There are many existing doubts about RFID tagging, such as possible breach of privacy. Now there's another grave possibility looming over the high-tech technology that is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and that is the likelihood of RFID implants causing cancer.

A few years ago, the US. Food and Drug Administration approved the practice of implanting RFID tags in humans after finding the RFID tags "reasonably safe", and brought about much-needed innovation to medical science (one of which is letting doctors access medical records instantaneously).

However, a number of veterinary and toxicology studies revealed that the implants actually caused malignant tumors in laboratory mice and rats. The cause? Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, said that the culprit is the RFID's transponder device used to send data.

The news disturbed even the leading cancer specialists, with some encouraging others to practice further caution before the glass transponder implants become an easily accessible commodity. Other specialists even claimed that they would not let allow family members to have RFID tags implanted in their bodies.

"We stand by our implantable products which have been approved by the FDA and/or other U.S. regulatory authorities," said Scott Silverman, CEO of VeriChip, one of the leading RFID manufacturers. He continued that they were not aware of studies that resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory animals that were brought about by the implants.


Check out the Read link to read the full report!

  

King Of The Hill character Dale Gribble would probably have a thing or two to say about this one. Scientists at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland have developed nanocomputers that can perform basic logic operations. These tiny computers use a technique called molecular computational identification (MCID), which can function as ID tags for nanoscale machinery.

This development grew out of research on molecules that work like silicon logic gates. The molecules use the presence of a chemical, or chemical compound as inputs, while giving off light as output, allowing the devices to communicate using binary and Boolean terms. Operators such as "YES," "NOT", "NOR" and "AND" would be indicated depending on whether these logic gates light up, according to the chemicals present. Molecular computation could eventually allow for billions of calculations to occur simultaneously in a test tube.

These molecular ID tags are similar to the "radio frequency identification" (RFID) tags found on silicon chips, which broadcast a unique ID when they receive input. The smallest are just 0.3 millimetres to a side. This is too large for the type of applications for Prasanna de Silva and his colleagues hope to use these microscopic marvels, which require that tags be attracted to individual cells.

Eventually, the ID process will be automated. Molecular combinations would simply be read off like "numbers from a license plate," as de Silva says.

"What really makes the numbers go through the roof is combining operations," de Silva says. Combinations of logical functions can create large numbers of unique tags by giving each one a different output. Bathing them in the various input chemicals that would display answers in the form of fluorescence.

These tags have tremendous implications medical research, allowing medical professionals to tag and identify individual cells.  They promise to be useful for nanotechnologists in keeping track of large numbers of tiny nanostructures. No doubt, Big Brother and his corporate cronies have their own ideas for this as well...maybe Hank Hill's paranoid friend isn't so far off the mark.

It's weird - even kinda freaky - when you discover that your wheelie garbage bins have been bugged with electronic devices. So imagine the reaction of the British population when they discovered that up to 500,000 garbage bins so far have been installed with RFID tags, and that the rest of the household garbage bin population would follow suit in the next couple of years. And that no one told them about it.

The RFIDs are part of a garbage-tracking system being pushed by British local councils, and spearheaded by two German firms experienced in operating similar systems across Europe. Each tag identifies its owning household. When garbage trucks come to pick the bins up, they weigh each bin and register the corresponding result for later uploading into a database. Town hall officials claim the system is meant to improve recycling efficiency and reduce non-recyclable volumes by tracking the volume of garbage generated by households. Critics claim it's part of a plan to fine households for generating "too much" non-recyclable waste.

It really scares us that this kind of thing was done secretly - when there's no reason on earth to do so. Read more at the full article. And any UK readers, you might want to check your waste bins, too.