Study: 95 percent of all e-mail sent in 2007 was spam (by Matt Asay at CNET.com)
There was a time–2004 to be precise–when spam “only” consumed 70 percent of all e-mail. Those were the good old days. Today, as Barracuda Networks’ annual spam report shows, upwards of 95 percent of all e-mail is spam. In 2001, the number was 5 percent. the United States’ Can-Spam Act has done absolutely nothing (zip!) to stop the spam onslaught.

Report advises caution shoppping online
NEW YORK – Some popular online retailers don’t do enough either to inform customers how their personal information could be used or to give them control over it, according to a public interest research group.

EBay plans to root out unethical sellers
EBay will focus on improving the “user experience” in 2008 in hopes of making the world’s largest online auction more satisfying for its millions of users, a top executive said.
You mean, they haven’t been doing it all along?

A Low-Cost Route To The Web
Originally a MIT graduate project, internet startup Meraki uses an innovative “mesh network” that now powers thousands of wireless networks across 70 countries and opened up the Internet to people who otherwise could never afford it.

Watch out for the ‘evil twin’ when using public Wi-Fi
For the modern nomadic worker, few things are more enjoyable than heading to a cafe, ordering a cappuccino and firing up the laptop to get some work done. As far as anyone you’re e-mailing knows, you’re at the office.

New satellite navigation system may save firefighters
LONDON (Reuters) – A new tracking system to pinpoint people inside smoked-filled buildings has been developed in a move that should slash the risks faced by firefighters.

Parental education and child health: evidence from a natural experiment in Taiwan
The positive correlation between heath and education is well known. Establishing the direction of causality, however, is as difficult as it is important. Good policy design cannot rely on correlations. Here is evidence from a unique natural experiment that parental education, especially of mothers, causes good health in children.

SKoreans clone cats that glow in the dark: officials
SEOUL (AFP) – South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases, officials said Wednesday.

Stem-cell patch may fix damaged hearts
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have made two significant advances in developing a stem-cell patch to repair the damage caused to the heart after an attack.

Japan scientists develop fearless mouse
TOKYO – Cat and mouse may never be the same.

Modified stem cells ease muscular dystrophy symptoms
Modified stem cells from muscular dystrophy patients eased symptoms of the disease in mice, says a small study that raises hopes for treating patients with tissue from their own bodies.

Researchers Find Great Granddaddy of All Blood Cells
Discovery could yield targeted treatments for leukemia, bone marrow transplants

Common Infant Vaccine Recalled
Hib shot shields against meningitis, pneumonia, but experts say recall shouldn’t be health threat.

Obesity Weakens Immune Response
Study found fat mice had harder time fighting gum disease

Spines, Made Extra Curvy for Women
Pregnant women do not tip over, and the reason has a lot to do with an evolutionary curve, researchers say.

How Female Fish Lose Inhibitions
In the fishbowl version of a pickup joint, the mere sight of a well-endowed male swordtail causes genes to switch off in the female’s brain. The result: She throws caution to the wind to win the hunky mate. Female swordtails are attracted to large males adorned with body ornaments, such as long tails and striking coloration.
Go to any pickup bar on any evening, and you’ll find the same tendency among humans.

Ice Age blast ‘ravaged America’
A controversial new idea suggests that a large space rock exploded over North America 13,000 years ago. The blast may have wiped out one of America’s first Stone Age cultures as well as the continent’s big mammals such as the mammoth and the mastodon. The blast, from a comet or asteroid, caused a major bout of climatic cooling which may also have affected human cultures emerging in Europe and Asia.

Saturn Ringed by Electric Doughnut
Homer Simpson, meet your match in space: Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a lopsided “doughnut” of electrified plasma surrounding Saturn.

Saturn’s Rings Older Than First Thought?
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Saturn’s shimmering rings may be as old as the solar system, scientists said Wednesday, debunking earlier theories that the rings were formed during the dinosaur age.