Paper spam threatResearchers at AT&T are warning of a new type of spam threat. Instead of an endless stream of unsolicited e-mail aimed at your electronic mailbox, an online mischief-maker could just as easily launch a tsunami of catalogues and brochures at your home. A simple computer programme can search the Web for information request forms and automatically fill in a victim’s mailing address, resulting in thousands of unwanted deliveries. Apart from the annoyance of the recipient, the researchers are also concerned that such an attack could disable the local post office that is obliged to deliver the mail. The concept was proved recently when a confessed e-mail spammer’s home address was spread across the Internet and angry computer users signed him up for as many things as they could find. Soon he was receiving thousands of letters each day.Source: New Scientist—Matt AsmaHyperactive fliesU of T scientists studying indecisive, impulsive and hyperactive behaviour in the common fruit fly Drosophila now better understand a debilitating, chronic psychiatric condition in humans. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects approximately 3 to 5 per cent of school-aged children. Those afflicted with the disease suffer from shortened attention spans, hyperactivity and inappropriate and impulsive behaviour. Researchers at U of T and the University of Naples have shown a gene called PRKG1 is not associated with the development of human adult ADHD. This knowledge has helped eliminate some of the potential causative factors for adult ADHD, and thus narrowed the search for the actual cause. Scientists used to think a human version of PRKG1, which encodes a protein responsible for the way flies search for food, could have a contributing role in the development of adult ADHD. Depending on which version of the gene a fruit fly has, it will either be a rover or sitter when presented with food. That is, the fly will be compelled to either hop erratically from food pile to food pile or sit on one pile and indulge. It was believed variances in the human version of this gene contribute to certain idiosyncrasies associated with ADHD. In the works is a plan to look at the possibility of a link between childhood ADHD and the PKRG1 gene. —Joel Perella