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Congress Warms To New Space Plan - SpaceDaily  In the 1983 movie, "The Right Stuff," astronaut Gordo Cooper points toward a space capsule and asks a NASA scientist, "Do you know what makes this bird go up?" Cooper answers his own question: "Funding makes this bird go up!" At which point, astronaut Gus Grissom chimes in: "No bucks? No 'Buck Rogers!'" That alleged conversation took place more than four decades ago, during the height of the space race with the Soviet Union. Today, the same refrain applies. Without funding from Congress, no U.S. spaceship will blast off for anywhere. The plan is undeniably bold, but many of the politicians who will have to write the checks have been cool, indifferent, even hostile to it.

Internet2 May Change The Way Scientists Conduct Research - SpaceDaily  Left: "Instead of being restricted to one or two scientists working for a few hours within the small confines of a human-operated vehicle," said Ballard, "scientists using remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) connected to Internet2 could spend an unlimited about of time on the bottom and share, in real-time, their observations with colleagues around the world."  When Dr. Robert Ballard went on a scientific expedition to Black Sea this past summer, he was able to take with him virtually any scientist or student who wanted to go. With the capability of Internet2 and a high bandwidth satellite link, scientists, for the first time, were able to work on the ocean floor from the comfort of their university laboratories. Ballard explains in the article that two remotely operated vehicles working at or near the bottom of the Black Sea transmitted eight underwater video images and five acoustic signals via fiber optic cable up to the ships command/control center. Six video signals, including two high-definition images and three two-way audio channels, were transmitted off the ship via satellite, were received by an antenna in the US, and placed on Internet2.

Smart cars to warn drowsy-drivers  - CNN  Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said they tested computerized optical scanning and a variety of warnings: a vibrating steering wheel, the sound of a car driving over rumble strips and a visual warning projected on the windshield. Researchers also tested a so-called "active" system in which the vehicle would actually adjust the steering automatically if it veered too far one way or the other. "We're confident we can do it in ways that drivers will accept," Greenberg said. "The new system will be adaptive and intelligent." Luxury carmaker Infiniti said last month it will begin offering lane-departure warning systems in vehicles later this year, the first use of such accident-avoidance technology in North American passenger cars.

Alzheimer's Disease: : 

Biosciences:
4/17/2004: Scientists 'Beef Up' Plant-dwelling Bacteria To Boost Phytoremediation - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Invasive Species: A Few Bucks And A Click Away - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Controlling Biomolecules With Magnetic 'Tweezers' - Science Daily

Climate, Environment:
4/17/2004: New USGS Map Highlights Central U.S. Earthquake History - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Plants Dispatched to Decontaminate Soil  - Scientific American
4/17/2004: Senator defends manatee bill while environmentalists object... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: Ocean Water Desalting Plants Worry Environmentalists... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: El Nino More Predictable Than Thought - ABC
4/17/2004: Government May Protect Red-Legged Frog - ABC
4/17/2004: Nasa helps its feathered friends  - BBC
4/17/2004: Plan to build emissions scrubber  - BBC

Computers:
Devices
4/17/2004: Digital photos easier snapped than organized - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Palms, other PDAs are shoved aside as must-have gadget - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Mobile Media Muscle - ABC
4/17/2004: Point and Shoot - ABC

Communications
4/17/2004: Wi-Fi program links Sauk-Suiattle to high-speed access, wealth of opportunities - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Making Wireless Roaming Fun  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Cell Phone 'Entertainment' a Fast-Growing Market  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Review: Polywell Poly 875P-3200 - ABC

Technology
4/17/2004: Intel rolls Bulverde MPU, 3D accelerator for wireless apps - Silicon Strategies
4/17/2004: Intel unvels new chip for high-end cell phones - SpaceDaily
4/17/2004: Security Boost for Intel Chips  - Wired News

PC's
4/17/2004: Review: The Other Office Suite - ABC

Internet
4/17/2004: Internet2 May Change The Way Scientists Conduct Research - SpaceDaily 
4/17/2004: Startup tracks your interests to customize a news search - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Gopher: Underground Technology  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Your Right to X-Rated Sites  - Wired News
4/17/2004: We Interrupt This Program - ABC
4/17/2004: Websites 'failing' disabled users  - BBC
4/17/2004: Web opens up for learning disabled  - BBC
4/17/2004: Net paedophile children 'saved'  - BBC

Miscellaneous
4/17/2004: Behind the Sun, Microsoft, rhetoric - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Microsoft reportedly settles patent suit for $440 million - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: RIAA Singing the Same Old Song  - Wired News

Energy:

Health:
Cardiovascular
4/17/2004: Fat Hormone May Cut Heart Attack Risk - ABC

Cancer  
4/17/2004: DNA Research Highlights Prostate Cancer Mechanisms - Science Daily

Infectious

Non-Infectious
4/17/2004: University Of Toronto Researchers Isolate Gene For Crohn's Disease - Science Daily

Miscellaneous
4/17/2004: Clemson Research Advances Progress Toward Bone Therapies, Replacements, Materials - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Self-assembling 'Nanotubes' Offer Promise For Future Artificial Joints - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Military Scientists To Study Regrowth of Limbs  - Wired News
4/17/2004: The Hidden Toll - ABC
4/17/2004: Video: Best Approach to Popular Diets - ABC
4/17/2004: Distinguish Between Good, Bad Fats - ABC
4/17/2004: Focus on Diet and Weight Loss - ABC
4/17/2004: Study: Carb-Counting Goes on After Diets - ABC
4/17/2004: Flip the Switch - ABC
4/17/2004: E-mail Jim - ABC
4/17/2004: Drug Company Kickbacks - ABC
4/17/2004: Governor Urges Feds to Allow Canada Drugs - ABC
4/17/2004: Virtual Colonoscopy Method Questioned - ABC
4/17/2004: Terrain Challenges Fitness of Hikers - ABC
4/17/2004: Conn. May Push Schools on Fitness, Diet - ABC
4/17/2004: Bedbugs bounce back  - BBC

History, Anthropology:
4/17/2004: Trilobite was ancient snack food  - BBC
4/17/2004: Waving the shroud: The people who never stopped believing in the Turin Shroud  - BBC

Miscellaneous:
4/17/2004: Startups come of age in pitching to investors - Seattle Times
4/17/2004: Intel to set up 39 million-dollar research centre in Shanghai - SpaceDaily
4/17/2004: The Hottest VC on the Planet  - Technology Review 
4/17/2004: Data Disclosure Contradicts Feds  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Following the Money Made Easier  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Fix for Japan Pop-Culture Addicts  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Warner Bros. Asked to Save Taz  - Wired News
4/17/2004: Presidential Politics Divide Silicon Valley  - NY Times
4/17/2004: A Need for Greater Cybersecurity - Washington Post
4/17/2004: Ethiopia to exhibit Lucy fossil in US... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: Nuclear proliferasia... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: Supervised Driving - ABC
4/17/2004: Understanding Your Car's 'Black Box' - ABC
4/17/2004: Online While On the Road - ABC
4/17/2004: Experts Ask Boston to Nix Bioterror Lab - ABC
4/17/2004: Talking dashboard: sImagine having a decent conversation with your car  - BBC
4/17/2004: Blair attacked on quality of life  - BBC
4/17/2004: Migrant world: Explore the facts, discuss the issues and question the experts  - BBC

Neurosciences:
4/17/2004: Surprises Found In Gene Variation Associated With Schizophrenia - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Brain's Left And Right Sides Work Together Better In Mathematically Gifted Youth - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Newer Drugs Appear To Stem Violent Behavior - Science Daily
4/17/2004: False Flashbacks - ABC
4/17/2004: FDA Approves Human Brain Implant Devices - Tech TV

Physics and Astronomy:
4/17/2004: Star Making Peaked Five Billion Years Ago; Expect Darkness - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Web-based Program Calculates Effects Of An Earth Impact - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Catastrophe Calculator: Estimate Asteroid Impact Effects Online - Space.com
4/17/2004: Its a bird, its a plane, no its a giant asteroid!... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: 8.4 Metre Mirror Installed on Huge Binoculars... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: Sedna has no moon say astronomers  - BBC
4/17/2004: Veil lifted on the birth of stars  - BBC

Prolongevity

Robotics:

Space:
4/17/2004: Congress Warms To New Space Plan - SpaceDaily
4/17/2004: NASA Begins Science Program for Schools - Space.com
4/17/2004: Assessment and Plan for Organizational Culture Change at NASA... - FirstScience
4/17/2004: Mars rover finds rock like meteorites on Earth - New Scientist
4/17/2004: Opportunity Finds Mars Rock Similar to Meteorite on Earth - Space.com
4/17/2004: NASA's Fear of Flying: What if the Shuttle Never Flew Again? - Space.com
4/17/2004: Space Commission Gets Advice on Sustaining Public Interest in Bush Vision - Space.com
4/17/2004: Three Chances to Spy Comets - Space.com
4/17/2004: Robotic Hubble Servicing Mission Plans Under Review - Space.com
4/17/2004: Mars Rover Finds Rock Resembling Meteorites That Fell to Earth - SpaceDaily
4/17/2004: Mars Water Past Still Mysterious - SpaceDaily

Technology:
4/17/2004: Smart cars to warn drowsy-drivers  - CNN
4/17/2004: Space Technology Hits The Slopes
4/17/2004: Carnegie Mellon U. Develops Microgel To Recover Enzymes For Manufacturing, Research Assays - Science Daily
4/17/2004: Fiber Spun from Nanotube Smoke  - Technology Review 
4/17/2004: Hot (Tech) Now - Tech TV