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Flower trap kills mosquitoes
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REUTERS/ALLEN FREDRICKSON
TECHNOLOGY
Web effect on people’s politics BARACK OBAMA tapped the power of the internet like no other US presidential candidate. He recruited millions of online followers and raised over $500 million via the web. But did this “net roots” campaign break down traditional divisions in politics? Alas no, say political scientists. “Real world” political activities, like writing a letter to an official or signing a petition, are known to vary with income. Almost 80 per cent of those in the wealthiest fifth of the US population get involved, compared with less than 40 per cent in the bottom fifth. Henry Brady at the University of California, Berkeley, has generated a similar breakdown for online activities, such as emailing politicians or donating money over the web. His survey of more than 2200 people, conducted just prior to last year’s US elections, reveals that levels of online
political activity amongst the most and least wealthy Americans were over 60 per cent compared with about 10 per cent, respectively. The difference persists even when age and internet access are controlled for. “The internet hasn’t changed the fundamental structure of politics,”
“Obama recruited millions of online followers and raised over $500 million via the web” says Brady, who presented his results at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Mountain View, California. However, since users of social networking websites like Facebook show less stratification by income, such sites could help break down barriers, he says.
–Breaking down barriers?–
Flower’s power to trap mosquitoes
Programs wanted for old-style chips
MOSQUITOES are infamous for sucking blood, but mostly they prefer sucking nectar from flowers. Thomas Kollars at Georgia Southern University at Statesboro in the US is using flower power to trap mosquitoes, which spread malaria, dengue, yellow fever and other infections. He has designed a flower-shaped plastic trap in blue, green, red and black – all colours Kollars says attract mosquitoes. In the middle of the disc is a pad soaked in sweet fluid laced with Bt, an insecticide that selectively kills mosquitoes. A fine screen keeps out other insects but allows the mosquito’s proboscis through. The discs have killed mosquitoes in lab tests and Kollars is now testing them in fields in Puerto Rico. The results will be presented at a meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association in New Orleans next month.
THE markets of Bangalore and Shanghai are stocked with simple 8-bit computers based on chips that consumers in wealthier nations stopped using years ago. Could these machines offer a way to provide children in India, China and other developing countries with educational software? That is the idea behind Playpower, an organisation set up by researchers from the US, Brazil and India. The team is calling on public-spirited programmers to develop educational games for these simple machines. Manufacturers in China alone
20
years since the World Wide Web was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee, on 13 March 1989, while working at CERN
sell 10 million 8-bit devices a year for around $10 each, says Jeremy Douglass, a software researcher at the University of California, San Diego. These machines are based on the chip that powered the 1970s-vintage Apple II and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The processor is built into a keyboard, which plugs into any television. Manufacturers already sell the machines with games cartridges, and Douglass says they would happily add educational games if available. “We don’t have to build infrastructure or distribution,” he says. “We can just start publishing content.” He made the call at the Emerging Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on 10 March.
“Children even start crying when they are scolded” Hiroshi Kobayashi at Tokyo University of Science in Japan, who has developed a lifelike female robot teacher called Saya. The remote-controlled robot comes programmed with the ability to express six different emotions, including disgust and anger (The Guardian online, 13 March).
21 March 2009 | NewScientist | 15
REUTERS/ALLEN FREDRICKSON
TECHNOLOGY
Web effect on people’s politics BARACK OBAMA tapped the power of the internet like no other US presidential candidate. He recruited millions of online followers and raised over $500 million via the web. But did this “net roots” campaign break down traditional divisions in politics? Alas no, say political scientists. “Real world” political activities, like writing a letter to an official or signing a petition, are known to vary with income. Almost 80 per cent of those in the wealthiest fifth of the US population get involved, compared with less than 40 per cent in the bottom fifth. Henry Brady at the University of California, Berkeley, has generated a similar breakdown for online activities, such as emailing politicians or donating money over the web. His survey of more than 2200 people, conducted just prior to last year’s US elections, reveals that levels of online
political activity amongst the most and least wealthy Americans were over 60 per cent compared with about 10 per cent, respectively. The difference persists even when age and internet access are controlled for. “The internet hasn’t changed the fundamental structure of politics,”
“Obama recruited millions of online followers and raised over $500 million via the web” says Brady, who presented his results at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Mountain View, California. However, since users of social networking websites like Facebook show less stratification by income, such sites could help break down barriers, he says.
–Breaking down barriers?–
Flower’s power to trap mosquitoes
Programs wanted for old-style chips
MOSQUITOES are infamous for sucking blood, but mostly they prefer sucking nectar from flowers. Thomas Kollars at Georgia Southern University at Statesboro in the US is using flower power to trap mosquitoes, which spread malaria, dengue, yellow fever and other infections. He has designed a flower-shaped plastic trap in blue, green, red and black – all colours Kollars says attract mosquitoes. In the middle of the disc is a pad soaked in sweet fluid laced with Bt, an insecticide that selectively kills mosquitoes. A fine screen keeps out other insects but allows the mosquito’s proboscis through. The discs have killed mosquitoes in lab tests and Kollars is now testing them in fields in Puerto Rico. The results will be presented at a meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association in New Orleans next month.
THE markets of Bangalore and Shanghai are stocked with simple 8-bit computers based on chips that consumers in wealthier nations stopped using years ago. Could these machines offer a way to provide children in India, China and other developing countries with educational software? That is the idea behind Playpower, an organisation set up by researchers from the US, Brazil and India. The team is calling on public-spirited programmers to develop educational games for these simple machines. Manufacturers in China alone
20
years since the World Wide Web was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee, on 13 March 1989, while working at CERN
sell 10 million 8-bit devices a year for around $10 each, says Jeremy Douglass, a software researcher at the University of California, San Diego. These machines are based on the chip that powered the 1970s-vintage Apple II and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The processor is built into a keyboard, which plugs into any television. Manufacturers already sell the machines with games cartridges, and Douglass says they would happily add educational games if available. “We don’t have to build infrastructure or distribution,” he says. “We can just start publishing content.” He made the call at the Emerging Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on 10 March.
“Children even start crying when they are scolded” Hiroshi Kobayashi at Tokyo University of Science in Japan, who has developed a lifelike female robot teacher called Saya. The remote-controlled robot comes programmed with the ability to express six different emotions, including disgust and anger (The Guardian online, 13 March).
21 March 2009 | NewScientist | 15