Tech universe: Monday 6 September

The LaCie MosKeyto USB Flash Drive. Photo / Lacie

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

MICRO FLASH: The LaCie MosKeyto USB Flash Drive is truly tiny. It extends only 6mm from your laptop, though it can hold up to 8Gb of files. Not so much a thumb drive as a thumbnail drive. Details at Lacie.

SMART STAMP: Use the Junaio app on your iPhone or Android smartphone to view the latest 'smart' British postage stamp. The phone's web browser will open a web page and show you a short film. Stamp? Stamp? Where's my Old English dictionary again? More at the BBC.

RED HOT SATELLITES: Toshiba's recalling 41,000 Satellite notebooks after some have overheated, deforming the case or causing burns. Heat to send you into orbit. More at CNN.

SOUNDS LIKE ART: Researchers used an argon-ion laser to create acoustic waves in various hues of coloured paint. Each hue has a distinctive sound profile that helps reveal the authenticity of a work of art. If it looks like a Picasso and sounds like a Picasso... More at ScientificAmerican.

E. COLI KILLER: Stanford University coated cotton with silver nanowires and carbon nanotubes, then used it to filter E. Coli laden water. 20 volts of electricity from a hand crank zapped the bacteria, killing more than 98%. Imagine if you could hook it in to a video game somehow! Details at NewScientist.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz.