A snail species from the Mediterranean is found in the UK at historic Cliveden House.

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.] [More]

After months of hype, the wait is finally over for people curious about Microsoft Photosynth, a service the company launches Thursday via the Web to let people turn series of photos into 3-D panoramic vistas. The effect is not unlike Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope (which seamlessly maps the night sky) or even the panoramic live-action street maps offered by Google or startup earthmine, inc. Photosynth's big draw (for everyone except Mac users, who can't run the software), however, is that you create unique vistas (or "synths") using our own photos. [More]

If you live in a state bordering Canada or Mexico, you may soon be given an opportunity to carry a very high tech item: a remotely readable driver’s license. Designed to identify U.S. citizens as they approach the nation’s borders, the cards are being promoted by the Department of Homeland Security as a way to save time and simplify border crossings. But if you care about your safety and privacy as much as convenience, you might want to think twice before signing up.The new licenses come equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that can be read right through a wallet, pocket or purse from as far away as 30 feet. Each tag incorporates a tiny microchip encoded with a unique identification number. As the bearer approaches a border station, radio energy broadcast by a reader device is picked up by an antenna connected to the chip, causing it to emit the ID number. By the time the license holder reaches the border agent, the number has already been fed into a Hom

MRI isn't just for capturing detailed images of the body's anatomy. Thanks to imaging reagents and technology developed by Carnegie Mellon, MRI can be used to visualize -- with "exquisite" specificity -- cell populations in the living body. The ability to non-invasively locate and track cells, will greatly aid the study and treatment of cancer, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases, as well as provide a tool for advancing clinical translation of cellular regenerative medicine.

Studies suggest that two vaccines against cervical cancer are being used without sufficient evidence that they are effective and worth their high cost.

A common form of skin cancer could be diagnosed by the distinctive chemical "scent" it gives off, say US experts.

Editor's Note: This story was originally posted in the January 2004 issue of Scientific American.Thirteen years ago, in an article for Scientific American, the late Mark Weiser, then my colleague at Xerox PARC, outlined his bold vision of “ubiquitous computing”: small computers would be embedded in everyday objects all around us and, using wireless connections, would respond to our presence, desires and needs without being actively manipulated. This network of mobile and fixed devices would do things for us automatically and so invisibly that we would notice only their effects. Weiser called such systems “calm technology,” because they would make it easier for us to focus on our work and other activities, instead of demanding that we interact with and control them, as the typical PC does today. [More]

AP - Mexico said Wednesday it will invest 163 million pesos ($16 million) to save a highly endangered species of porpoise in the upper Gulf of California, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their trade entirely.

After rushing a stranger to the emergency room, health economist Philip Musgrove discovered that getting insurance information can trump getting emergency care.