The world's smallest radio frequency identification tags have been unveiled by Japanese electronics firm Hitachi.
The minute devices measure just 0.05mm by 0.05mm (0.002x0.002in) and to the naked eye look like spots of powder.
They are thin enough to be embedded in a sheet of paper, Hitachi spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi says.
RFID tags store data about the objects they are attached to, and companies are vying to create increasingly tiny versions.
Recently, Hitachi unveiled another RFID tag, the Mu-chip, which measures 0.4mm by 0.4mm (0.02x0.02in).
But the latest chips, which are yet to be named, can hold the same amount of data as the Mu even though they are much smaller.
They have one major issue, however - they need an external antenna to work, and the smallest antenna developed so far is about 80 times bigger than the tags.
Hitachi says it wants to study the tags' possible uses, but it does not yet have any plans to put its latest creation into commercial production.
Spy-tags
Unlike its predecessor, the barcode, an RFID tag's data can be extracted from afar - sometimes from hundreds of metres away - by radio-reading devices, and the technology is already widely used.
Stores ...   more »

VeriChip Corporation Partners with Alzheimer's Community Care to Conduct Study of VeriMed Patient Identification System
Two hundred patients to receive VeriMed implantable microchip and enroll in VeriMed system
VeriChip Corporation (Nasdaq: CHIP - News), a provider of RFID systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, announced today it has partnered with Alzheimer's Community Care, Inc., headquartered in West Palm Beach, FL, to conduct a study of the effectiveness of the VeriMed Patient Identification System in managing the records of Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. In the two-year, 200 patient study, participating individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, as well as their caregivers, would receive the VeriMed(TM) implantable microchip to provide emergency department staff easy access to those patients' identification and medical information.
Alzheimer's disease is one of several medical conditions identified by the Company as being ideally suited for the benefits of the VeriMed system. Individuals with the disease or other forms of dementia are often unable to give necessary identifying information or critical medical history upon being admitted to a hospital. The VeriMed Patient Identification System allows physicians in the emergency room to scan the patient's arm and immediately obtain his or her unique 16-digit identification ...   more »

Homeschool families nationwide may face more questioning from their pediatricians because of recommendations in a recent article in Contemporary Pediatrics, a national publication for doctors who treat children.
The November, 2006, article was entitled “What you need to learn about homeschooling.” After a skeptical but not wholly unfavorable discussion of homeschooling, the concluding paragraph urged doctors to be “vigilant” in “monitoring” the socialization of their homeschooled patients. But it did not recommend they monitor the socialization of public school children.
This unequal treatment indicates that the authors believe the myth that homeschool children fare worse in socialization than children in public school. We are aware of no studies that indicate this is true. However, there are several studies that indicate just the contrary—that homeschool children are better socialized than public school children.
Home School Legal Defense Association Attorney Scott Woodruff has written the authors to ask if there are any scientific studies that support their decision to recommend monitoring of homeschool children's socialization. Woodruff also requested that if they can produce no such studies, that they publish a follow-up to their article.
Meanwhile, at least one Indiana pediatrician came away with his own conclusions. Shortly after reading the article, Dr. ...   more »

Brussels wants the rest of the world to adopt the European Union’s regulations, the European Commission will say this week.
A Commission policy paper that examines the future of the Union’s single market says European single market rules have inspired global standard-setting in areas such as product safety, the environment, securities and corporate governance.
“Increasingly the world is looking to Europe and adopts the standards that are set here,” the paper, seen by the Financial Times, says.
The paper calls on the EU to encourage other jurisdictions to follow suit – for example by “promoting European standards internationally through international organisation and bilateral agreements”.
This strategy, it claims, will help European businesses beat their rivals abroad since it “works to the advantage of those already geared up to meet these standards”.
The EU’s drive to establish itself as the pacesetter for worldwide business regulation could well lead the bloc into conflict with the US and other trading partners. US officials have often voiced concern about the Union’s growing clout as a global standard-setter, and the two sides have clashed over issues such as rules for the chemicals industry and the EU’s stance on genetically modified foods.
The two sides are ...   more »

By KELLI KENNEDY
MIAMI (AP) - Isaac Daniel calls the tiny Global Positioning System chip he's embedded into a line of sneakers "peace of mind." He wishes his 8-year-old son had been wearing them when he got a call from his school in 2002 saying the boy was missing. The worried father hopped a flight to Atlanta from New York where he had been on business to find the incident had been a miscommunication and his son was safe.
Days later, the engineer started working on a prototype of Quantum Satellite Technology, a line of $325 to $350 adult sneakers that hit shelves next month. It promises to locate the wearer anywhere in the world with the press of a button. A children's line will be out this summer.
"We call it a second eye watching over you," Daniel said.
It's the latest implementation of satellite-based navigation into everyday life - technology that can be found in everything from cell phones that help keep kids away from sexual predators to fitness watches that track heart rate and distance. Shoes aren't as easy to lose, unlike phones, watches and bracelets. 
(AP) Issac Daniel shows sneakers he designed with a tiny Global ...   more »