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GLOBAL NEWS early 17th century, when the telescope was EU POLL LABELS ISRAEL AS The research shows a majority of invented. To extend the data farther back WORLD'S BIGGEST THREAT Americans had significant misperceptions early 17th century, when the telescope was invented. To extend the data farther back in time, Usoskin's team used a physical model to calculate past sunspot numbers from levels of beryllium-10, a radioactive isotope preserved in ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica. The findings may stoke the controversy over the contribution of the Sun to global warming. Usoskin and his team are reluc- tant to be dragged into the debate, but their work will probably be seized upon by those who claim that temperature rises over the past century are the result of changes in the Sun's output (New Scientist, 12 April 2003). However, the link between the Sun's magnetic activity and the Earth's climate is unclear. (Source: New Scientist, 2 November 2003, http:/www.newscientist.com) The research shows a majority of Americans had significant misperceptions about the Iraq War, but the study noted that "those who primarily watch Fox News are significantly more likely to have misperceptions, while those who primarily listen to NPR or watch PBS are signifi- cantly less likely". Polls of 3,334 people conducted between June and September found 60% of Americans had one of three main mis- perceptions: 48% believed there was evi- dence linking Saddam Hussein to al- Qa'ida; 22% believed the US had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and 25% reckoned that world public opinion supported the US invasion of Iraq. It is interesting that of those watching Fox News, 80% got it wrong on one of these issues. Only 23% of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) viewers had misperceptions, while 55% of CNN watch- ers had some misperceptions. (Source: Global Policy Forum, 2 October 2003, http:/www.globalpolicy.org/security/ issues/iraq/media/2003/) lhe European Union is scrambling to contain the fallout from a public opin- ion poll that—to Israel's fury—tabelled the Jewish state as the biggest threat to world peace. The United States was just behind Israel in the global danger league, in joint second place with North Korea and Iran, accord- ing to the "Eurobarometer" poll requested by the European Commission. The results were part of an October sur- vey of Europeans' attitudes in the after- math of the Iraq war, which also found that more than two-thirds of EU citizens think the US-led war was wrong. The Israeli Embassy in Brussels voiced outrage at the findings, which said that 59% of Europeans see Israel as a threat to world peace. A total of 53% said Iran, North Korea and the United States pose a threat, fol- lowed by 52% for Iraq, 50% for Afghanistan and 48% for Pakistan. Countries lower down the list included Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Russia and Somalia. The EU itself was described as a threat by 8% of respondents. (Source: AFP, 4 November 2003) MORE SECRECY ORDERS IMPOSED ON PATENT APPLICATIONS oO." the past year in the USA, 133 secrecy orders were imposed on new patent applications, limiting or preventing their disclosure on grounds that they could be "detrimental to US national security". More than half of the new orders affected private inventors who developed their inventions without government funding or nat NETWORKS REQUIRED TO TRACK CELLPHONE LOCATIONS Carrere networks across Europe and the United States will soon be able to find you, wherever you are. In September, a European Union direc- tive called E112 came into force that requires mobile phone networks to provide emergency services with whatever location information they have about where a mobile phone call was made. While Europe is leading the way on FOX NEWS PROMOTES MISPERCEPTIONS ON IRAQ WAR t seems Rupert Murdoch has been brain- washing the masses again, with new US research showing that Americans watching his Fox News were much more likely than others to have "significant mispercep- tions" about the Iraq War. support. The legal authority for patent secrecy orders derives from the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, which provides for govern- ment review of patent applications related to a wide range of military technologies and authorises the government to regulate or prevent their disclosure. At the end of fiscal year 2003, a total of 4,838 secrecy orders were still in effect, according to statistics released by the Patent and Trademark Office under the Freedom of Information Act. The Invention Secrecy Act and the Atomic Energy Act are the only statutes that assert a government right to prevent the publication of privately generated information, a provision that appears to be at odds with the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Secrecy orders imposed on such private inventors are termed "John Doe" orders. Last year, an unusually large 75 of the 133 new secrecy orders were John Doe orders. The nature of these secret inventions could not, of course, be ascertained. (Source: Secrecy News, vol. 2003, no. 87, 9 October 2003, http://www. fas.org) 2 eee ee "Of course | think sunsets are moving... | just think they were more moving before AOL copyrighted them." NEXUS 7 DECEMBER 2003 — JANUARY 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com