The ‘frontier’ feel of virtual worlds like Second Life is a large part of their appeal, as the lax rules allow people to engage in activities that may be more restricted back in the conceptual Old World. This mostly takes the form of harmless cultural behaviours, with scatterings of deviancy that is circumscribed for very good reasons. But a think-tank of UK accountants are flagging up a warning on the potential of virtual economies to be used as money laundering systems, and recommend that they are treated in the same way as any meatspace bank or institution. The question is, will legislation be able to keep up with the technology?

The social sciences have the unique remit of slowly and steadily gathering evidence in support of phenomena that are considered tautologies. Take for example the work of Dr. Alan Bentley of Durham University, who has been researching models of large-scale human behaviour which demonstrate that a vast percentage of people make cultural choices on the basis of what ‘innovators’ are perceived to be doing. Sounds self-evident, doesn’t it? But the implications aren’t so good, especially if the same attitudes extend to, say, voting or financial habits. Says Dr. Bentley:

“When political agendas are constantly changing, it’s a sign that politicians are copying each other rather than thinking for themselves.”

Another self-evident truth confirmed, eh?

Anyone who tells you that quitting is an easy option has obviously never been a smoker. Help is at hand, however, with a new product joining the serried ranks of patches, gums and New Age quackery. The eCigarette looks (vaguely) like the real thing, even down to producing a smoke-like vapour when you draw on it – but it only delivers nicotine, without all the nasty chemicals that tobacco includes as part of the deal. Only time will tell how effective (or indeed popular) it will become. But hey, while our governments are busily banning things that are bad for our lungs, perhaps it’s time for them to admit that depleted uranium causes cancer?

One of the many hazards of dwelling off the surface of the Earth is the threat of radiation exposure – it has a tendancy to make a person ill, to say the least. However, scientists are working on a drug that could prevent radiation damage from occuring in bodily tissues; its expressed purpose is to make radiation therapies and medical treatments safer, but as Colony Worlds points out, if the agent is effective it could open up the currently deadly wastes of space to human habitation.

The poor old Hubble telescope has had a long old run, and is starting to show the strain. But never fear – NASA is busy working on its replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is set to launch in 2013. Not only three times the size, the JWST is loaded with technologies that weren’t even possible when the Hubble was put into orbit – which means people like me who are suckers for awesome images of deep space won’t have to do without.