The lost pets of Fukushima | SmartPlanet

"One is the story of Non, the white Shiba. He lived in Okuma, an area very close to the nuclear power plant. His family left him reluctantly, thinking they would be able to go back to their home in a couple of days. Instead they were evacuated to Kyushu. I got a tearful phone call from the owner, asking me if I went into the zone to try to find him. I got the address and went in secretly at night with a volunteer. It was a rather hair-raising experience, the roads were appalling because of the earthquake damage. And I don't even want to think about the radiation levels at the time. We only had a very ancient Geiger counter with us that proved to be completely unreliable. After more than two weeks without food and water, we thought our chances of finding him safe and sound were slim (he had been left chained up), but miraculously, he was fine. He was rather aggressive towards us at first, but we managed to maneuver him onto a crate and drive out of the area. The funny thing is his character changed as a result of his experience, and he became a pretty friendly dog. We eventually managed to reunite him with his owner." - Isabella Gallaon-Aoki

When people fled Fukushima, their pets were left behind, and few people recognized that their displacement would be indefinite. Volunteers have since rescued hundreds of animals, but shelters are struggling to feed and care for them.

Fortunately, organizations including?Animal Friends Niigata and HEART Tokushima have been working in partnership with Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support to save over 700 animals the Great East Japan Earthquake. Another rescue effort is planned for next week.

Volunteers brave arrest and elevated levels of radiation around Fukushima, donning protective gear and carry Geiger counters. They must limit the time spent on rescue missions and dodge security to enter ?no-go? exclusion zones.

?There are still many, maybe thousands of animals in need of rescue in the area and it is becoming more urgent to get them out before complete and expanding access is denied. The Fukushima problem is not something we will see disappear overnight, but will continue for years to come. It is imperative that we get the animals out of the area as soon as we can,? said HEART founder Susan Mercer.

HEART operates shelters in Tokushima and Niigata - both cities a healthy distance from Fukushima. Rescue efforts are ongoing, but over 300 animals remain in its shelters. HEART?s immediate concern is to focus is on stabilizing the lives of the animals through regular medical care, housing, feeding and, ?TLC,? Mercer said.

The most common health problems encountered in rescued animals are emaciation, dehydration, and heartworm, Mercer noted. ?We haven?t seen any cases of sickness that could be proven to be due to radiation poisoning and all of our animals have been through protocol.?

?Volunteers and resources have decreased as news of the Tohoku crisis has naturally waned but we are dedicated to quality care for our current as well as future rescues,? Mercer said.

HEART bears the expense of non-related medical issues such as spaying/neutering, vaccinations, and implanting microchips for identification purposes. It is actively seeking owners whenever possible, but there is no foreseeable date when disaster victims would be able to return to their homes, said HEARTS??Isabella Gallaon-Aoki.

However, there has been some serenity amid the loss and abandonment. A dog named Benji was rescued in April of 2011 in Fukushima, and was reunited with his family via the Internet six months later. Another pet rescued by Japanese pro snowboarder Kazu is still?available?for adoption.

[Donations can be made to HEART's PayPal account via its website at: www.heart-tokushima.com]

"Charlotte, the pig was found wandering in an area of tsunami damage, and rescued by two volunteers, Charles Harmison and Yoshiko Wada of Last Chance for Animals. While at Animal Friends, she was a real character and could be a terror to those she didn't like. I distinctly remember one occasions where she chased a photographer around our dog run. Miraculously, her owner managed to find that we had her, and he came to pick up her at the beginning of January. They are now living happily in Ehime Prefecture." - Isabella Gallaon-Aoki

Related on SmartPlanet:

Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/the-lost-pets-of-fukushima/12662

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Experts want suicide risk warning on ADHD drug (Reuters)

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (Reuters) ? Children who take a common drug for attention deficit disorder should be warned about the risk of suicidal thoughts, U.S. pediatric health advisers said on Monday.

Several members of an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration asked the agency to change the label for Focalin, an attention deficit medicine made by Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, to reflect this risk. The drug is approved for children aged 6 or older.

The FDA often follows the advice of its committees, although it is not required to.

The FDA said it received eight reports of suicidal thoughts for children or adolescents who took the drug over the past six years, and four of the cases appeared to be linked to the medicine. The link for the remaining cases was less clear.

"The suicidal ideation seems to be pretty serious," said Dr. Sheldon Kaplan, panel member and chief of infectious diseases at Texas Children's Hospital.

But the FDA said the risk of suicidal thoughts did not appear in clinical trials for Focalin, and the later reports were a tiny number compared to how many children used the drug.

"I'm somewhat puzzled by the focus of suicidal ideation," said Tom Laughren, head of the FDA's psychiatric products division, in response to the panel's recommendation.

"These drugs are very widely used. And what you're seeing here are a handful of reports that are difficult to interpret with regard to causality," he said.

The number of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has skyrocketed in recent years, with the condition now affecting 3 to 5 percent of kids globally.

Children with ADHD are excessively restless, impulsive and easily distracted, and often have trouble at home and in school. There is no cure, but the symptoms can be kept in check by a combination of behavioral therapy and medication.

In the United States, some 2.7 million people have prescriptions for ADHD drugs including Novartis' Ritalin, Johnson & Johnson's Concerta, Shire's Adderall and Vyvanse and Eli Lilly's Strattera.

Some patient advocates say doctors and parents may be too quick to diagnose kids with the condition, and the drugs may cause side effects that can damage children's health.

The FDA said about 1.8 million children received prescriptions for Focalin or its generic versions from May 2005 to July 2011.

The label for Focalin already warns patients that they may have new psychotic or manic symptoms after taking the drug, but does not mention suicidal thoughts.

Out of other ADHD drugs, only Strattera's label mentions thoughts of suicide as a side effect, as part of a restrictive "black box" warning.

The FDA monitors reports of side effects from medicines after they've been approved in order to discover potential safety problems. For drugs that are used by children, the agency must hold regular advisory meetings to review their safety.

The advisory committee and FDA reviewers also recommended a change to Focalin's label to reflect the risk of anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction, and angioedema, a type of swelling beneath the skin.

Novartis said it is will make any necessary changes to Focalin's label after discussing them with the FDA.

"Novartis is committed to patient safety and will continue to work closely with the FDA as the agency completes its review," said Brandi Robinson, spokeswoman for the company.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/hl_nm/us_fda_adhd

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How Evi Compares to Siri: Evi's Clever, Too, But Slow [VIDEO] (Mashable)

Getting Siri's voice-recognition capabilities on your phone just became a possibility for Android users and a bit less expensive for iPhone users. Meet Evi -- a $.99 app for iPhones and free for Android. For such a nominal price, don't expect Evi to be on par with Siri. There are some major differences with Evi as opposed to the quick and integrated Siri. Evi will not schedule meetings on your calendar or let you dictate text messages. But for functions like finding local shops, restaurants and general information, it's pretty helpful.

[More from Mashable: 7 Big Privacy Concerns for New Facebook and the Open Graph]

I asked Evi: "What time is it, Evi?" and it thought I said, "What time is it TV?". Messages such as "Just a mo'" appeared on the screen to let me know it was thinking and then it said, "I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers." Yes, it was noticeably slower than Siri.

Other times it would say, "I don't know right now -- try asking again next week." I asked, "Can you set my alarm for 9 p.m.?" even though Evi is not synced with the other apps like Siri is, it said it hasn't learned to do that yet.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Apps: Highlights of the 60 New Integrated Applications]

Could it be possible that True Knowledge, the company behind Evi, will integrate the app with its operating system's other functions in the future? Check out the company's video below introducing Evi.

The voice sounds a lot like Siri, although some reviewers have said the voice sounds annoying. Yes, it thinks too long and sometimes right after you state your query it says it is not getting a response from the servers, but then, your answer appears.

But even as I write this, I keep wanting to call this app Siri because it's quite similar. However, Apple's assistant still comes out in the lead compared to Evi [Link to app store].

For as many people who use Siri for making appointments and scheduling calls, there are also many who enjoy the depth of knowledge and wit Siri contains. Ask Siri to "tell me about the Civil War" and it directs me to a related link. Ask Evi the same question and you get a brief encyclopedia response including the dates and a small photo.

Siri also has built-in cleverness. Just to play around with Evi and find out if any sassy answers were built into this app, I asked, "What's my name?" and it responded, "Who are you? Surely you know the answer to that one already." I asked Evi other absurd questions like, What should I eat for dinner?" and it pointed me to a website for an olive tapenade recipe.

If you want a bare-bones Siri with some frequent hiccups -- but a .99 cent or free price tag -- Evi is a good option for now.

What do you think about Evi? Have you used it? How does it compare to Siri? Tell us in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20120129/tc_mashable/how_evi_compares_to_siri_evis_clever_too_but_slow_video

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Motorola starts selling WiFi Xyboards for $400 and up

What's that? You want an eight or ten inch WiFi tab, but failed to place your pre-order for one of Moto's latest earlier this month? Worry not, slate-seeking friend, for both the WiFi Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1 are officially on sale at Motorola's website, with free two-day shipping thrown in for good measure. As a quick refresher, the 8.2 comes in 16 and 32GB flavors for $400 and $500, respectively, while the same amount of memory in the 10-inch form factor will set you back $100 more. Sound good? Head on down to the source links below, credit card at the ready, and Moto will gladly send one your way.

Motorola starts selling WiFi Xyboards for $400 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Motorola (8.2), (10.1)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/LWyrceci0-A/

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SAG Awards menu is months in the making

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, a proposed plate of slow-roasted salmon, roasted root vegetables, and lamb is seen during the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, a proposed plate of slow-roasted salmon, roasted root vegetables, and lamb is seen during the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, SAG Awards producer Kathy Connell, left, and SAG Awards supervising producer Mick McCullough participate in the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, a plate of chopped chicken salad with apples, radicchio, walnuts and whole grain mustard sits on display during the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, from left, SAG Awards Committee Chair JoBeth Williams, SAG Awards Committee member Paul Napier, chef Suzanne Goin, of Lucques Catering, and SAG Awards event designer Keith Greco take part during the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In this Oct. 19, 2011 photo, a plate with grilled chicken breast with black rice, pea shoots and tangerine vinaigrette displays during the SAG Awards tasting and table decor preview at Lucques restaurant in Los Angeles. The SAG Awards will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? When your dinner party guests include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Winslet and Glenn Close, and the whole affair is televised live, it can take months to plan the menu. That's why the team behind the Screen Actors Guild Awards began putting together the plate for Sunday's ceremony months ago.

It was still summer when show producer Kathy Connell and executive producer and director Jeff Margolis first sat down with chef Suzanne Goin of Los Angeles eatery Lucques with a tall order: Create a meal that is delicious at room temperature, looks beautiful on TV, is easy to eat and appeals to Hollywood tastes. Oh, and no poppy seeds, soups, spicy dishes, or piles of onions or garlic.

"It can't drip, stick in their teeth or be too heavy," Connell said. "We have to appease all palates."

The chef put together a plate of possibilities: slow-roasted salmon with yellow beets, lamb with couscous and spiced cauliflower and roasted root vegetables with quinoa. There was also a chopped chicken salad and another chicken dish with black beans.

To ensure the dishes are both tasty and TV-ready, Connell and Margolis, along with the SAG Awards Committee and the show's florist and art director, dined together at this summertime lunch on tables set to replicate those that will be in the Shrine Exposition Center during the ceremony. The pewter, crushed-silk tablecloths and white lilies you'll see on TV Sunday were also chosen months ago.

The diners discussed the look of the plate, the size of the portions and the vegetarian possibilities.

"We'd like the portions a little larger," Connell told the chef.

"And a little more sauce on the salmon," Margolis added.

Come Sunday, it's up to Goin to prepare 1,200 of the long-planned meals for the A-list audience.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-29-SAG%20Awards-Menu/id-657dc298f5434f7ba2af02a165efcdfc

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Some slam Nazis, others dance at right-wing ball (AP)

VIENNA ? Participants at a memorial to 2 million Jews murdered in Adolf Hitler's Auschwitz death camp are condemning plans to hold a ball later in the day that attracts extreme rightists.

They say the timing ? and venue, just steps from their commemoration in the Austrian capital ? constitutes a macabre affront to Holocaust victims.

Ball organizers insist the fact that the event this year falls on the 67th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation is coincidental. They deny suggestions that those attending are extremists.

But opponents remained critical Friday. At a wreath-laying for Auschwitz victims, Greens Party head Eva Glavischnig suggested ball attendees "will be dancing today on the graves of Auschwitz."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_austria_rightist_ball

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APNewsBreak: UN weapons experts going to Tehran (AP)

VIENNA ? The U.N. nuclear agency is including two senior weapons experts on its next mission to Tehran in an unusually clear statement on the team's prime focus ? wresting information from Iranian officials about suspicions the country has secretly worked on atomic arms.

Iran has flatly refused to discuss such allegations for more than three years, saying they were based on phony intelligence from the U.S. and others seeking to harm the Islamic Republic.

But diplomats on Friday told The Associated Press that the weapons experts were part of the U.N team and that Iran had accepted their inclusion after some initial resistance. That suggested that the Islamic Republic was being more conciliatory on the issue of secret weapons work than usual as the International Atomic Energy Agency mission prepares to fly from Vienna to Tehran Saturday.

All six diplomats interviewed said Tehran had not committed to discussing the issue. But three of them added that Iranian officials indicated openness to talking about all topics during the IAEA mission that ends early next week ? a departure from standard reluctance by Tehran to exclude give-and-take on the arms allegations.

None of the diplomats expressed confidence of a breakthrough. But the Iranian stance at least allows the mission to have some home of making a dent into Iran's wall of silence about its alleged clandestine nuclear weapons work.

Any progress on the issue would be significant.

Tehran has blocked IAEA attempts for more than three years to follow up on U.S. and other intelligence alleging covert Iranian work on nuclear arms, dismissing the charges as baseless and insisting all its nuclear activities were peaceful and under IAEA purview.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November, in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

Iran continues to deny the charges and no change in its position is expected during the Tehran talks with IAEA officials. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from outright refusal to talk about them.

The diplomats said that the IAEA team was looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of weapons work, inspect documents relating to such suspected work and get commitments for future visits to sites linked to such allegations.

As most often the case, the IAEA team is headed by Herman Nackaerts, the chief agency official in charge of the Iran file ? but the makeup of the rest of the team reflects the importance attached by the agency to the trip.

Two diplomats said Friday that nuclear weapons experts Jack Baute of France and Neville Whiting of Britain would accompany Nackaerts.

While both fulfill IAEA functions not directly related to nuclear arms research, they were connected to their nation's weapons programs before they came to the agency.

One of the diplomats ? who is familiar with the thinking that went into setting up the mission ? said their inclusion was meant to send a clear signal to the Iranians. He, like the five other diplomats, asked for anonymity in exchange for discussing privileged information,

Also on the team is Rafael Grossi, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's right hand ? another indication of the importance the agency has attached to the trip.

The three-day visit comes as anxiety grows daily about Iran's nuclear capacities ? and what it plans to do with them.

Since the discovery in 2002 that Iran was secretly working on uranium enrichment, the nation has expanded that operation to the point where it has thousands of centrifuges churning out enriched material ? the potential source of both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material.

Iran says it is enriching only to generate energy. But it has also started producing uranium at a higher level than its main stockpile ? a move that would jump start the creation of highly enriched, weapons grade uranium, should it chose to go that route. And it is moving its higher-enriched operation into an underground bunker that it says is safe from attack.

Israel in particular is concerned by Iran's expanding enrichment capacities ? and increasing evidence of secret nuclear weapons work.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a "surgical" military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran's nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran's oil and banks so that "we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program."

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the U.S. and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear," Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

"It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them," he said, alluding to increased Iranian efforts to move their enrichment work deep underground.

Separately at Davos, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue. He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

__

George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

___

John Heilprin contributed to this report from Davos.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/iran_nuclear

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Danes wins pudding pot from Harvard drama group (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ? Golden Globe winner Claire Danes will be picking up a pudding pot from Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

The student group named Danes on Friday as its Woman of the Year. She'll get a parade and a roast Jan. 26.

Danes won her third Golden Globe on Sunday for her role as CIA agent Carrie Mathison on Showtime's new "Homeland." She won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild award last year for her work in HBO's "Temple Grandin."

The 32-year-old gained attention at 15 when she won her first Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for "My So Called Life."

Julianne Moore won the Harvard club's award last year.

The Man of the Year will be announced next week and honored Feb. 3. Jay Leno won last year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_en_tv/us_people_hasty_pudding_danes

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Video: Christie on MTP: S.C. results ?disappointing?

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46090592#46090592

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Is Camille leaving 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'?

Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images

According to Radar, Camille Grammer might not be back on "RHOBH."

By Anna Chan

Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have watched Camille Grammer go through some trying times on the hit?Bravo reality show. And now, Radar Online is reporting that the reality personality may not return next season.

"Producers are asking Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof and Kyle Richards if any of their wealthy female friends would be interested in appearing on the show," a network insider reportedly told the website. "It's an open secret that Camille most likely won't be back for a third season."

A source close to the show told us that casting decisions have not yet?been made.

Bravo had no comment on Camille's rumored exit on Friday.

Would you miss Camille if she left? Who do you think should leave the show? Take our poll, and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

{"contentId":"10201860","totalVotes":"13261"}

If one person had to leave 'RHOBH,' who should it be?

?

Related content:

Dana Wilkey	? 30.2% (4,008 votes)
Kim Richards	? 25.8% (3,418 votes)
Taylor Armstrong	? 18.7% (2,479 votes)
Brandi Glanville	? 15.2% (2,019 votes)
No one should leave. The cast is great!	? 4.3% (568 votes)
Camille Grammer	? 2.4% (317 votes)
Kyle Richards	? 1.9% (255 votes)
Adrienne Maloof	? 0.8% (107 votes)
Lisa Vanderpump	? 0.7% (90 votes)

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201860-is-camille-leaving-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills

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Salvadoran soldiers get Spain extradition request (AP)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador ? El Salvador's government says it has received a formal request from Spain for the extradition of 13 former military officers accused in the 1989 slayings of six Jesuit priests and two other people.

A Spanish court wants to try a total of 15 former officers for the killings during the Central American country's 1980-1992 civil war. Two of the 15 are in the United States.

Five of the priests slain were Spanish. The sixth was Salvadoran.

El Salvador's Supreme Court refused to order the detention of the ex-officers last year because no formal extradition request had been received.

Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez said Thursday the request has been forwarded to the high court for consideration.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_el_salvador_jesuits

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Tiny hard drive stores a bit with 12 atoms

IBM Research - Zurich

Miniaturized information storage in atomic-scale antiferromagnets show the binary representation of "s" (01010011).

By John Roach

Twelve atoms are all that's required to store a bit of computer code ? a 1 or 0, according to a new discovery that probes the limit of classical data storage.

Computer hard drives on the market today use more than a million atoms to store a single bit and more than half a billion to store a byte, which is an eight-bit-long unit of code sufficient to write the letter A, for example.?

---

The new technique uses just 96 atoms per byte, allowing for hard drives that store 100 times more information in the same amount of physical space, according the researchers behind the discovery.

"We can put the neighboring bits at the same atomic spacing that the atoms have inside the bit," Andreas Heinrich, a lead investigator in atomic storage at IBM Research in California, told me.

"So, we can really pack them right next to each other."

Unconventional magnetism
The storage technique is based on an unconventional form of magnetism called antiferromagnetism.

Normal magnets used in today's hard drives ? and to hold your child's artwork on the refrigerator ? are made of ferromagnetic materials. The spins of atoms in these magnets align with each other.?

That's "good" because it provides an overall magnetic field that we can read as a bit ??a 1 or 0, explained Heinrich.

"But it is bad because the magnetic field from one ?bit will interfere with the magnetic field from the neighboring bit and so you can't pack these bits too close together because they'll just talk to each other," he said.

Antiferromagnets, by contrast, cancel each other out, so there's no magnetic field emanating from them. That means they can be packed close together, allowing for the increased data storage density.

Atomic building blocks
Heinrich and his colleagues were led to antiferromagnets on an exploratory research quest to find out how small they could make a magnetic device and use it for classical data storage.

They used a scanning electron microscope, which allows researchers to see and manipulate atoms, to build a data storage system up one atom at a time.

Scientists know that single atoms exhibit funky quantum behaviors that require a different set of equations to describe. But where is the transition between quantum and classical behaviors?

At eight atoms, the team found, a bit was stable for a few seconds and "at 12 atoms it turns out that the classical concepts are so good that these magnetic structures hold their magnetic state for days," Heinrich said.

"We said that's good enough to call it storage."

The caveat is that this stability is found when the atoms are kept at a chilly minus 268 degrees Celsius, or 5 Kelvin. Stability at room temperature, Heinrich said, is thought possible at around 150 atoms.

The findings are reported today in the journal Science.

Consumer devices
The finding could lead to terabyte hard drives the size of a pinhead or thumb drives that hold every movie you've ever seen, Rick Doherty an analyst with technology consulting firm Envisioneering Group told me.

Other applications may come in medical devices such as magnetic nanobots swimming in the bloodstream that can be attached and detached to tissues electronically.

"It is going to make life better, allow us to save energy, make smaller structures, and maybe one day magnetic computer logic," he said.

While transferring some of this atomic scale technology to real world gadgets may take awhile, Heinrich said the use of antiferromagnets in traditional hard drives is likely as soon as five years now.

"If you were able to use antiferromagnets instead of ferromagnets, you ? could pack these things denser and therefore you could store a lot of information on your drive."

More on atomic-scale computing and storage:

---

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Along with building sensors and special computers for emergency responders, Intel is preparing people for disasters by providing complex simulations of how people react, and where lines of communication break down.

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10140571-tiny-hard-drive-stores-a-bit-with-12-atoms

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