Google launches global privacy crusade
SAN FRANCISCO – Drawing upon its clout as the Internet’s most powerful company, Google Inc. is calling on businesses and regulators throughout the world to adopt international standards for protecting consumer privacy online and offline.

Anti-spam law challenged
RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia’s law banning the massive distribution of junk e-mail is an unconstitutional barrier to free speech, a lawyer for a former spammer told the state’s highest court Wednesday.

Interpol Calls For Global Effort To Battle Cybercrime
Interpol’s Secretary General says the private sector needs to become much more involved in law enforcement investigations to give police the edge they need.

Google Founder’s Wife Wants Your DNA
What Illumina does is make DNA chips, or SNPs (pronounced snips) [from] the hundreds of DNA variations for each sample provided. This information can be used to help find ancestral information, or for medical purposes… Jeff Flately, chief exec of Illumina, has saved slides of his own genome on his iPhone, meaning there’s a lot that you’ll be able to do with your DNA very soon.

Diamond synchrotron to use x-rays to examine Dead Sea Scrolls
Secrets contained in fragile documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls are to be revealed using one of the most powerful light sources in the Universe. British scientists are using a giant instrument – in essence an extremely powerful torch and microscope combined – to read parchments that are too brittle to unroll or unfold.

Robot maker builds artificial boy
RICHARDSON, Texas – David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There’s his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father’s cramped office. Then there’s the robotic Zeno. It can’t speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions.

ER Patients Check in at Computer Kiosks
DALLAS (AP) – An emergency room might be the last place you’d think would have do-it-yourself check-in. But Parkland Memorial Hospital has three self-service computer kiosks, similar to those used by airport passengers and hotel guests. And so do a handful of other hospital ERs, where the long wait in line to register and explain symptoms can be grueling.

Screening Proposed for Childhood Cholesterol Levels
Treatment would reduce risk of genetic condition that can lead to early death

Stomach Virus a Culprit in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Research was spurred by father’s concern for son with debilitating condition

Coming Soon: Pain-Free Dentistry
Scientists hard at work on no-drill dental fillings

Novel Cooling Therapy May Have Aided Injured Football Player
Lowering Kevin Everett’s body temperature helped protect his spinal cord, doctors say.

Brain’s Capacity Limited by Connectivity Issues
About 100 billion neurons, or brain cells, make up the average adult’s brain, but the computer-based discovery shows our memory isn’t based simply on neuron numbers. Instead, the limited amount of connections a neuron can make to other neurons may cut memory capacity.

Model Predicts Outbreaks of Ethnic Violence
Ethnic and sectarian violence that has plagued parts of Africa and Iraq in recent years can be predicted by using a model that examines the boundaries between different ethnic groups, a new study says. While oppression of minorities, religious or political differences, and historical conflicts can be some of the triggers that motivate this type of violence, it is the structure of the boundaries that separate groups that enables communal violence, says study team member Yaneer Bar-Yam.

Google to finance moon challenge contest
LOS ANGELES – Google Inc. is bankrolling a $30 million contest that could significantly boost the commercial space industry and spur the first non-governmental flight to the moon.

Dark matter key to formation of first stars
LONDON (Reuters) – Dark matter may have played a key role in forming the earliest stars, according to researchers who suggest that the mysterious and invisible material may also have been responsible for creating black holes.