Technology Don't forget your passpictures Computer passwords would be more secure if they were a succession of pictures rather than a sequence of letters and numbers, argue three inventors from Redmond, Washington (USpatent application 2004/10721). When a user logs on, their software displays an array of thumbnail images, including pictures of, say, famous places, playing cards and flowers. The user … 51¶¯Âþ
Humans Westminster diary HAZARDOUS chemicals kill or cause illness in thousands of people each year. Developing countries in particular often become conduits for hazardous substances that are banned elsewhere. It is good then that the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) comes into force on 24 February. This requires an exporting country to notify an importing country … Opinion
Cosmic birth rite IN the last few years, astronomers have found that all the ordinary matter we are familiar with is only a trace component of a cosmos dominated by "dark matter" of an unknown form, and even more abundant and mysterious "dark energy". Hence, it appears we are not even made of the main ingredients of this … Features
Atom heart father The Fly in the Cathedral by Brian Cathcart, Viking/Penguin, £14.99, ISBN 0670883212 THIS is the story of the men who smashed apart the atom. The history books record the names of only John Cockroft (above, left) and Ernest Walton (above, right), but there was a third man: Ernest Rutherford (above, centre), arguably the greatest experimental … Books & Arts
Feedback A DISGRUNTLED 51¶¯Âþ space correspondent asks: if they can put a rover on Mars, why can't they put a listing on the internet? As he points out, it has been a month of triumph for NASA, after a year spent reeling from the loss of the shuttle Columbia and the unflattering investigation that followed. … Regulars