ANTI-SPAMMERS PLAY HARDBALL
California, the most populous state in the US, has followed the UK and Australia in introducing tough new 鈥渙pt-in鈥� anti-spam laws. Prompted by predictions that junk email will cost the state $1.2 billion this year alone, the legislation allows $1 million-per-incident fines to anyone sending commercial email to Californians who have not opted to receive the mail in advance.
Such opt-in laws are seen as much tougher than the opt-out ones adopted elsewhere, which only let people opt out after a spam deluge. After 5 years of operating an opt-out policy, California has finally decided to get tough.
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Some marketing firms object to the law 鈥� to be in force from 1 January 鈥� claiming it will restrict legitimate commerce and violate the right to free speech. Other critics say it will be impossible to catch spammers because they will begin to send their junk mail from less regulated countries.
CANTILEVERS BEAT CANINES
Sniffer dogs are facing a challenge from an electromechanical rival. Engineers backed by the US Department of Homeland Security have developed a mechanical sniffer just half a millimetre long that can identify TNT (Nature, vol 425, p 474). It exploits the principle that the resonant frequency of a cantilevered beam alters when a substance sticks to it. But any TNT that sticks to the cantilever rapidly evaporates into the air. So a second test is used to confirm the short-lived resonance test. The engineers have fitted a miniature electric heater on the end of the cantilever. When a certain current is passed through the heater, the escaping TNT vapour ignites. The resultant plume absorbs red laser light, allowing the substance鈥檚 identity to be confirmed 鈥� with a sensitivity equal to that of a trained sniffer dog.
ENTER THE PHOTONIC HANDBAG
Interior lighting is set to dispel forever the dark mysteries of handbags and purses. A prototype bag made by the German company Bree and shown at a leatherware trade show in Offenbach, Germany, last week, lights up with a cool glow inside when it is opened. The light comes from an electroluminescent layer, sandwiched between layers of conducting polymer film.
The firm鈥檚 co-presidents, Alex and Phillip Bree, expect their bags to be in the shops within a couple of years. Similar technology is expected to replace interior lighting in cars.
