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IBM said it was looking to DNA "origami" for a powerful new generation of ultra-tiny microchips. The US computer giant collaborated with California Institute of Technology researchers to develop a way to design microchips that mimic how chains of DNA molecules fold, allowing for processors far smaller and denser than any seen today. "This is a way to assemble an electronics device of the future," said Bill Hinsberg, manager of the lithography group at IBM's Almaden Research Center in California, on Monday. "It offers a potential way to construct nano-scale devices. The industry has always gone in the direction of...

International Business Machines Corp is looking to the building blocks of our bodies -- DNA -- to be the structure of next-generation microchips. As chipmakers compete to develop ever-smaller chips at cheaper prices, designers are struggling to cut costs. Artificial DNA nanostructures, or "DNA origami" may provide a cheap framework on which to build tiny microchips, according to a paper published on Sunday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Microchips are used in computers, cell phones and other electronic devices. "This is the first demonstration of using biological molecules to help with processing in the semiconductor industry," IBM research manager Spike...

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients' medical records almost instantly. The FDA found "reasonable assurance" the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005's top "innovative technologies." But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats. "The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a...

Paging U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab: Please call us on your cell phone. And better do it fast because cell phones may soon be harder to come by thanks to one of the dumber rulings ever by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Microchips in dustbins spy on three million By Brendan Carlin, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 2:20am BST 24/05/2007 More than three million households in Britain have rubbish bins equipped with "waste stealth tax" technology, it was claimed last night. The microchips could be used to charge households for the amount of non-recyclable waste produced Ahead of today's publication of the Government's national waste strategy, a survey revealed that 68 town halls have spent millions of pounds buying bins with microchips. The figure is double previous estimates and will fuel fears that Labour has been moving secretly towards a European-style "bin tax"....

Chips push through nano-barrier New materials have had to be developed to shrink the transistors The next milestone in the relentless pursuit of smaller, higher performance microchips has been unveiled. Chip-maker Intel has announced that it will start manufacturing processors using transistors just 45 nanometres (billionths of a metre) wide. Shrinking the basic building blocks of microchips will make them faster and more efficient. Computer giant IBM has also signalled its intention to start production of chips using the tiny components. "Big Blue", which developed the transistor technology with partners Toshiba, Sony and AMD, intends to incorporate them into its...

One day we will all happily be implanted with microchips, and our every move will be monitored. The technology exists; the only barrier is society's resistance to the loss of privacy By the time my four-year-old son is swathed in the soft flesh of old age, he will likely find it unremarkable that he and almost everyone he knows will be permanently implanted with a microchip. Automatically tracking his location in real time, it will connect him with databases monitoring and recording his smallest behavioural traits. Most people anticipate such a prospect with a sense of horrified disbelief, dismissing it...

WASHINGTON — In the era of $300 million fighter jets, satellite-guided rockets and complicated battlefield computer networks, Multimax Inc. is trying to revive an old-fashioned technology to thrust the information technology firm onto the front line. The Largo, Md., company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this new project, the design looks like an elliptical UFO, but the result will be familiar: It’s a blimp. “It is somewhat uncharted waters” for the firm, said Ron Oholendt, a retired Air Force colonel and the program manager. The company has enlisted help from NASA and scientists at the Wright-Patterson Air...

Local probe may have federal link By Brad Bauer, bbauer@mariettatimes.com Airport security information and airline manifests were among the items seized from two Michigan men arrested Tuesday in Marietta, now being held on felony terrorism charges. Federal authorities were working Wednesday evening to determine the significance of the documents. “We also found instructions detailing how to access certain airline databases,” said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks. “We passed all that information along to the FBI, and they’re reviewing it as we speak.” Although the findings have caused authorities some concern, the documents do not relate to terrorism charges filed Wednesday...

A technique that could lead to cheap, environmentally-friendly microchips has been developed by UK researchers. The team from University College London used low temperature, ultraviolet lamps to make silicon dioxide, a vital component of almost all modern chips. At the moment, chip makers use energy intensive furnaces, heated to more than 1000C, to manufacture the material. The new technique operates at room temperature and so requires less power and resources. "This finding means that the industry's energy, and subsequent cost savings, could reduce the prices of electronic devices for consumers and, of course, create a positive environmental impact," said...

A chip on the shoulder can be a good thing - if you're a dog. A second series of free microchip clinics will be at the Los Angeles Department of Animal Car and Control's Lancaster Shelter at 5210 West Ave. I. The Board of Supervisors recently approved an ordinance requiring all dogs older than 4 months in unincorporated areas of the county to be implanted with identifying microchips and be spayed or neutered. The ordinance became effective June 3, but has a three-month grace period in order to allow dog owners time to have their dogs microchipped and spayed or...

(06/16/2006 9:01 AM EDT) LONDON — The vice premier of China, Zeng Peiyan, has called for more semiconductor industry cooperation between the United States and China adding that his country would increase protection for intellectual property rights, according to a Xinhua report carried by the People's Daily. Zeng met with a delegation from the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) on Thursday (June 15) and said he hoped U.S. semiconductor companies would set up R&D operations in China, which would help train Chinese semiconductor engineers, the report said. At the same time Zeng said China would increase its efforts to protect...

Report: Colombian President Would Consider Immigrant Tracking With Microchips Fox News | May 5 2006 BOGOTA, Colombia — Comments attributed to Colombia's president that microchip implants could be used to track Colombians working temporarily in the U.S. drew attention — and criticism — Thursday. T he alleged statement by President Alfaro Uribe dismayed some Colombians after it appeared in Colombian newspapers. "It would be a blatant violation of human rights," said Jorge Pinilla, 50, a lawyer in Bogota.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson was one of the first high-profile supporters of tiny microchips implanted in people's arms that would allow doctors to access medical information. Now the state he used to lead is poised to become the first to ban governments and private businesses from forcing such implants on employees, privacy advocates say. A proposal moving through the Legislature would prohibit anyone from requiring people to have the tiny chips embedded in them or doing so without their knowledge. Violators would face fines of up to $10,000. The plan authored by Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, won approval in...

<p>PRING, Tex. - In front of her gated apartment complex, Courtney Payne, a 9-year-old fourth grader with dark hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, exits a yellow school bus. Moments later, her movement is observed by Alan Bragg, the local police chief, standing in a windowless control room more than a mile away.</p>

<p>PALM BEACH, Florida -- A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands.</p> <p>The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer's hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.</p>

In its ongoing effort to improve support to troops in the field, the Defense Department is testing radio-frequency identification technology, Alan Estevez, assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for supply chain integration, said here today. RFID tags contain microchips that, when scanned, send out a unique identification signal. Tagged items can be added quickly to inventory databases and can even be wirelessly tracked for short distances. Tags contain license-plate data that says this data equals this item, said Estevez. For a national retail chain using the tags, it might be a box of disposable diapers. "For us, it may be a...

PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003--Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSX), an advanced technology development company, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, VeriChip Corporation, has retained the services of Stanley "Stan" L. Reid, a longtime technology industry executive and former congressional aide with extensive experience and wide contacts in Washington, D.C., to market VeriChip(TM) secure identification solutions to federal agencies. VeriChip is a subdermal, radio frequency identification (RFID) device that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and other applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip product contains a unique verification...

Stores have started to install sensor-alerting microchips that delight businesses and worry privacy advocates. "In ten years nearly every consumer item will probably bear a tiny chip that continually broadcasts its existence to radio-frequency readers at loading docks, store shelves, entrances, security stations and parking lots - just about everywhere," says the March 18 issue of Forbes Global. The invention promises to save businesses, and thus consumers, billions of dollars by greatly improving inventory control and cutting losses to shoplifters and thieving employees. A Sam's Club under construction outside Tulsa, Okla., is installing the system, already in use at a...