The U.S. has not conducted a test explosion since 1992. Instead, physicists are now using ultra high speed computers to test our nuclear weapons - without blowing them up. A physicist has developed breakthrough iris recognition technology that identifies bank customers based on the structure of their iris. Technology commonly used to guide lost drivers is now helping geophysicists better pintpoint where an earthquake might occur. The Global Positioning System is being called the most important new technology to emerge for the study of earthquakes in decades.
Geomagnetic storms pose a big threat to the routine technologies which support our everyday living.
Now a new alert system gives space physicists an unprecendented one-hour advance warning of approaching geomagnetic storms. Scientists say El Nino's severe storms and floods could be followed by extreme cold next winter. A new kind of pacemaker is being implanted in epilepsy patients. The vagus nerve stimulator offers new hope for epileptics whose seizures can not be controlled with medication or brain surgery. One in 6 parents say they know a child who has injured him or herself with a handgun.