TR: Week in Review

Continued from page 1

Siemens has developed a Bluetooth-enabled home communicator that Trekkers have been dreaming about for years. The device would allow the wearer to control in-home systems using voice commands. Oh, and it can also be used to make phone calls.

And, along the same lines, University of California at Berkeley students have developed the MicroJet, a needle-less system to deliver injections through skin pours without ever touching the body.

The army is going to re-deploy its laser-totin' hummer that uses a Nd:YAG green laser to search out and destroy landmines.

And, the Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand has developed a virtual reality system that brings new meaning to the term "popup."

The End of the World as We Know It

A new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research shows that, regardless of what technologies are developed, the world will experience severe consequences of climate change by the end of this century.

Even if the world doesn't take a hit, acid rain is probably stunting the growth of U.S. forests, especially in the Northeast.

That may be the least of our problems, though, as Harvard researchers now believe that the growing obesity epidemic could actually cause life expectancy to drop for the next generation of Americans.

Copy Fight

The announcement that Kevin Martin has been named the new Federal Communications Commission chairman has elicited mixed emotions from technology industries.

Martin is generally more conservative than outgoing chairman Michael Powell, and may be even more vicious when it comes to regulating television programming. However, he has shown himself to be less aggressive about deregulation, especially when it comes to Internet providers.

In the meanwhile, Orrin Hatch will be in charge of a new Senate panel responsible for developing copyright laws. Hatch is best known to the digerati for his support for anti-file sharing legislation. The INDUCE Act, which he stands behind, would have made iPods illegal if he hadn't agreed to special exemptions for such technologies.