Two Princeton University scientists have developed an alternative to conventional encryption for sending secure messages over the trunk lines of the Net. Their approach exploits the background noise, or "jitters," created by torrents of data surging across optical fibers. First, a device called an encoder stretches out the short pulses of light that make up a message to be secured.
These stretched pulses are so quiet that they hide in the jitters. A decoder on the receiving end takes the elongated signals and restores them to their original form. This technology could prove superior to ordinary encryption, which relies on software code called keys.
"When you're using encryption, you still disclose that secure communication takes place," which may invite attention from hackers, explains Evgenii Narimanov. He developed the new approach with his colleague Bernard Wu. The technology could be combined with conventional encryption, they say.
There is a drawback to stretching signals: You end up sacrificing some of the speed that makes fiber-based communications so desirable. The secure transmission rate is around 760 megabits per second, vs. 10 gigabits for nonsecure transmissions.
-- It's rare that a species goes from "extinct" to just "endangered." The Wollemi Pine, which flourished in the age of dinosaurs, got that upgrade in 1994 when a stand of 100 or so was found in Australia's Blue Mountains. The trees have soft fern-like needles, multiple trunks, and weird bark that looks like coffee beans coated in chocolate.
To help the trees take root around the world, consider purchasing a sapling at www.nationalgeographic.com/Wollemipine.
-- Nukes have powered naval ships, but now the technology could make its civilian debut. Rosenergoatom, Russia's private nuclear-energy company, is building a 120-megawatt plant on a barge. When finished in 2010, it will be towed to the White Sea, in Russia's far north, to power mining operations as well as nearby towns.
Details about onboard safety systems are scant, raising red flags. The U.S.
developed, but abandoned, plans for nuclear barges in the 1960s.
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