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GLOBAL NEWS "SMART DUST" AIMS TO MONITOR EVERYTHING It the 1990s, a researcher named Kris Pister dreamed up a wild future in which the Earth would be sprinkled with countless tiny sensors, no larger than grains o tice. These "smart dust" particles, as he called them, would monitor everything, acting like electronic nerve endings for the planet. Fitted with computing power, sensing equipment, wireless radios and long battery life, the smart dust would make observations and relay mountains of real-time data abou people, cities and the natura environment. EDIBLE RFID MICROCHIP MONITOR CAN TELL IF YOU TAKE YOUR MEDICINE Researchers at the University of Florida, USA, have combined RFID, microchips and printed nano- particle antennas to make pills that communicate with cellphones or aptops to tell doctors whether patients are taking their medicine. The inventors hope that their tattle- ale technology, still in the prototype stage, can be applied commercially to a range of medications in clinical rials and in the treatment of patients with chronic diseases where it is essential that the doses are taken and aken on time. The pill is a white capsule with a microchip embedded and with an antenna printed on the outside with ink containing silver nanoparticles. A device worn by the patient energises the microchip via bursts of low-voltage electricity. The chip signal confirms that the pill is in the stomach, and the device sends a signal that the pill has been swallowed. The messages can go to cellphones or laptops to inform doctors or family members. (Source: Network World, 31 March 2o10, http://tinyurl.com/yztqjph) with no fluoridation have one per cent fewer cavities than those children who reside in regions where fluoridation is offered. The statistics are actually revealing that children are simply not benefiting from the use of fluoridation. The bottom line is that the Ministry of Health is trying to make the use of fluoridation sound more promising. At least 50 years of studies indicate that fluoridation does not provide an adequate defence against cavities. (Source: Dental Health Magazine, 30 April 2010, http://tinyurl.com/2wkm4z) BREAST CANCER DEATHS LOWER IN MAMMOGRAM-FREE AREAS cientists from the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Folkehelseinstituttet in Oslo, Norway, have found that deaths from breast cancer were lower in areas where women didn't undergo breast cancer screening tests. The Danish research team looked at annual changes in breast cancer deaths in two Danish regions where breast cancer screening programs were offered to the public, and compared this to data collected in non-screened regions throughout the rest of the country. The researchers concluded in their study, which was just published in the British Medical Journal, that there's no evidence that the drops in cancer deaths in the women screened for breast cancer had anything to do directly with mammograms. Moreover, other studies over the past few years have actually implicated mammograms in causing some breast cancers to develop in the first place. For example, a study published in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2008 found that the start of mammography screening programs throughout Europe was associated with an increased incidence of breast Now, a version of Pister's smart dust fantasy is starting to become reality. The latest news comes from the computer and printing company Hewlett-Packard, which recently announced it's working on a project that it calls the "Central Nervous System for the Earth". In coming years, the company plans to deploy a trillion sensors all over the planet. The wireless devices would check to see if ecosystems are healthy, detect earthquakes more rapidly, predict traffic patterns and monitor energy use, "Before commencing the invasion, should we send them a codified series of mysterious mathematically patterned microwave signals over several months, or just Twitter?" cancer. (Source: NaturalNews.com, 7 April 2010, http://tinyurl.com/yabwyam) JUNE - JULY 2010 NEXUS ¢ 7 www.nexusmagazine.com