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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE FINGERPRINT ID SCANNERS NOW AVAILABLE A Sydney company has commercially developed clectronic fingerprint scanning technology, so smart and so fast that it could soon replace plastic ID or credit cards with their passwords and PINs. The technology allows you to identify yourself by pressing your finger against a device which takes a three-dimensional scan of the fingerprint and instantly match- es it with a template stored in a computer. The new system is considered so smart that US-based manufacturers of the-previ- ous generation of similar systems have abandoned their own products and become importers of the Australian system made by Fingerscan. Fingerscan, based in both Sydney and Melbourne, is the brainchild of entrepre- neur John Parselle. The company's prod- ucts now sell in 30 countries. (Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 December 1995; The Courier Mail, 5 December 1995) Most American cities have an allowable field limit for human exposure of about 2 milligauss. Australian standards allow public expo- sures of 1,000 milligauss, while work- places can have up to 10,000 milligauss— 50,000 times higher than the safety levels in the USA. (Source: New Scientist, 18 November 1995) microchip. Well, it might be even earlier than Prof. Cochrane thinks, if researchers in Germany continue with their success. Peter Fromherz, of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and his col- leagues can now control a single neuron via a silicon chip connected to it. Granted, the neuron belongs to a leech—but this result is just another step towards investi- gating how neural networks grow and communicate. Not to be outdone, Japanese researchers have developed a device which can literal- ly read someone's mind. In a recent exper- iment at the University of Tottori, west of Osaka, a volunteer concentrated on one of five words that flashed on and off a com- puter monitor. Researchers connected the volunteer's head to several electrodes which monitored electrical activity in his brain using an encephalograph. The encephalograph measured a type of brainwave called P300, which the brain produces when it focusses on an idea. P300 waves generally occur around 0.3 seconds after the brain has been stimulat- ed. A computer then analysed the pattern of the brainwaves, comparing it with the patterns associated with words it had already learnt. It took about 25 seconds to guess correctly which word the volunteer was thinking about. Sources: The Australian, 13 June 1995; Scientific American, November 1995; New Scientist, 16 December 1995) we rntteeeetee eee > a a T-RAYS: THE NEW GENERATION Not to be outdone, Japanese researchers The new system is considered so smart X-RAYS have developed a device which can literal- that US-based manufacturers of the-previ- Move over X-rays—the next generation _ ly read someone's mind. In a recent exper- ous generation of similar systems have of imaging systems is about to arrive. iment at the University of Tottori, west of | abandoned their own products and become Terahertz waves (or T-rays) are, in Osaka, a volunteer concentrated on one of importers of the Australian system made essence, very-high-frequency radio waves _ five words that flashed on and off a com- _ by Fingerscan. or very-low-frequency infrared waves, puter monitor. Researchers connected the Fingerscan, based in both Sydney and according to Martin C. Nuss, a physicist at volunteer's head to several electrodes Melbourne, is the brainchild of entrepre- AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New _ which monitored electrical activity in his neur John Parselle. The company's prod- Jersey, USA. brain using an encephalograph. ucts now sell in 30 countries. "These waves have the interesting prop- The encephalograph measured a type of (Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 erty that they can easily pass through many —_— brainwave called P300, which the brain December 1995; The Courier Mail, 5 dry, non-metallic materials like plastic, produces when it focusses on an idea. December 1995) cardboard, wood and glass." P300 waves generally occur around 0.3 Although the radiation can penetrate seconds after the brain has been stimulat- ELECTROMAGNETIC only a few millimetres into some materi- ed. A computer then analysed the pattern EARTHQUAKE DETECTION als, the waves can pass through sufficient- of the brainwaves, comparing it with the A geoscientist from Stanford University ly thin samples, becoming slightly distort- patterns associated with words it had is researching the existence of electromag- ed in the process. By interpreting the already learnt. It took about 25 seconds to _ netic ‘noise’ which precedes the arrival of changed wave-forms that emerge from the guess correctly which word the volunteer —_ an earthquake. other side, researchers can figure out the —_ was thinking about. For the second time, Antony Fraser- chemical composition of the material in Sources: The Australian, 13 June 1995; | Smith has picked up subterranean electro- question. Scientific American, November 1995; New magnetic waves in the ultra-low-frequency In other words, T-rays are ideally suited Scientist, 16 December 1995) range, varying from 0.01 to 10 hertz. to a range of applications, from scanning for bomb-making chemicals in airport lug- gage or reading the contents of letters inside sealed envelopes, to searching skin or tissue samples for cancer cells or find- ing manufacturing flaws in building mate- rials. One colleague at a Baltimore confer- ence, when shown an image of the con- tents of a letter inside a sealed envelope, turned to Nuss and said, “There may be a new market out there for foil-lined envelopes." (Source: Science News, 26 August 1995) BRAIN-COMPUTER LINK WITHIN A FEW DECADES? A leading British futurologist, Professor Peter Cochrane, predicts that the human brain will be able to be linked directly into a computer within 50 years. He indicates that by 2020, scientists might have ways of linking silicon chips directly to the brain, possibly by growing nerve cells on the ELECTROMAGNETIC EARTHQUAKE DETECTION A geoscientist from Stanford University is researching the existence of electromag- netic ‘noise’ which precedes the arrival of an earthquake. For the second time, Antony Fraser- Smith has picked up subterranean electro- magnetic waves in the ultra-low-frequency range, varying from 0.01 to 10 hertz. NEXUS ¢ 41 FEBRUARY-MARCH 1996