Tech Universe: Wednesday 25 May

The weak point in the spam chain seems to be the banks and credit card processors, says University of California research. Photo / Jeff Brass

WIND FOR 6: Who needs turbines when wind towers can collect wind from any direction? The hexagonal Wind Tower collects wind from any of its 6 faces, at any height, at any speed. Then the wind is compressed and accelerated to generate power. Japanese company ZENA claim their wind tower is more efficient and cheaper to maintain than traditional turbines. But doesn't it take energy to compress and accelerate the
air? More at Zenasystem.

STAND UP ELECTRICS: An American man who was paralysed five years ago is now able to take a few steps on a treadmill, thanks to an electrical stimulator on his spinal cord. The stimulator sends signals to walk or stand. Although this isn't yet able to allow a wearer to walk unaided it shows promise for future treatments. Combined with exoskeletons and thought control this could be a winner. Details at
Yahoo.

THESE TRUCKS MAY SEE YOU: Some haulage companies in the UK are adding motion sensors and cameras to their trucks to help save lives and prevent accidents. Every truck has blind spots that are especially dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists alongside the vehicle. Motion sensors trigger audible warnings, while the cameras feed video into the cab so the driver can see spots they normally wouldn't. Just don't scare the cyclists off their bikes with the audible warnings. BBC has
more.

SPAM CHOKE: Computer scientists at the University of California analysed nearly a billion spam messages hoping to find a choke point.
After buying products advertised in the messages they found that 95% of the credit card transactions are handled by just three financial companies. The weak point in the spam chain seems to be the banks and credit card processors. An earlier study showed that a spam provider needed to send 12.5 million messages to sell $100 worth of one pharmaceutical. So spam pays, but not really very much - more at New York Times.

LUG AND HAUL CAMERA: Forget point and shoot pocket cameras. What about a camera whose lens is 2 metres long and where the negatives are 35 by 91 cm? Darren Samuelson built his own camera so he could take big images without a digital camera. He records his shots onto X-ray film.
I doubt this one will catch on. More info at Darrensgreatbigcamera and video evidence here.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz