What's New

TECHNOLOGY

How to e-mail secret missives

NEW YORK - Need more privacy to type that e-mail? Just strap a visor to your head to view your words without a computer screen. While this futuristic concept has been around for several years, new competition among manufacturers may finally force prices low enough to trigger consumer demand. Daeyang E-and-C of South Korea introduced a prototype of its personal LCD display headset, which it plans to sell next year for under $800. Peering through the sleek silver-gray headpiece, a user sees what seems to be a full-size monitor, but is actually a magnified half-inch screen that uses liquid crystal to show text.

Pop radio is a real mouthful

Chicago - Radio-playing lollipops give new meaning to pop music. Tiger Electronics teamed up with toy candy-maker Sound Bites to make Pop Radio, a lollipop holder that plays FM radio stations that can be heard only by the person sucking on the candy. The radio sends vibrations through the lollipop and the sound travels through your teeth and directly into the inner ear.

ENVIRONMENT

Garden-fresh air ... almost

WASHINGTON - Air quality has improved dramatically in urban areas around the US, according to the nonprofit Foundation for Clean Air Progress. The group recently released its Top 10 Clean Air Success Stories over the last decade. The first five are:

1. Rochester, N.Y.

2. Buffalo, N.Y.

3. Milwaukee

4. San Diego

5. Boston

The cities in the list show ozone reductions ranging from 75 to 40 percent over the last 10 years. The list is based on the most recent data from the EPA.

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society