News Track

In the battle for precision, the Encyclopædia Britannica recently called for Nature magazine to retract an article it published last December impugning the accuracy of Britannica’s Web site. The article compared the accuracy of two online reference resources—the renowned leader Britannica and the upstart Wikipedia, which is created, written, and edited completely by non-experts. The findings indicated the accuracy presented by the reigning authorities was not as pristine as expected. Britannica issued a statement last April (corporate.britannica.com/Britannica_nature_response.pdf), then followed with a half-page advertisement in the London Times criticizing the study and demanding a retraction. Nature responded it was indeed surprised by the findings of the comparison study, conducted by 42 experts, but the tallied results found the experts picked up errors (the great majority of them minor) at a rate of about three per online Britannica item compared to about four per Wikipedia item. Nature stands by its story; responses to the points raised by Britannica can be found at www.nature.com/nature/britannica/index.html.

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Snooze Headlines

The days of the catchy newspaper headlines full of wit and style and the occasional double entendre are fading to blah as a growing number of news outlets are bowing to the ‘bots. Search-engine ‘bots, that is, designed to scour online newspapers, magazines, and TV news headlines worldwide to rank and list news items for the likes of Google and Yahoo. The New York Times reports the news media can no longer deny the global online audience their news may attract; that often means making it easy for ‘bots to find their stories. News organizations have been rewriting or distilling the traditional eye-catching headlines with more subdued, logical ones for software to catch. One California newspaper recently renamed some of its sections to make them easier for ‘bots to find: "Real Estate" became "Homes"; "Scene" became "Lifestyles"; and the dining out section became a bland "Taste/Food." Ironically, search engines often rework their algorithms to avoid self-serving manipulation by news outlets. As one news executive opined: "Part of the craft of journalism for more than a century has been to think up clever titles and headlines, and Google comes along and says, `The heck with that.’"

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"Americans like to look at the Internet as a frontier. Chinese prefer to look at it as a fenced field. Where it is productive, you may roam; where there is danger, you may not." —David Wolf, an American technology consultant working in Beijing.

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The Geek Factor

Contrary to popular belief, more Americans are interested in science news than ever before, though the fear of nerdom often keeps it a secret. A new study from Imaginova—a New York-based multimedia company that researches people’s interest in space, science, and technology—found a growing number of people remain silent about their scientific interests so as not to be perceived as geeks. The findings of the study, based on online polling and focus groups and designed to reach beyond those with confessed scientific interests, found a huge population segment, age 18–54, to be "intellectually curious" people who fall into three distinct groups: Science with Passion (14%), with a prime interest in nature, medicine, and the environment (53% of them female); Money, Success, and Science (11%), a career-driven population with a prime interest in technology and science TV programming (64% of them male); and Style with Science (15%), with a prime interest in technology, weather, and nature (57% of them male). "We found that consumer interest in science and science-related products are both larger and more complex than previously thought," said a researcher for the study. In fact, 85% of the intellectually curious respondents are intrigued by scientific breakthroughs and innovation and tend to visit science-oriented Web sites frequently.

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Sharper Image

Researchers from the University of Arizona have designed glasses that change focusing power by harnessing the images seen by the eyes. BBC News reports the lenses for these glasses use electrodes to alter the optical properties of liquid crystal between layers of glass. The research team contends it may one day replace bifocal and varifocal lenses, though U.K. experts suggest the lenses would be so heavy they would require especially thick frames. Still, where area-divided lenses tend to change focus slowly and limit the peripheral vision of the wearers, the researchers point out this breakthrough will allow wearers a clear view of the entire lens area. The model uses thick lenses to support the weight of the liquid crystal; it operates at a low voltage that can switch focal power less than one second after registering the vision seen through the lens on a person’s eye. If power is suddenly lost, the lens reverts to a configuration with no added focusing power.

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Riding the Brain Train

Japan, home to some of the world’s leading designers and vendors in the video game arena, is awash with new clientele that has taken their industry by storm. Senior citizens throughout the country, particularly women, are the fastest-growing segment of the video and computer game population—all bent on keeping their mental state sharp and active. Brain-training programs are fast becoming Japan’s hottest-selling market with 60–80+ year olds enrolling in classes and starting their days with invigorating mental gymnastics of quick math and memory-jogging quizzes on Sony PlayStations and Nintendo GameCubes, among others. Reuters reports this brain-training wave was inspired by the work of Ryuta Kawashima, a professor of brain science at Tohoku University, who created a program around a theory that a daily dose of mental calisthenics can train the brain at any age and improve memory in all patients, even those diagnosed with dementia. For video game makers eager to expand their customer base beyond teens, software featuring Kawashima’s brain-training program has been a huge and surprising electronic gold mine. "We were able to ride the brain craze," said one Nintendo spokesperson, who admitted the firm never expected such success from this market. Indeed, the older population in Japan is so taken by this phenomenon that even the Rubik’s cube has made a comeback, with sales of the famous puzzle increasing fivefold in Japan last year.