Tech universe: Monday 30 August

The US military has banned thumb drives. Photo / Thinkstock

A round-up of the latest technology news from around the globe.

BAD USB: In 2008 the US military suffered its biggest data breach ever. A spy introduced malware from a thumb drive into a military laptop. The US military now bans thumb drives. Spies take note: no USB drives allowed! Details at V3.

WINDOWBOT: Stanford University's new robot climbs smooth walls. Like geckos, it uses directional dry adhesion to interact with individual molecules of the climbing surface. Stickybot climbs wood paneling, painted metal and glass. Let's combine that with window cleaning abilities. More at Stanford University and video on YouTube.

NANOPIXELS: While image capture leaps to hundreds of megapixels, high res image display is heading into nano territory. University of Michigan cut nano-sized slits in metal to separate white light into red, green and blue. New screens could cram in 10 pixels for every one on a current LCD. Now who's going to read the 8 pixel size fine print? Details at LinuxForDevices.

STREET VIEW: Backscatter scanners send out a narrow stream of x-rays. The pattern of what bounces back distinguishes dense material from less dense objects such as explosives or human bodies. In the US law enforcement agencies have these scanners in vans on the streets to detect vehicle-based bombs. Pedestrians: wear your lead vests today. Details at Forbes and video on YouTube.

BONE SCAN: Each of us has a unique skeletal structure. The Wright State Research Institute is working on a skeletal scanner, linked to a database, to identify terrorists and sex offenders. The scanners will use X-rays or gamma rays. Now what do you think of the roving vans? More at Wright State University.

- Miraz Jordan knowic.co.nz.