SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The Pain Beam
US defense researchers have developed a pain beam that feels like being burned but leaves no permanent damage. This shift from hardware to software,  from matter to energy, can do more than control the unpredictability of weapons. It can control the unpredictability of the people who fire them. When the pain beam was being developed, somebody accidentally fired it on a high setting, inflicting a second-degree burn. The designers responded by programming limits on the beam's power and duration…. Raytheon is already advertising the technology for commercial applications. The military is even developing a "personnel halting and stimulation response" system -- yes, a PHaSR -- to stun targets instead of killing them. But don't worry, nobody will get hurt. Sort of.
http://tinyurl.com/ypwdt6
The Promise of the Prefab
Michelle Kaufmann thinks she has found the sustainable architects holy grail: and eco friendly prefab bringing good design for the masses. Some of the greats of 20th Century architecture saw the promise of the prefab but couldn’t pull it off. "We want to create sustainable homes, of high quality, for a reasonable price, for the middle classes," says Kaufmann, 38. And to do that, she says, "you need  an assembly line." But where others have failed, Kaufmann sees a way. "The Internet is the key," she says. "A house is not a toothbrush," meaning a one-size-fits-all, perishable good. "You need and want to interface with the customer," to get a sense of how your building might be tailored to individual needs, but you can’t spend all your time in meetings with clients…
http://tinyurl.com/2yml7l
African Science
Africa is where researchers go to carry out exotic fieldwork—at least, that is a common presumption in rich countries. It is a useful place for studying elephant behaviour and discovering early hominid remains; then the scientists return home. This, however, is only part of the picture. Nigeria, for instance, has about 40% of the world's sickle-cell-anaemia patients. Last July, a drug company called Xechem Nigeria started selling a new medicine for the disorder. This medicine, Nicosan, had been developed by the country's pharmaceutical research institute. And, at a more esoteric level, the Southern African Large Telescope is the joint-biggest such instrument in the world. Despite these successes, many African scientists feel neglected  by their politicians who, they suspect, do not understand that geeks as well as businessmen are crucial to economic development. That, however, might be about to change. For the first time, the theme of the twice-yearly African Union Summit (held on this occasion in Addis Ababa) was science, technology and climate change.
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?...
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