Technology Pump-action bike security Hartmut Hubert of Berlin has invented a great gadget for cyclists: a lock that not only stops vandals stealing your bicycle, but safeguards the pump too. The secret? The lock also acts as your pump. Most cyclists lock their bikes with a U-lock, a U-shaped rod of hardened steel that you stick between the spokes. … 51¶¯Âþ
By their bar codes shall ye know them IT SOUNDS like a trick worthy of the gene police in Gattaca, but hiding a bar code in DNA could prove very valuable for identifying genetically modified plants. Spotting modified plants at present is a tough job because you need to know what has been added before you know what to look for (see "Britain … Opinion
The impossible pound note It was about 4 o'clock on 14 November 1888 – a Wednesday. The man behind the counter of the spirit store on Glasgow's Parliamentary Road was pretty sure of the time. And he remembered the man clearly. About 40 years old, medium height with brown whiskers. He had a "dissipated appearance" and "appeared to have … Features
Do u wan2 tlk? ;-) IF YOU own a mobile phone, how do you think you'd cope without it? A recent study by the Italian consumer association looked at the effect of depriving 300 volunteers of their phones for two weeks. Nearly 1 in 6 reported loss of appetite or depression. And a quarter confessed that being phoneless was a … Inside Science
Feedback WE WERE impressed to hear about the largesse of a prominent British government-funded research organisation, which we won't name to avoid creating embarrassment. But we were less impressed by its computer security. A friend turned up last week bearing a rather nice laptop computer. He had just found it in some rubbish outside a block … Regulars