Stories of modern science ... from UPI

INTERNET VULNERABLE TO TERROR ATTACK

The Internet is vulnerable to a terrorist attack or other disaster that could destroy key telecommunications equipment in major cities. Ohio State University researchers simulated what could happen if major nodes of the Internet -- places that house equipment where Internet traffic is collected and distributed -- are damaged or destroyed and found while major cities that serve as Internet nodes would continue to have network access in most scenarios, it probably would be much less functional. Smaller and medium sized cities that link to the Internet through these major hub cities could be disconnected from the entire network. The Internet has become more vulnerable as it has become more commercialized, the writers say. Its predecessor, ARPANET, was developed by the Defense Department specifically to withstand a nuclear attack by having a decentralized network. That type of network is expensive to build and maintain so the Internet, as it commercialized, moved toward its current "hub-and-spoke" model.

ANCIENT ART HELPS MODERN COMPUTER IMAGING

Purdue University scientists used an ancient art technique to create new computer-imaging software. Stippling, in which pictures are painted using a series of tiny dots, is used by the software to produce complex pictures and renderings. Purdue researchers say it is 10 times faster than conventional imaging and could allow doctors to quickly preview images in real time as a patient is being examined with CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging. Dots are the most simple visual element in a picture so they also are ideal for computer visualizations. The software uses stippling with data from 3-D imaging techniques -- such as CT scans and MRI -- to quickly draw pictures of the body, converting raw medical data into real-time images that can be rotated and manipulated to zoom in on specific portions.

OLD MACDONALD'S HIGH TECH FARM

Times are changing at Old MacDonald's farm with the development of designer milk, naturally low-fat milk and green cows. A report by Lawrence K. Creamer, of the Fonterra Research Center in New Zealand, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry from the American Chemical Society and makes predictions for the next 50 years. Creamer and colleagues say designer milks are on the drawing board that will boost immunity, improve lactose utilization and relieve diarrhea. Biotechnology advances have identified a gene for milkfat synthesis that could allow scientists to selectively breed cows that naturally produce low-fat milk. Scientists are working on identifying genetic markers in cows for diseases or desirable traits that will enable scientists to improve the efficiency of milk production and select for milk with specific traits. Researchers also are trying to develop green cows -- not green-colored but environmentally cleaner. When cattle belch they produce methane as a result of digestion and methane is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. Researchers believe they can remove the microorganisms that produce methane from a cow's stomach.

SOFTWARE PICKS UP ADD LINK

Researchers testing a software program called PCAD 2000 -- designed to detect cognitive impairment -- surprisingly discovered many drug addicts had attention deficit disorder as children. The University of California Irvine medical team says high rates of childhood ADD do not mean the disorder causes drug addiction -- only that ADD and addiction are somehow related. They also say the finding shows the software may be more sensitive than other tests designed to screen for cognitive impairment. Dr. Louis Gottschalk, who co-invented the software, says while the program worked just as well as traditional tests for detecting confusion, muddled thinking or other cognitive dysfunctions, PCAD 2000 uncovered something traditional methods appeared to miss -- nearly 30 percent of patients had ADD as children. The software analyzes speech and written content for patterns that indicate any number of cognitive disorders.

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(EDITORS: For more information on INTERNET, contact Tony Grubesic at 513-556-3421 or e-mail Tony.Grubesic@UC.Edu. For STIPPLING, Emil Venere, 765-494-4709 or venere@purdue.edu, for MILK, Beverly Hassell, 202-872-4065 or b_hassell@acs.org, and for SOFTWARE, Andrew Porterfield, 949-824-3969 or amporter@uci.edu)