Sir David Attenborough’s Debut with Series Zoo Quest on Sony BBC Earth from July 19

“We were rebels”, said Young David Attenborough 66 years ago as he stepped into the world of natural history to bring one of the most pioneering and groundbreaking series - Zoo Quest. First broadcasted in 1954, Zoo Quest showcased the diversity of our beautiful planet by visiting parts of the natural world, as well as remote tribal communities, that were not filmed before. Not only did it change the way viewers saw the natural world but also launched Sir David Attenborough’s career as a wildlife presenter. 6 decades later, Sony BBC Earth brings a rare opportunity for his fans to re-visit Sir David Attenborough’s early adventures with ‘Zoo Quest in Colour’, and here’s why you shouldn’t miss out:

Launched 10 years before colour television even became available, Zoo Quest was originally broadcasted in black and white. However, using extraordinary 16 mm films, the series is now available in all colours and shades of the natural world

Coupled with behind-the-scene stories from David Attenborough and cameraman Charles Lagus, this series showcases the best of Zoo Quest in stunning HD colours for the very first time. Sir David reveals how they captured the incredible sequences back then and how the advancement of technology has enhanced our understanding of the natural world now

Sir David Attenborough was only 28 years old and Lagus 26 when they began filming the series and travelling to West Africa, Guiana, and Indonesia, in search of creatures to take back to London Zoo. They faced number of challenges and nerve-wrecking situations all through their journey

While filming Komodo Dragons on a remote island in Indonesia, Attenborough and Lagus faced a fatal situation and were stuck into a whirlpool when the boat they were travelling in hit a major tropical storm

Lagus describes the dangerous situation as: “Quite honestly neither of us were sure that we would ever see each other again, it was that dicey.”

Sir David Attenborough, remembering the old days said, “They were good days and I wouldn’t change them. Looking back, I don’t think anyone would let two kids in their 20s just go off like that and nobody asked us anything about health and safety or anything else. We just disappeared, and they said, when will you be back? Oh, just before Christmas, I think. Oh right-o, goodbye. So happy days.”

Watch the early adventures of Sir David Attenborough, the Godfather of natural history, in ‘Zoo Quest in Colour’ on 19th July at 9:00 pm only on Sony BBC Earth.

MIT World Peace University Commences a 4 – Day Conference on Eradication of Biological and Chemical Weapons

MIT World Peace University which is one of India’s leading education institute, announced the inauguration of a 4 -Day International virtual Conference on a burning issue which is Eradication of biological and chemical weapons. 

MIT World Peace University which staunchly believes in undertaking initiatives that aid in World Peace has consciously decided to spread awareness through this conference.  The conference aims to bring together all the nations together to build a mechanism to end the threat of bio warfare by establishing a legal discourse towards curbing research and development of such weapons. 

Relevant to the current times where the global pandemic COVID has shaken the world with its severe effects and continues to threaten countries even with medical advanced technology.  There have been multiple speculations which have been raised regarding the origin of the virus, some claiming it to be a trigger for a biological warfare.  Biological Weapons Convention and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons which are the two important bodies which are tasked to getting rid of weapons of mass destruction, unfortunately do not hold an authority to abolish any decision. 

The four-day conference will witness eminent stalwarts from various fields deliberating discussing and sharing their expertise on different aspects of bio warfare and to jointly contribute towards creating a legal framework.  Some of the prominent personalities include by UNESCO Chair Holder Prof. Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad - Founder President, MIT World Peace University, Founder Executive President, WPC, MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions, Hon’ble Justice K. G. Balakrishnan - Former Chief Justice of India, Former Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC),  Hon’ble Dr. Rajendra Singh - Well Known Water Conservationist (Waterman of India) & Chairman, Tarun Bharat Sangh, Hon’ble GVV Sarma, , IAS, Member secretary , National disaster management authority Government of India ,Hon’ble, Dr.A. Velumani - Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, Thyrocare Technologies Ltd. & Former Scientist, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Founder and Managing Director, Nuclear Healthcare Ltd. (NHL), Hon’ble Shri. Arif Mohammed Khan - Hon'ble Governor of Kerala, Former Cabinet Minister, Energy and Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, Hon’ble Prof. Dr. Atanu Basu - Director Grade Scientist G, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Department of Health Research, Min of Health & FW, Govt of India & Adjunct Professor, School of Life Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi. The conference comprises of a marathon of diverse sessions focusing on various facets of the Bio/Chem warfare.

During the inaugural ceremony Rahul V. Karad, Vice President – MAEER’s MIT Group, Executive President –MIT WPU, founder – BCS, MITSOG, NTC, NWP, Sarpanch Sandsad said “There is a pressing need to create a global voice for all nations to work in harmony in order to develop human safety. Through this conference our agenda is to bring together all the nations under one umbrella to evolve a mechanism to eradicate bio/ chemical – weapons and also to establish a legal discourse towards the restriction of the research and development of bio-chem warfare”.

Speaking on the inaugural ceremony Dr. N T Rao, Vice chancellor, MIT-WPU said “In this International Conference various intellectual minds have come together to make an appeal to the United Nations to destroy this impending threat caused by chemical and biological weapons. At MIT WPU, believers of world peace collectively speak, deliberate and come to a conclusion and pass the resolution for the betterment of the world “.

Speaking on the occasion Pravin V Patil, CEO, Centre for Industry – Academia Partnership, MIT- WPU said “We are truly overwhelmed to see the support and response from the people, till now we have had over 5000 registrations across the globe.  We are glad to organize this International conference as it is a platform bringing together global spokespeople to discuss the gravity of Bio warfare”.

Through this conference an effort will be made to awaken the youth globally to the dangers of such bio-hazards, which should be condemned with an intent of consolidating the message of ‘safe and secure mankind’.  The conference will also focus on the need to address the issue of preparedness for future so that we can safeguard ourselves against such global adversities.

For further details on the international conference and registration do log on to www.ebcw2020.com 

Suspected money laundering made record in 2008:Swiss govt

Switzerland, on the 'grey list' of tax havens, saw a surge in suspected activities related to money laundering in 2008, with assets worth Switzerland an all-time high $ 1.65 billion involved in them.

After the world's top 20 economies resolved to crack down on tax havens worldwide at a meeting here last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) named Switzerland among countries not having substantially implemented international tax standards.

This classification put Switzerland on the 'grey list' of tax havens, but Switzerland reacted sharply to such descriptions and said it was not actually a 'tax haven'.

However, the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) has said in a report that the number of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in connection with money laundering jumped from 795 in 2007 to 851 last year.

This included nine related to suspected terror financing and involved assets worth over one million Swiss francs ($ 884,600).

"The increase was due mainly to the greater volume of reports from the banking sector, which reached a new record high. The total value of assets involved doubled to reach an all-time high of CHF 1.87 billion Swiss francs ($ 1.65 bn)," the FDJP said in a statement.

In 2008, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) received 851 SARs, with nearly 67 per cent of them coming from the banking sector. Among them, most were related to investment fraud.

The statement noted that third on the list of offences was bribery related to individual corruption, which, due to their complexity involving numerous businesses, generated several SARs.

"Although the acts of corruption took place abroad, the suspected bribe money was deposited in Switzerland," it added.

Interestingly, Opposition parties in India have said that assets worth about $ 1.5 trillion are stashed away in Swiss banks by Indian citizens.

The FDJP said that in the CHF 1.87 billion, three SARs totalling CHF 700 million ($ 620.5 million) are involved. Among them, two cases involved fraud while the other one was related to corruption.

This included a single report involving an asset value of 942,000 Swiss francs ($ 834,999) and the case was forwarded to the appropriate prosecuting authority, which subsequently dismissed the case.

"None of the incoming SARs relating to terrorist financing was based on the State Secretariat for Economic Affair's so-called Taliban Regulations.

"All but one SAR with an unclear economic background were based on information received from third parties (press reports, information from third persons or prosecuting authorities) indicating possible terrorist involvement.

"After careful scrutiny, MROS forwarded seven of the nine SARs to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, which has in the meantime dismissed or suspended three of the cases. Four cases are pending," the statement noted.

Agencies

Deadly PC virus -- Conficker C -- to strike on April 1

A security expert has cautioned that an Internet worm, called Conficker C, can strike at infected computers around the world on April 1.

Conficker C is a sophisticated piece of malicious computer software, or malware, that installs itself on a PC hard drive via specially written web pages and then conceals itself on a computer.

Graham Cluley, of the security specialist Sophos, has claimed that Conficker C is programmed "to hunt for new instructions on April 1".

However, "this does not mean that anything is going to happen, or that the worm is actually going to do anything. Simply, it is scheduled to hunt a wider range of websites for instructions on that date," The Times quoted him as saying.

And the biggest catch is that no one yet has any idea what exactly Conficker C is programmed to do.

In February, Cluley said, "It's as if someone is assembling an army of computers around the world, but hasn't yet decided where to point them."

Experts are fearing that on April 1 all the world's millions of infected computers may receive simultaneous instructions to attack, or to flood the Internet with spam email.

Ed Gibson, Microsoft's chief security adviser for the UK, was quite hesitant to make predictions about Conficker's behaviour.

"April 1 is a classic date for anything like this to go off. But I really would hate to say that April 1 is going to be unlike any other day," he said.

Agencies

Is Indian CEO confidence highest in world?

Indian CEOs expect their businesses to be less affected by the crisis in the international banking system than their global counterparts.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 12th Annual Global CEO Survey found only 50% of the respondents in India saying they were likely to be affected by the credit crisis, as compared to 70% globally.

India has recorded the highest CEO confidence levels amongst the emerging economies, with 70% expressing confidence about both short term and long term revenue growth, compared to just 21% and 34% globally. CEOs worldwide were gloomier about longer-term growth, predicting a slow recovery.

“This confidence is extremely significant since it signals the inherent strength of the Indian market, and its continuing potential for growth even in the face of crisis,” said Ramesh Rajan, chairman of PwC, India. Pessimism prevailed across all geographic regions, business sectors and levels of economic development, said the survey. Only 15% of CEOs in North America and 15% in Western Europe expressed confidence about growth prospects for the next 12 months. This compared with 21% in the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, 31% in Asia Pacific, and 21% in Latin America.

The outlook for the next 12 months was optimistic for Indian CEOs as 89% of the respondents expect to make a return on investment in products or services provided, compared to 69% globally. 60% of Indian respondents said that they were likely to grow their businesses by penetrating existing markets better, compared to 37% globally.

Indian CEOs indicated that M&A activities were likely to play a greater role in the growth of their businesses than JVs or strategic alliances, in contrast with the global trend. 97% of Indian CEOs indicated that information about employee views and needs was important in making decisions about the long-term success and durability of their business, compared to 88% globally. The India figure was highest in Asia too.

For the survey, 1,124 interviews with CEOs were conducted in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2008.

Times of India

Has China overtakes US as largest auto market?

China overtook the United States as the largest auto market in the world in January, according to data published by Chinese state media on Tuesday.

A total of 735,000 automobiles were sold in China last month, state television said, citing Dong Yang, deputy director of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

By contrast, 656,976 vehicles were sold last month in the United States, according to preliminary estimates issued last week by market research firm Autodata.

Agencies

2009 world unemployment could rise by 40 million, says UN

The global economic downturn could see 40 million more people lose their jobs by the end of the year, taking the unemployment rate to its highest in a decade, the U.N. labor agency said Wednesday.

The number of unemployed in 2009 will largely depend on how effective governments' economic stimulus measures are, the International Labor Organization cautioned.

Worldwide unemployment by the end of the year will range between 210 million and 230 million people, the agency said in its annual Global Employment Trends report.

That is a marked increase on the 179 million who were unemployed at the end of 2007 and the estimated 190 million at the end of 2008, the ILO said.

The worst case scenario assumes growth slows rapidly and that an economic recovery will be delayed into 2010.

This would boost the global unemployment rate to 7.1 per cent, a decade high and well above the 2007 rate of 5.7 per cent and estimates for a 2008 rate of 6 per cent. Over the last ten years, the rate has ranged from 5.7 per cent to a peak of 6.3 in 2003 and 2004.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said that although many governments have started to support their economies, ``more decisive and coordinated international action is needed to avert a global social recession.''

``Progress in poverty reduction is unraveling and middle classes worldwide are weakening,'' he said.

The latest predictions are based on an economic growth forecast of 2.2 per cent, published by the International Monetary Fund in November and expected to be adjusted downwards.

``Unemployment will rise with a downward revision, but I believe it will still fall within the range,'' said Lawrence J. Johnson, who heads the ILO's employment trends unit.

The report had originally forecast world unemployment would range between 198 million and 230 million people, but Somavia said the lowest estimate has probably been overtaken by events.

If the worst case scenario materializes, around 200 million more people would become working poor, unable to earn more than $2 per person a day.

In this outlook, the total number of working poor would be 812 million, or 26.8 per cent of the world's work force, the report said, using poverty estimates by the World Bank.

In 2007, some 609.5 million were working poor, 20.6 per cent of the world's work force at the time.

In addition to fiscal and monetary interventions, the world economy also needs creative measures improving the social situation of workers, the report said.

``There is a need to focus measures on vulnerable groups in the labor market, such as youth and women, who are most likely to be pushed into poverty and find themselves trapped there for many years,'' it said.

Governments should give special attention to small and medium companies because they provide the bulk of jobs and are most affected by the financial crisis, the report said.

Agencies

World's most expensive phone is out

An Austrian jeweller has given 'bling bling' a new definition by designing the world's most expensive phone.

The new Apple iPhone 3G 'Kings Button' is made of solid 18-carat yellow gold, white gold and rose gold!

Designed by Peter Aloisson the stunning diamond-encrusted iPhone comes for a whopping 1.8 million pounds.

The one-of-a-kind phone features a rare 6.6-carat diamond on its home button, reports The Sun.

Aloisson is credited as being the ultimate pioneer when it comes to blurring the lines between gadget, art and jewellery.

BRIC will account for 40% of world growth by 2020

BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are likely to contribute 40 per cent of global economic growth in the next 10 years due to a "tectonic shift" in the distribution of global capital over the next decade, global consultancy firm Ernst & Young said.

"Companies and governments in the developed world have to face up to the reality that there will be a further shift in the economic balance of power in the years ahead," Mark Otty, Area Managing Partner (Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa) at Ernst & Young said.

In the latest research note titled 'For Richer, For Poorer Global Patterns of Wealth', Ernst & Young said emerging economies have seen their share of global output and wealth rise significantly over the last few years, driven by faster growth, rising income, high savings ratios, strong investment and export.

In the next decade, the BRIC countries are likely to contribute 40 per cent of global growth, while the US would account for around 14 per cent.

China is set to become the biggest economy in the world in public-private partnership terms by 2019 and by 2020 the BRIC countries would account for almost a third of global GDP - of which China will contribute 18 per cent.

E&Y projects that the BRICs would account for 65 per cent of global basic metals output by 2020 and here also China would account for the lion's share of growth.

According to the report, around 77 per cent of world reserves, totalling almost $ trillion, are held by emerging markets. Besides, cross-border private investment by emerging economies has been increasing as well.

Sources: Agencies

World jobless total could rise by 25 million?

The global economic crisis will push up unemployment by up to 25 million by 2010, the OECD head forecast on a 'truly scandalous failure' of regulatory supervision.

"We're heading for a loss of between eight and 10 million jobs in the OECD area... and 20 to 25 million in the world as a whole between now and 2010," Angel Gurria said on France's BFM radio.

The International Labour Organisation earlier forecast that the number of global unemployed could go up by 20 million to reach a record high point of 210 million people by the end of 2009.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris brings together 30 countries, including all the world's industrialised economies. The group conducts research and publishes economic forecasts.

Gurria also said that European countries should spend more in stimulus plans to kickstart their economies and suggested that the European Central Bank should lower interest rates because of falling inflation.

The European Union should "go beyond" the fiscal stimulus plans already announced, equivalent to around 1.4 percent of GDP, since "all the other major countries are going beyond that," Gurria said.

He also said that the OECD economies were in recession in the current quarter and would remain so for at least the first two quarters of 2009, with many countries being in recession for most of 2009.

"We predict a recovery at the end of 2009 and weak growth in 2010" he said.

Commenting on the build-up to the crisis, Gurria said there had been "a truly scandalous failure of regulation... and supervision", and poor risk management and corporate governance by companies.

Meanwhile there was fresh movement to stop the meltdown, with a decision by US president-elect Barack Obama to add 500,000 jobs to a 2.5-million-job creation goal to kickstart the world's biggest and ailing economy.

Vice president-elect Joseph Biden also confirmed the Obama team was working on a second economic stimulus package. According to US media, they want to craft a package worth between 675 and 775 billion dollars over two years.

In Europe, the Irish government said it was injecting 5.5 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars) to recapitalise three major banks: Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to create at least 100,000 new jobs through a 10-billion-pound investment in infrastructure, in a newspaper interview.

The Bank of England's deputy governor John Gieve said in an interview with BBC television that the bank under-estimated how serious the credit crunch would be even though it knew that "crazy borrowing" was taking place.

Gieve said the Bank of England had predicted a correction as far back as two years ago but he added: "We didn't think it was going to be anything like as severe as it turned out to be."

Source: Economic Times

Internet's underground economy is worth $5 billion

Internet fraud has become a multi-billion dollar business with thieves stealing bank account information and credit card numbers and then selling them online.

Hi-tech thieves who specialize in card fraud have a credit line in excess of $5bn, research by the world’s largest maker of security software, Symantec, suggests .

Symantec calculated the figure to quantify the scale of fraud it found during a year-long look at the internet’s underground economy , according to reports.

Credit card numbers were the most popular item on sale and made up 31% of all the goods on offer. Coming in second were bank details which made up 20% of the items being offered on criminal chat channels. The $5.3bn figure was reached by multiplying the average amount of fraud perpetrated on a stolen card, $350, by the many millions Symantec observed being offered for sale. Similarly, the report said, if hi-tech thieves plundered all the bank accounts offered for sale they could net up to $1.7bn.

Symantec said it was likely that many of the cards offered for sale were invalid or cancelled and bank accounts closed but it added: “These figures are indicative of the value of the underground economy and the potential worth of the market.”

Credit card numbers have proved so popular among hi-tech thieves because they are easy to obtain and use for fraudulent purposes. Many of the methods favoured by cyber criminals, such as phishing schemes, database attacks and magnetic strip skimmers, are designed to steal credit card information , it said.

The existence of a ready market for any stolen data and the growing use of credit cards also helped maintain their popularity, it said.

“High frequency use and the range of available methods for capturing credit card data would generate more opportunities for theft and compromise and, thus, lead to an increased supply on underground economy servers,” said the report.

The price card thieves can expect for the numbers they offer for sale also varied by the country of origin. US card numbers were the cheapest because they were so ubiquitous — 74% of all cards offered for sale were from the US. By contrast numbers from cards issued in Europe and the Middle East commanded a premium because they were relatively rare.



Source: Agencies

After credit crisis world now rattled by Madoff scandal

European investors face billions of dollars losses in the wake of disclosure of "Ponzi" scheme run by Bernard Madoff, now being investigated by the American authorities.

European banks, including Spain's Grupo Santander SA and France's BNP Paribas, were quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that their clients and shareholders face billions of euros of losses on investments, underscoring the global reach of the alleged Ponzi scheme run by the veteran New York money manager.

A ponzi scheme is a type of securities fraud where the promoter makes some sort of false or misleading statement about an investment (often including a guaranteed high rate of return) and pays off older investors with newer investors money.

Santander, the eurozone's largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of 2.33 billion euros ($3.1 billion) to Madoff's investment funds, mainly through its Optimal Strategic US Equity fund.

The company, which has been relatively unscathed from global financial crisis, said it had hired Madoff's firm to execute the Optimal fund's investments. Santander vowed to "undertake the legal actions which may be needed to defend the interests of investors."

The Journal reported that BNP, France's largest bank by market value, said it could lose as much as 350 million euros as a result of the alleged fraud.

However, the bank said it has no investment of its own in the hedge funds managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Services. BNP Paribas, however, said it is exposed to these funds through its trading business and lending to hedge funds that had invested in Madoff's funds.

The losses, the Journal said, could prove particularly embarrassing for banks' private-banking businesses, which charge high fees to wealthy investors in return for what is supposed to be superior advice and due diligence.

More than two billion euros belongs to institutional investors and international clients of Santander's private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it was quoted as saying. The remaining 320 million euros belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where the bank is based.

Most of the European banks' exposures were on client investments they managed, rather than on the banks' own balance sheets, it said, adding that it's not yet clear how much, if anything, investors in Madoff's funds may be able to recover.

Exposures to Madoff's funds have also emerged among a growing number of smaller European private banks.

In a letter posted on its website, the Swiss private bank Reichmuth and Co said its clients had an exposure of some 385 million Swiss francs to Madoff funds.

The bank said Reichmuth Matterhorn, a fund that invests in other hedge funds, faced a potential loss of about 8.6 per cent on its exposure to Madoff. That amount represented about 3.5 per cent of the 11 billion Swiss francs Reichmuth & Co. has under management, the bank said, the Journal reported.

Source: Agencies

Sony to slash 16,000 jobs globally

Sony Corp plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs in the largest reduction announced by a Japanese company since the credit crunch drove the world into a recession.

Sony will curb investments, outsource production and move away from unprofitable businesses by March 2010, as part of plans to save more than 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) a year, the Tokyo-based company said. The job eliminations will take place in the electronics division and include 8,000 contract workers, it said.

The reductions highlight the severity of the slump in consumer spending at a time when companies typically focus on the peak Christmas shopping season.

Sony, the world’s second largest maker of consumer electronics, said a much larger than anticipated deterioration in the economy spurred the cuts and the company may revise its midterm targets.

“I can’t see how the company will regain its charm with consumers,” said Hiroshi Sato, chief investment officer of Tokyo-based GCSAM Co, who sold his Sony Holdings. The company might suffer from a bigger earnings decline in the second half, or even losses, if it doesnt take any measures. The company said it will announce the financial impact
of the measures in January, when reporting fiscal thirdquarter results.

The reason for this move is the deterioration of the economy, which was much larger than we expected, senior vice president Naofumi Hara said.

Sony on Oct 23 said net income will probably drop 59% in the year ending March 31, reducing the outlook by 38% as the stronger yen and slumping demand undermine sales of its electronics including Bravia televisions.

The electronics maker will review the impact of the reorganization steps and revise its current-year and mid-term profit targets if needed, Hara said, without elaborating. The company faces no problem with cash flow, he said.

Source: Agencies

IBM, Harvard want your PC for solar power study

Scientists at Harvard University and IBM are hoping to harness the power of a million idle computers to develop a new, cheaper form of solar power that could revolutionize the green energy world.

Researchers have launched the project using IBM's World Community Grid, which taps into volunteers' computers across the globe to run calculations on a myriad of compounds - potentially shortening a project that could take 22 years to just two years.

Harvard scientists are hoping the project will allow it to discover a combination of organic materials that can be used to manufacture plastic solar cells that are cheaper and more flexible than the silicon-based ones typically used to turn sunlight into electricity.

The technology could be used to coat windows, make backpacks or line blankets to produce electricity from the sun's rays. Technology to make the plastic cells already exists, but they are not yet efficient enough to be rolled out in commercial products.

"It is not now cost efficient, although the materials are cheap because it's plastic," said Alan Aspuru-Guzik, a chemistry researcher at Harvard University. The most efficient silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells convert about 20 percent of the sunlight that strikes them into electricity.

For now, the organic cells can turn only about 5 percent of the sunlight into power - half the level needed to make the low-cost cells a viable energy source. The researchers plan to publish results of the work once they have discovered a possible combination of compounds.

IBM developed its World Community Grid to advance research of humanitarian projects, such as fighting cancer, dengue fever and AIDS. The grid connects computers in homes or offices via the Internet with program on each machine to run calculations that feed back to the database.

"It's a way for people that have computers to do some good for the world," said IBM engineer Joe Jasinski. With more than a million volunteers currently linked to the World Community Grid, IBM said it had created a network with a massive calculating capability that would rank it among the top 10 most powerful supercomputers in the world.

Members of the grid download software to their personal computers that run the calculations as a screensaver program on the machine when it is turned on but not in use. IBM includes security software to protect the participants' computers. Such virtual networks are also in place to crunch data for other projects, such as SETI's effort to sift through radio telescope signals for signs of extraterrestrial life in the universe.

Source: Reuters