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ChangeQuakes Of The Week

January 23, 2006

TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK
** Scientists Make Diabetes Gene Discovery Breakthrough
** California Launches Groundbreaking Solar Initiative
** Analysts Predict $100 Oil On Iran Sanctions
** Google vs. The U.S. Government
** New Wi-Fi 802.11n Standard Approved

MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

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TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK

Scientists Make Diabetes Gene Discovery Breakthrough

(DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Scientists have isolated a single gene that could predispose close to 40% of the population to Type-II diabetes, a finding that could help in the development of an easy test for diabetes risk and lead to better drugs.

diabeticnews.com

Related Story: Anti-Diabetes Drugs May Have A Downside
www.int.iol.co.za

California Launches Groundbreaking Solar Initiative

(TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKE) -- Hoping to make California a world leader in solar power, state energy regulators approved some $3 billion in customer rebates over the next decade to encourage people to install solar panels on their roofs.

news.yahoo.com

Analysts Predict $100 Oil On Iran Sanctions

(ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKE) -- A surge in oil prices last week to almost $70 a barrel on concerns about the restart of Iran's nuclear program only hints at what may lie ahead.

news.yahoo.com

Google vs. The U.S. Government

(REGULATORY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Google is rebuffing the Bush administration's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet's leading search engine -- a request that underscores the potential for online databases to become tools for government surveillance.

www.businessweek.com

Related story: Google's Reputation At Stake In Fight With Government
www.usatoday.com

New Wi-Fi 802.11n Standard Approved

(TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKE) -- The IEEE Task Group unanimously voted to confirm the new Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, which boasts up to 600Mbps and increased range compared to the current Wi-Fi specifications.

www.internetnews.com

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MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKES

Chip Breakthrough Promises Faster USB Devices

Agere Systems has introduced a USB 2.0 system-on-a-chip with an onboard microprocessor that it claims can process data more than three times faster than existing USB device controllers.

www.vnunet.com

Apple Shipping New Macs With Intel Chips Earlier Than Expected

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs loves his surprises, and his keynote opening at the annual Macworld Expo trade show had a big one: The company is shipping its first machines with an Intel processor six months earlier than it had predicted when it announced this switch last June.

www.washingtonpost.com

Middle East Biometric Security Market Ramps Up In 2006

Demand is rapidly growing for verifying the identity of individuals at corporate and government sites as well as at border points and airports, with the market expected to be worth over $630 million by 2008, according to latest industry analysis.

www.ameinfo.com

RFID Gets Boost From E-Passports And Smart Cards

The rapidly growing RFID tag market is set to achieve a total market value of $26.23 billion by 2016, according to a new study by research firm IDTechEx.

www.securitydocumentworld.com

21st-Century Eavesdropping

The constant interchange of massive amounts of data, converging into speeding bitstreams on common pipes, is both a blessing and a curse for eavesdroppers.

news.yahoo.com


CORPORATE CHANGEQUAKES

ITunes Use Increased 241% In 2005

Traffic to Apple's iTunes Web site and the use of the iTunes application has increased a staggering 241% in the past year, according to research from Nielsen/Net Ratings.

www.sci-tech-today.com

Disney Goes After Pixar

The Walt Disney Co.'s possible acquisition of Pixar Animation Studio could make Pixar CEO Steve Jobs a member of Disney's board and its single largest shareholder, a newspaper reported last week.

www.forbes.com

Albertson's Acquired For $9.8 Billion

An investor group led by Supervalu Inc. agreed on Monday to buy struggling grocery chain Albertson's Inc. for $9.8 billion in cash and stock, ending an intense auction that only weeks before had fallen apart.

abcnews.go.com


REGULATORY CHANGEQUAKES

Maryland Forces Wal-Mart To Provide Healthcare

Maryland lawmakers bucked the will of the state's Republican governor and the nation's largest retailer, voting to become the first state to effectively require that large corporations spend more on employee health care.

www.washingtonpost.com


ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKES

Slower Retail Sales Forecast For 2006

The National Retail Federation, which represents the largest U.S. retailers, said it expects rising energy costs and a slowdown in the housing market to dampen sales growth in 2006.

msnbc.msn.com


FDA APPROVAL CHANGEQUAKES

With New Labels, FDA Limits Drugmaker Liability

U.S. health officials issued controversial language stating that federally approved drug labels pre-empt state liability laws as part of a revamp of the lengthy, hard-to-read instructions that come with medicines.

today.reuters.co.uk

FDA Warns On Imported Drugs

Many consumers, doctors and pharmacists are unaware that drugs sold in the United States can have the same brand name or the same sounding name as drugs sold abroad -- but with totally different ingredients, according to an alert from the FDA.

www.forbes.com


DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKES

New Drug Regimen More Effective At Treating HIV

New research suggests that some HIV patients might be better off with a newer drug regimen than one that's been considered the gold standard for years.

www.forbes.com

Nanorings Could Lead To Faster Computers

A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins is studying Nanorings to provide magnetic random-access memory, or MRAM, which can operate much faster than the speed of ordinary memory, while consuming 99% less energy.

www.jhu.edu

New Technology Helps Filter Wastewater, Provide Power

New microbial fuel cell technology can use wastewater or other biodegradable materials to create electricity or hydrogen to power cars while at the same time cleaning wastewater.

www.gazettetimes.com

Researchers Concerned About Earth's Limited Supply Of Metals

A new study on the depletion of metals, such as copper and platinum, has researchers concerned, as the average rate of usage per person continues to rise.

news.yahoo.com

WHO Denies Overplaying Threat Of Flu Pandemic

The World Heath Organization denied on Monday it was exaggerating the risk of a human influenza pandemic and called for improved surveillance of birds to ensure early detection of the deadly Avian flu virus.

news.yahoo.com

Related Stories: UN Says Afghanistan At 'Huge Risk' Of Avian Flu
news.yahoo.com

Doctors Work To Prevent Avian Flu
www.baltimoresun.com