Rat-brain robot aids memory study

Dr Ben Whalley, from the University of Reading, has carried out tests on a "rat-brain-controlled" robot, says The BBC.

The robot, controlled by a blob of rat brain cells, could provide insights into diseases such as Alzheimer's, say University of Reading scientists.

The project marries 300 000 rat neurons to a robot that navigates via sonar. The neurons are now being taught to steer the robot around obstacles and avoid the walls of the small pen in which it is kept.

The state of Massachusetts is showing no signs of abandoning its fight to keep a restraining order in place against three MIT students who discovered subway card vulnerabilities. In fact, the state transit agency is escalating its rhetoric, reports CNet.

In a legal brief filed yesterday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority went so far as to claim the three "defendants enjoy no protections under the First Amendment".

The document was filed around the same time that US district judge George O'Toole Junior held a hearing in the case in his Boston courtroom. O'Toole denied a request from the students' attorneys to lift the gag order - and instead ordered the students to divulge to the transit agency more information about what they've done.

Advocates of open source software have hailed a court ruling protecting its use even though it is given away free, reports The BBC.

The US federal appeals court move overturned a lower court decision involving free software used in model trains that a hobbyist put online.

The court has now said conditions of an agreement called the Artistic Licence were enforceable under copyright law.

A Connecticut man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for masterminding a phishing scam targeting AOL members, says The Register.

Michael Dolan, 24, of West Haven, Connecticut, was also ordered to serve three years' probation after his release.

Dolan pleaded guilty to fraud and aggravated identity theft offences last year as part of a plea bargaining agreement. Normally this should have counted in his favour, but Dolan received a harsh sentence anyway because of his previous form and alleged conduct while awaiting trial.

Complaints over dropped calls and choppy Web connections on Apple's iPhone 3G have sparked a wave of debate in the blogosphere over the root cause of the problems, reports Business Week.

Two well-placed sources told BusinessWeek.com the glitches are related to a chip inside Apple's music-playing cellphone. The sources added that Apple plans to remedy the problems through a software upgrade rather than through a more disruptive step, such as a product recall.

The news reinforces analysis by Richard Windsor, of Nomura Securities, who said in a report that the problem involves a communications chip made by Munich-based Infineon Technologies.