConnaughhay said. “This...

LONDON -- A British scientist said on Monday he had been inundated with requests by panicked parents to implant a tracking microchip into their children after the recent murders of two 10-year-olds in a quiet English town. Cybernetics expert Kevin Warwick from Reading University near London believes he can allay parents fears with a tiny microchip that may prevent an abduction from becoming a murder. The controversial robotics scientist gained fame in Britain after he wired his own nervous system to a computer in an experiment he hopes will eventually give paralysed people more control over their own bodies. ``A...