A compound found only in hops and the main product they are used in - beer - has rapidly gained interest as a micronutrient that might help prevent many types of cancer.

It concluded that the subject was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry, journal New Scientist was told.

UK system builder Rock has won the race to ship the first notebook based on an AMD dual-core processor.

The Japanese stay at home as Microsoft launches the 360. Waiting for the inevitable price drop, some good games to come out, or possibly the PS3..

AMD showed off its 'Yamato' notebook reference platform in Japan today, as it attempts to win greater support among system builders and notebook manufacturers for its mobile processors.

The free online resource Wikipedia is about as accurate on science as the Encyclopedia Britannica, a study shows.

Negroponte, who is also chairman of the One Laptop Per Child non-profit group, has said he expects the laptops to be available to governments next year at a price of $100 each. A prototype of the laptop was unveiled at the recent U.N.-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. Under terms of an agreement with One Laptop Per Child, Quanta will devote engineering resources to develop the $100 notebook design during the first half of the year, according to a statement issued by the group. At the same time, Quanta and the non-profit organization will explore the production of a commercial version of the laptop.

Sony, the consumer-electronics giant, today denied reports that it is planning to delay the release of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer insisted that the console would be ready for spring 2006, but the company refused to give a specific launch date.

The denial was not enough to stop shares in Sony plunging almost 4 per cent on the Tokyo stock exchange, with investors worried that any delay could cost the company millions of dollars.

Sony’s denial was in response to a report from analysts at Merrill Lynch that said the PS3 might not be ready until the autumn in Japan and early 2007 in America. It is six years since Sony launched its highly successful PS2 on the global market, and gamers have been expecting the latest generation console since before Christmas 2004.

When Apple released the iPod in October 2001 and launched the iTunes Store a year and a half later, only the company's most fervent fans would have predicted it would become a force in digital music. Now, all indications are that Apple wants iTunes to become the place for video-on-demand. Within three months of introducing a video iPod, the company has sold more than 3 million videos. Recently it began offering NBC shows like Law and Order and The Tonight Show for $1.99 apiece to complement its collection of ABC/Disney titles like Desperate Housewives.

IBM has strengthened in links with the two top corporate Linux disributions - Red Hat and Novell SUSE - by elevating the pair to IBM's Strategic Alliance program, its highest tier partner status. The move is designed to make it easier for firms to acquire Linux-based systems by integrating and streamlined sales, distribution and service channels between the hardware vendor (IBM) and its two principal open source software partners, Red Hat and Novell.