Adam Laurie lived a few Novembers as a dog earlier this year. By duplicating the RFID tags used to identify pets in the United Kingdom and sewing it into his watch strap, Laurie, an independent security researcher, re-created his dog's ID as a hacking exercise. However, this kind of virtual animal cloning could become a serious issue as industrialized countries roll out RFID-based systems to keep track of their livestock.Japan and the United Kingdom have led the way, developing so-called source and age-verified tracking systems that could help contain the damage caused by outbreaks of mad cow disease, scrapie, or avian flu. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also been testing the use of RFID chips as part of a National Animal Identification System.These systems are changing the way we purchase meat, notes Sue Brown, a product manager with Destron Fearing, a maker of RFID tracking chips. In Japan, consumers can scan a package of beef and have a photo of the people who raised the cow, along with details on how it entered the country, sent to their mobile phones. According to Brown, Destron Fearing has taken steps to prevent its tags from being cloned, including placing the chip in a tamperproof polyurethane casing. "This is an unalterable means of identification," she says.But not everyone sees the technology as foolproof. Laurie points out that the RFID tags communicate without encryption, so some of them can be cloned or even reprogrammed. "If you create another tag that has the same ID, you can effectively clone the animal." Or at least its identity.Still, why would someone want to do this? A farmer might want to swap out the identity of a sick animal in his stock to save an entire herd from being destroyed. That's why some companies are starting to match DNA samples with existing ID systems in order to offer a greater level of assurance.The United States has been lucky so far. There hasn't been an outbreak of mad cow disease like the one that crippled the U.K. beef industry. But that might all change very quickly, says Brown. "We are probably one disaster away from having that sort of thing occur in the U.S."

The disabled children of the Musoma Engineering Project are rehearsing for celebrations on World Disability Day.

Touching down on African soil for the first time, the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, will be a forerunner in testing South Africa's state of readiness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

All he wants is a few soccer balls. And if Innocent Chileshe gets his way, he thinks he can take a small step toward helping a continent torn by war. Chileshe, a major in the African Union, has spent the past year of his observatory mission in Sudan’s Darfur region building a sports outreach program for children.

Internet search leader Google Inc. is testing technology that will find the location of people using its mobile mapping service, even if the phone making the connection isn’t equipped with a GPS receiver.

InViragen announced that the company will receive financial support from the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative (PDVI). The PDVI grant will provide funds for manufacture of Inviragen's dengue vaccine in preparation for testing in human clinical trials. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness, prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries throughout the world. Approximately 3. [click link for full article] (Source: Immune System / Vaccines News From Medical News Today)

Over the four-year span between 1998 and 2002, community health centers not only improved their processes for managing diabetes, such as testing for blood glucose and cholesterol, but also saw gains in their patients' health, a new study finds. Researchers found "a statistically and clinically significant" reduction in hemoglobin A1c (a measure of long-term "blood sugar" control) and low-density lipoprotein ("bad" cholesterol) levels in center patients. [click link for full article]

There is a clear debate to be had about whether the Treasury has bought itself short-term peace, rather than the best long-term deal for the taxpayer on Northern Rock

Java Developer, Scientist, Graduate Java Developer, Java Engineer Job Title: Java Developer, Scientist, Graduate Java Developer, Java Engineer Based: London Salary: £35,000 Benefits: Bonus dependent on performance, health insurance, pension plan Essential PhD in field of complex systems, computer science, applied mathematics, economics or statistics Experienced with Java programming and a solid understanding of Object Orientation Knowledge of agent-based modelling, dynamic scheduling, simulation, optimisation, data mining, learning heuristics or decision support systems. Desirable Design Patterns XML UML Unit Testing Fluency in a European Language You have the opportunity to work in part of a highly intellectual team of developers and on your own in what is a challenging and fast-paced environment, commercialising the science of complexity and complex adaptive systems through market driven software products. If you have experience with decision support tools combining powerful complexity-science based techniques such as Agent-based modelling, dynamic scheduling, simulations, optimisation, data mining, or Learning Heuristics, then your CV will be of particular interest. Buzzwords: Java, Object-Oriented, Object Orientation, OOA/OOP/OOD, UML, XML, Unit Testing, Design Patterns, Agent-based modelling, optimisation, dynamic scheduling, Learning Heuristics, simulation About Idealpeople Idealpeople exist to align industry specialists with client expectations. We’re recruitment experts in the IT, Communications, e-business and New Media Sectors in the UK and Internationally. Contact Dominic.spinelli@idealpeople.net Dominic Spinelli: 01908 565910 Idealpeople are acting as an employment agency in relation to this vacancy. Find Top Tips for Job Hunters and Hirers at the [a href="www.idealpeopleblog.com"]Idealpeople blog[/a] Take a look at all of Idealpeople's vacancies at [a href="www.idealpeople.net"]www.idealpeople.net[/a]

Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration on Monday pledged to triple within one year the number of no-cost condoms distributed by the city, as well as to work with hospitals to increase HIV testing in emergency departments, in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, the Washington Post reports (Nakamura, Washington Post, 11/27). [click link for full article]

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