Nexus - 1304 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

... GLOBAL NEWS ... NEWS They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells—neurons—onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive. "They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy. The proteins allowed the neurochip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons. "Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said. The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neurochip. (Source: LiveScience, 27 March 2006, http://www. livescience.com/humanbiology/06 0327_neuro_chips.html) considered," Professor Hirsch commented. "The public should join these eminent scientists in demanding that the Administration publicly renounce such a misbegotten option against a non-nuclear country like Iran." The letter, which is available at web page http://physics.ucsd.edu/petition/ physicistsletter.html, points out that "nuclear weapons are unique among weapons of mass destruction", and that in today's arsenals they have a total power of more than 200,000 times the explosive energy of the bomb that levelled Hiroshima, which caused the deaths of more than 100,000 people. (Source: University of California, San Diego, 17 April 2006; NewsWise, http:// www.newswise.com/articles/view/5 19690/) depend on because everyone in the UK depends on them". Those applying are warned that they should not tell anyone other than a spouse or closer partner that they are putting their name in. (Source: BBC News, 27 April 2006) FORMER MI6 AGENT TOMLINSON STARTS BLOGSITE ‘ormer MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has decided to start his own blogsite in an effort to publicly air his long-running attle with his former employer. Tomlinson was famously imprisoned in 1997 for breaking the 1989 Official Secrets Act by attempting to publish a book detailing his career. The book was finally published in 2001 after the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled in his favour. It is alleged that Tomlinson published a ist of 116 alleged MI6 agents on one of Lyndon LaRouche's websites. He has always denied being responsible for its ublication. In the book, he states: "If MI6 had set out to produce a list that caused me the maximum incrimination, ut caused them the minimum damage, they could not have done a better job." No definitive proof has ever been provided to ink him with the list. Says Tomlinson: "I've been involved in a long-running battle since April 25th, 1996, with my former employees, MI6 (British Secret Intelligence Service). ...MI6 relied on their considerable budget (from the taxpayer) and lots of threats, writs and pompous claims that I was a MI6 ADVERTISES FOR SPIES half-page advertisement in the Times careers supplement offers jobs for "operational officers", technology experts and "thoroughly efficient administrators". MI6 has been shrouded in secrecy for most of its 97-year history. The organisation was not even officially acknowledged to exist until just over a decade ago. "Staff who join SIS can look forward to a career that will have moments when the gap narrows just a little and the certainty of a stimulating and rewarding career which, like Bond's, will be in the service of their country," says the MI6 ad. It says the agency operates around the world to make Britain "safer and more prosperous" and hires "people we can PHYSICISTS WARN AGAINST NUCLEAR WAR WITH IRAN hirteen of the most prominent physicists in the USA have written a letter to President Bush, calling US plans to reportedly use nuclear weapons against Iran "gravely irresponsible" and warning that such action would have "disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world". The physicists include five Nobel laureates, a recipient of the National Medal of Science and three past presidents of the American Physical Society, the nation's pre-eminent professional society for physicists. The letter was initiated by Jorge Hirsch, a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, who last autumn put together a petition signed by more than 1,800 physicists that repudiated new US nuclear weapons policies that include pre- emptive use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear adversaries. "The fact that the existence of this plan has not been denied by the Administration should be a cause of great alarm, even if it is only one of several plans being JUNE — JULY 2006 NEXUS + 7 www.nexusmagazine.com