Science and Tech

Sometimes it seems as though modern medicine is guided by bigger-than-life technology, dominated by million-dollar machines that scan the brain, resonate through soft tissue or deliver precision doses of radiation.

I get a lot of letters about backing up computers and hard drives and the best tools to make this process happen.

Battlestations: Pacific
Platform: Xbox 360, PC.
Genre: Real-Time Strategy.
Publisher: Eidos Interactive.
ESRB Rating: T for Teen.
Grade: 4 stars (out of 5).

Rare is the game that can seamlessly blend real-time strategy with an engaging action option for those who want to dive into the thick of the battle instead of playing general.

Bots get a lot of bad press. You hear all the time about bots secretly installed on computers by malware to send spam, steal passwords or attack and bring down Web sites.
But you don't hear much about good bots.
TechMan, being sworn to uphold truth, justice and the American way (wait, that's Superman) feels he needs to right this injustice.

It was 10 years ago when Dr. David Albert was in the basement of his home working on a wireless heart monitor he planned to use during surgery for his daughter, Kathryn, when she noticed the fire alarm was chirping.
The pair assumed the battery was low. So Albert went upstairs to replace it, while his daughter stayed with the heart monitor.

It was the size of a deck of cards, could store about 1,000 songs and no one knew what to make of it.
On Oct. 24, 2001, The New York Times published a story about a quirky new portable music player that was small enough to fit in a pants pocket. The story appeared on page 8 of the paper's business section. Not exactly prime real estate.

It's a glimmer of gold and black topping out at 75 mph.
No stops for gas. Just food, rest and friends. But it's a looker.
In Alaska, someone called police about the UFO on the road. Motorists turn around to snap pictures.

Some letters have clogged the box in recent weeks as we have avoided reader mail. So let's get right to the festivities.
Q. You mentioned that Windows 7 would be released in the fall. The version that is out now, can it be installed right over Windows XP without harming the files on the computer?

Warp factor 3, Mr. Sulu? No can do.
Engage cloaking device? We're working on it.
Communicators? Definitely.
Forty years after the original "Star Trek" series was canceled, warp drives and transporter beams remain more science fiction than fact.

Funny thing about tornadoes. When they ought to drop out of the sky, they usually don't. Despite all the radar looking for them, no one quite knows when or where they'll appear.