X-Message-Number: 14892 Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 13:43:40 +0000 From: "Joseph Kehoe" <> Another importanty advance for science http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_527000/527914.stm One of the most difficult problems in mathematics has finally been solved. It is called the Shimura-Taniyama-Weil (STW) conjecture, and it has baffled and defeated some of the greatest minds in maths over the last 40 years. Now an international team is claiming victory. "This is one of the crowning achievements of mathematics in the 20th Century," said number theorist Professor Henri Darmon of McGill University in Canada. http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_528000/528109.stm Scientists have produced the world's smallest transistor. This new design may allow silicon chips to continue to get smaller. It could also double the processing speeds of some chips. http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_1011000/1011186.stm Leading UK scientists have told MPs that cloning research using early human embryos will be needed to develop new treatments for crippling diseases and injuries. The Royal Society says limited human cloning to harvest vital stem cells from embryos should be allowed, as well as research into adult stem cells. http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_1009000/1009922.stm Scientists have created what they say are the narrowest, stable, carbon nanotubes. The tiny cylinders measure just 0.4 nanometres (0.4 billionths of a metre) in diameter. http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_1009000/1009426.stm A computerised version of you could soon be sitting in cyberspace, attending meetings and conferences on your behalf. BT is developing a system that adds digital doubles, or avatars, to online and telephone conferences to restore human interaction to remote meetings and make them more productive. Such computer surrogates are becoming more common, and some are already in use reading the news or dispensing advice to consumers navigating through websites. BT will launch its avatar service next summer. Joseph. ---------------------------------------------- Joseph Kehoe, MSc Raven Internet Technologies Ltd. ph: +353 503 52450 www.raven.ie Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14892