HEALTH ISSUE: SHORT CUTS

SHORT CUTS


'Software boss' to hire, pay workers:
  Have you ever joked that your boss works like a robot? Well, it could soon be a reality, for a web service has been launched that software algorithms to automatically recruit, hire and pay workers to do a wide variety of tasks. The website normally provides a forum for companies wanting to outsource their work. Now it has been upgraded so that developers can write software to post job adverts on the site, take on respondents any pay them for the results without human input. "For the last 60 years, humans have controlled software - now we're getting to the stage where software can control humans," New Scientist quoted Matt Barrie of Australian website Freelancer.com as saying.

Smartphones exposing kids to suicide:
   Smartphones such as Apple's IPhone are allowing children to download violent and sexually explicit games that have escaped government classification. The classification loophole means schoolchildren given smart phones and similar devices by their parents are being exposed to material which would be restricted in other forms of media, such as video game consoles, magazines and movies. The material can be downloaded on to IPhones from Apple's App Store in as little as 60 seconds, adn only a credit card is needed to create an ITunes account to downoload the apps.

New way to disperse gold particles:
   Scientists have discovered a new way to disperse gold nanoparticles through plastic, which they claim could make possible a lot of unusual materials such as durable paint, faster computers and cheaper TV sets. Adrian Fuchs of Queensland University of Technology, who led the team, said that the technique was a model for dispersing metals in nanoparticle form throughout polymers or plastic materials.