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The British company is also developing explosives that can be composted, armored cars with reduced carbon emissions, and weaponry with fewer volatile organic compounds (those wily carcinogenic compounds that also contribute to global warming).

While some activists find the idea of a mass weapons producer going green ludicrous, the company insists that its commitment to minimizing war's collateral damage is an earnest one. According to BBC News online (Oct. 26, 2006), BAE director of corporate responsibility Deborah Allen told the BBC World Service program Culture Shock, 'We all have a duty of care to ensure that from cradle to grave products are being used appropriately and do not do lasting harm.' She may have missed the irony.

Urban Planning 2.0
MIT researchers have teamed up with city officials in Zaragoza to bring a storied streetscape in one of Spain's oldest cities into the digital age. The Digital Mile project, led by Dennis Frenchman and William J. Mitchell, will offer free wireless Internet that allows the public access to information (historical notes, directions to the train station) via cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), reports Places (18.2). Also proposed are intelligent street and building lights that could change color or intensity, depending on the time of day and number of users in the area. Still other elements include digital facades, moveable physical elements that provide shade, and a 'waterwall' that reacts to human interaction. The idea is that such 'digital places' would respond to individual users and help them form personal associations with this new type of urban environment.

Phoning It In
Imagine spotting a cafe across the street, pointing your phone at it, and having the day's menu pop up on the screen. Nokia researchers have developed a prototype phone that accesses this 'augmented reality,' where information from computers or the Internet is superimposed on the real world. According to Technology Review (Nov. 20, 2006), the 'souped-up' phone uses various sensors to identify a user's location. The phone then reviews a database of objects visible to its camera and provides information or hyperlinks about them. It could even link to the blog of a person walking by. But challenges abound, including the phone's considerable power needs and privacy issues.

[word watch]
Ubiquitous City
noun: An urban environment built on an expansive communications infrastructure that links the virtual and real worlds. Municipal World (Dec. 2006) explains that in the 'U City' your lawn sprinkler could check the weather report online and activate itself if needed. A 'smartcard' could pay for your taxi-and serve as your house key. It's not just science fiction: South Korean planners are spending $25 billion to build New Songdo City, the world's first ubiquitous city, by 2010.

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