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To: jmiller099 who wrote (254)	9/11/2001 6:51:43 PM
From: ~digs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6763

Explosions Cripple American Economy 1940 GMT, 010911 The attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., targeted obvious symbols of American prestige and power: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The attackers achieved a crippling blow against America's economic infrastructure as well. New York City is one of the richest cities on the globe, independently raking in more annually than all but the world's most advanced states. In 1998, the city's budget exceeded that of some major countries, including Russia. But New York is more than just a wealthy city of 8 million people. It is the financial capital of the world's largest economy. As the significance of what happened in New York sank in across the country, America's smaller exchanges closed down one by one. But it is the New York Stock Exchange that moves global financial events. Minutes after the attacks, authorities shut down the entire island of Manhattan, virtually sealing it off from the rest of the world. The NYSE, located a mere half mile from the collapsed World Trade Center, has suspended operations until further notice. That action alone set off secondary tremors in stock exchanges the world over. By 11 a.m. CST, all active, major global exchanges were registering sharp losses. Even with the ongoing global slowdown, America's market capitalization is larger than its massive $10 trillion GDP and more than all other financial centers combined. A fair portion of the value of that capitalization is sure to evaporate over the next few days. The seemingly invincible dollar has lost its footing as well. After regularly gaining against major currencies for the past few years, the dollar dropped 1.8 percent against the euro and 1.5 percent against the yen. Since most of the world's $1.1 trillion in daily foreign exchange trades take place in New York - and those markets are closed - this drop is a mere glimpse of what is to come. Foreign financial markets are already trembling. The Paris exchange immediately plummeted 7.4 percent, the London exchange 5.7 percent and the Frankfurt exchange 8.5 percent. Oil traders are betting that the United States will seek retribution against a Middle Eastern target; that has pushed crude oil prices up to a nine-month high. The infrastructure that supports high-powered business is also either crippled or locked down. Officials at the Sears Tower in Chicago, keenly aware the tower is the country's tallest building, have ordered an evacuation. And the offices in the 110-story World Trade Center were the backbone of many financial powerhouses such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, China International Trust, Yamatane Securities America and Farmers Union Control Exchange. New York City plays host to more multinational corporation headquarters than any other city in the world. As the financial disaster ripples outward, the insurance industry will be in for a very rough time. For instance, Westfield America Inc. signed a 99-year, $3.2 billion lease on the now nonexistent World Trade Center Building only last month. This is merely one example of the size of the insurance claims that will be filed in coming weeks. Staggering claims could be filed by the companies that were tenants of the World Trade Center. Meanwhile, liability insurance for canceled and crashed airline flights will be paid out, and life insurance policies for the uncounted dead also must be paid. The damage at the World Trade Center may be the most expensive man-made insured event ever, Reuters reported. The direct impact on American companies cannot be estimated until the exchanges reopen, but European insurers are already rattled. An index that follows large European insurance companies fell more than 10 percent within an hour of the World Trade Center collapse. The carnage to come in American markets will be harrowing. Beyond New York, the Federal Aviation Administration has shut down the country's entire commercial air network, canceling all civilian flights. With an average daily capacity of 55,000 flights, the daily loss to the industry ranks in the hundreds of millions. Industry confidence is sure to plummet to historic lows. Preliminary reports indicated that U.S. military fighters shot down another suspected hijacked passenger plane outside of Pittsburgh. Though the report remains unconfirmed, the chance -- however remote -- of the government shooting down civilian passengers would certainly put a damper on an airline industry only recently recovered from a wave of mergers and price wars. Related industries, such as tourism and shipping, will suffer equally. Again, European markets are leading the fall. British Airways and Hilton Group both shed more than one-fifth of their stock value within hours of the attacks. Life will not return to "normal" soon for the airline industry. More than 2 million passengers travel through U.S. airspace daily, but the FAA is often accused of designing security regulations more to produce a sense of security than actual safety. A complete security overhaul must be conducted before the air routes can be safely reopened. Even a partial fix will take days, if not weeks. Back in New York, the cordon around the shattered remnants of the World Trade Center -- until this morning the nexus of the financial world -- will remain for days as rescue workers set to the grim task of picking through the rubble. The economic damage -- the full extent of which will not be discerned for months -- will be equally grim. stratfor.com

To: jmiller099 who wrote (254)	4/23/2002 7:46:25 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 6763

The Vast Universe of Tiny Technology Tue Apr 23, 1:31 PM ET Jay Lyman, www.NewsFactor.com Microelectrical-mechanical systems (MEMS), micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and nanotechnology all are big terms for extremely small technologies. But these miniature wonders are becoming commonplace in manufacturing, biotech, computing and other industries. While MEMS -- tiny silicon chips -- have been a part of automobile and other manufacturing for more than a decade, carbon-based nanotechnology is in its infancy, according to Gartner (NYSE: IT - news) Dataquest principal analyst Jim Walker. "These are technologies, not products," Walker told NewsFactor. "I don't think there's any question some of this stuff can work." Diagnostic Capsules Among the most notable results of MEMS technology is a diagnostic capsule that contains a light-emitting diode (LED), an optical sensor, a battery and a transmitter, produced by Israel-based Given Imaging, Walker said. The device, already in use in Europe and recently approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) (FDA), replaces invasive surgical procedures with a pill that simply can be swallowed. As for nanotechnology -- which works at the molecular level -- Walker said that applications are possible in the biomedical field as well as in computing, where companies are developing minuscule optical switches that generate or conduct light and electricity. Silicon Gets Small Walker described MEMS, also referred to as microsystems, as "an extension of semiconductor processing" in which actual equipment is derived from semiconductor techniques. Historically, MEMS have been used as simple switches in manufacturing, with sensors that act based on pressure or other forces, according to Walker. "What is happening now, in the last couple of years, is that companies have been able to develop entire gears, levers and motors out of silicon," he said. "These will help [reduce items in size] and make more energy-efficient devices and machines." Medical Use and More The Given Imaging capsule, which is intended for imaging humans' small bowel, is a prime example of MEMS technology, Walker said. Other applications of silicon-based microsystems include such biomedical uses as an automated insulin diagnostic instrument and a pump for diabetics (news - web sites), and tiny tags for products in the grocery store and the home. With components no wider than a human hair, MEMS technology also is paving a new path in computing as it is applied to everything from drives to displays. Mighty Mini Building Blocks Shrinking far below the MEMS' size is a newer technology known as nanotechnology, which involves molecular-size building blocks of carbon, Gartner's Walker explained. "These can be manipulated to build a variety of structures" out of nanotubes and nanospheres, he said. "They are built from the bottom up, a molecule at a time." Walker said that nanotechnology might allow researchers to inject cells with antibodies to fight cancer without harming other cells, or to develop molecular machines that can consume oil spills. Nano Computing Nanotechnology also is being used to create optical switches that can generate light and electricity, according to Walker, who alluded to projects by such companies as Agilent (NYSE: A - news) and Corning (NYSE: GLW - news). "They're also looking at nanotechnology in the electronic world to see if they can store and dissipate charge for memory," he noted. Yankee Group vice president Zeus Kerravala told NewsFactor that for now, nanotech is still a niche technology. "I don't think there are many vendors that do that stuff," he said. "Even Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news) doesn't get into that stuff." Big Challenges For Small Walker said that despite the huge potential offered by tiny technology, the barriers are numerous. With MEMS and microsystems, he said, there is a "packaging dichotomy," as the silicon needs to be both interactive with its environment and protected from it. Walker also noted that there is a lack of software design tools and standards for both MEMS and nanotechnology. Still, he predicted, MEMS will continue to advance, and nanotechnology will be used in techniques and processes that will be seen in the next three to five years. "I think you're going to see modified biotech structures," Walker said. story.news.yahoo.com