• Microspider n.
  A micromotor, roughly a tenth the diameter of a red blood cell, that spins a polymer web to propel itself through liquid. The devices could eventually drive nanorobots that would repair tissue.
• Juramaia n.
  Latin for “Jurassic mother.” The recently discovered shrewlike creature lived in China 160 million years ago—making it the oldest mammalian ancestor ever found.
• Neurosynaptic chip n. A computer chip with the architecture of a brain. Using silicon circuitry to mimic a macaque’s neurons and synapses, IBM has designed a processor that learns. Future applications include tsunami prediction. Current prototypes can play Pong.
• Nym wars n. pl.
  The battle between Google and privacy advocates over the use of pseudonyms on Google+. The service permits stage names for celebs like Soulja Boy, but it forbids aliases for online personalities like Mr. BabyMan and dissidents trying to avoid government censure in China and Iran.

Jonathon Keats ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )