Science & Technology

By MIKE BERMAN
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
In keeping with their on-going attempts to both dazzle and confuse consumers, notebook manufacturers continue to hit store shelves with new offerings that are bigger and better than the one you bought last week.

By TENILLE BONOGUORE
Monday, October 30, 2006
Floating discs of debris do indeed turn into planets, and now the world finally has evidence to prove it.

Scientists analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope have at last confirmed the long-held belief put forward by philosopher Emmanuel Kant more than 200 years ago.

Until now, astronomers have detected more than 200 extra-solar planets and have seen many debris discs around young stars, but they have yet to observe a planet and a debris disc around the same star.

In a paper to be published in November's Astronomical Journal, an international team of astronomers led by G.

By JAMES DERK
Friday, October 27, 2006
Letters fill the space this week as readers have some thoughts and comments about recent columns.

Q: Your column about the TomTom One was pretty enthusiastic.

By LEE BOWMAN
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A global network of eyes and ears is watching North Korea.

More than 325 monitoring stations report 10 billion bits of data each day in a system designed to give almost instant notice of a possible nuclear device explosion like the underground test carried out by North Korea.

The sensors _ the world's largest scientific watchdog _ detect seismic, hydroacoustic and acoustic pressure, and are maintained under the Preparatory Commission of the International Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the data collected at the International Data Center in Vienna, Austria.

The treaty banning all nuclear explosions has not been ratified by the requisite 44 nations that possess nuclear power or nuclear research reactors, but the monitoring network is in place and supported by governments that have signed the treaty.

By CARL T. HALL
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Some people can drink a lot more alcohol than others without getting drunk. Now, after studying mice and fruit flies, scientists are starting to understand why.

Two teams of researchers report in the journal Cell that they have found surprising evidence that suggests that some of the genes that control the shape of nerve cells also help determine sensitivity to alcohol.

Taking into account earlier studies suggesting that reduced alcohol sensitivity increases susceptibility to drinking problems, scientists hope to decipher the basic biology underlying alcohol's effects in order to expose some of the biological roots of alcoholism.

Dr.

By SCOTT DEVEAU
Monday, October 23, 2006
According to revealing new research, heterosexual women with post-secondary degrees are more likely to reach orgasm than their less-educated counterparts.

Sunday, October 22, 2006
Here are some of the findings on Internet threats:

_ MICROSOFT'S INTERNET EXPLORER: Program is the most targeted by browser-based attacks, accounting for 47 percent of the total.

_ WEB SITES IN THE UNITED STATES: Targeted in 54 percent of DoS, or "Denial of Service," attacks.

_ PHISHING IS ON THE RISE: During the first half of 2006, such scams are up 81 percent.

Threat glossary

_ SPYWARE: Refers to malicious software that intercepts data or takes partial control of a computer's operation without consent, sometimes with the intent of aiding identity theft or hijacking credit card numbers.

_ DENIAL OF SERVICE: Along with the sophisticated new intrusions have come a resurgence of older techniques, including the DoS, or "Denial of Service" attack, where a Web site can be rendered inaccessible by a flood of data requests.

_ PHISHING: Setting up bogus e-mails and Web sites to steal personal data.

By BOB MIMS
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Your home is not your sanctuary. Internet security experts say that when it comes to protecting your digital information, the "worm" has definitely turned.

In its biannual Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec warns that worms, or self-replicating computer viruses, have become more focused on small-scale attacks aimed at fraud, data theft and criminal activity than the mammoth, shotgunlike designs of the past.

"The days of Web site defacements and low-level information-gathering attacks are behind us," Executive Director Dean Turner wrote in the study's introduction.

By MIKE BERMAN
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Have you been bitten by the DVD burning bug? It seems a bevy of companies that manufacture DVD burning software are convinced everyone who owns a PC has come down with the disease, introducing new products at the drop of a blank disk.

After playing with the latest crop of these programs, I've discovered that the burning bug can have many side effects, which has led several of these companies to specialize.

Aside from two programs that have become the Swiss Army knives of the industry, giving us all the tools we need to produce CDs and DVDs in a multitude of formats, there are several that are geared to specific needs.

The two products that everyone associates with CD and DVD burning are from Nero (Ahead Software) and Roxio (now owned by Sonic Solutions).

By LEE BOWMAN
Sunday, October 22, 2006
In the first five years after New Mexico lifted its ban on Sunday carryout sales of alcohol, researchers found a 29 percent increase in alcohol-related crashes and a 42 percent increase in alcohol-related crash fatalities on that day.

The study, published online Tuesday and in print next month by the American Journal of Public Health, is the first to examine the public-health impact of lifting such a ban.

"For the first time, we have real data on whether blue laws actually protect public health," said Dr.