Nanotechnologists have succeeded in controlling the color of very small particles of iron oxide suspended in water simply by applying an external magnetic field to the solution. The discovery has potential to greatly improve the quality and size of electronic display screens, and to enable the manufacture of products such as erasable and rewritable electronic paper and ink that can change color electromagnetically.

A recent study shows that 10 percent of youth who become hooked on cigarettes are addicted within two days of first inhaling from a cigarette, and 25 percent are addicted within a month. The study's surprising findings are contrary to long-held beliefs that only people with established smoking habits of at least five cigarettes per day experience such symptoms.

Microsoft has a lot riding on the success of Vista, but there are concerns about its onerous hardware demands and the attendant implementation challenges. After a brief period of selling only Vista, Dell was forced to bring back Windows XP, since there remained a lot of demand for the old system. Now Dell is going even farther, as it's warning business customers about the difficult challenges that lay ahead of them if they decide to adopt Vista. This is odd, because a company in Dell's position would typically relish the increased sales that come from a major software upgrade. Dell must be fearful that it will suffer if their customers make a major investment into new machines running Vista that doesn't pan out as planned. The official word from the company is that it still recommends Vista, although given everything it's said and done, this recommendation might be taken with a grain of salt.

ESP, meditation, parapsychology ... nothing's too paranormal for a military contract.