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"LAS VEGAS - At the International Consumer Electronics Show last week, 3-D television, electronic readers and little laptops captured much of the attention. There were plenty of other interesting ideas on display, too, from 3-D printing to a wireless cell phone tether. Here are some of the gadgets most worth keeping an eye out for this year, and some that best deserve an arched eyebrow of amusement: TV on the iPhone - Qualcomm Inc.'s FLO TV service has been limited by the fact that only a few AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless cell phones can receive the signals, which carry about 15 news, sports and entertainment channels. Now, Qualcomm has teamed up with phone accessories maker Mophie to create an external battery pack for the iPhone that doubles as a FLO TV receiver. It's expected in the first half of the year. No price for the pack was announced; FLO TV service costs $15 per month. Separately, TV stations are also rolling out their own broadcasts for mobile devices. Another device at the show, the Tivit, is designed to take those signals and send them to an iPhone or BlackBerry over Wi-Fi. It should be available this spring for about $120, and the broadcasts are free. Game-controller glove - Iron Will Innovations demonstrated a futuristic-looking black-and-silver glove that replaces a keyboard and lets users control games by touching their fingers together instead. Called the Peregrine, the glove includes five sensors on each finger that replace different keystrokes when touched to the glove's thumb. The glove and plugs into a computer's USB port. The Peregrine should be in stores for $150 by the summer, though the company is taking pre-orders online for $20 less."

"In what is being touted as the first time humans have remotely controlled insects, University of California at Berkeley engineers successfully implanted radio-equipped, "miniature neural stimulation" systems into flying beetles-most notably, the "elephant" beetle Megasoma elephas (pictured above), which can grow up to 20 cm (about 7 + inches) in length. * » See also: 2009: Bad Year for Endangered Manatees * » Get EcoWorldly by RSS or sign up by email. There's just one problem: while the engineers are able to control the bug's muscle movements, so far, the beetles can't fly-due to the heft of the micro electronics "on board". Further refinements will need to be made to these systems. Currently, tests are being conducted with miniature solar cells, piezoelectrics (pressure-generated electric power), and other micro-electro-mechanics (MEMs) to power these devices and minimize their weight. The final step would be to equip the insects with miniature cameras and/or microphones. The "cybug" project (note: entomologists do not consider beetles to be true "bugs"; this is a colloquial term) is being funded by DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in the hope that one day the insects might be employed on the battlefield (e.g., to spy on troop movements) or perhaps even sent to spy directly on military commanders' strategy meetings. The chief engineers at UC Berkeley for this cybernetic insect project are Michel Maharbiz and Hirotaka Sato. "

"In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats. According to the study, which was summarized by Adam Shake at Twilight Earth, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities." Monsanto gathered its own crude statistical data after conducting a 90-day study, even though chronic problems can rarely be found after 90 days, and concluded that the corn was safe for consumption. The stamp of approval may have been premature, however. In the conclusion of the IJBS study, researchers wrote: "Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.""

"Vatican City, Jan 11 (AP) Pope Benedict XVI denounced the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month, saying today that world peace depends on safeguarding God's creation. He issued the admonition in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican, an annual appointment during which the pontiff reflects on issues the Vatican wants to highlight to the diplomatic corps. Benedict has been dubbed the "green pope" for his increasingly vocal concern about the need to protect the environment. Under his watch, the Vatican has installed photovoltaic cells on its main auditorium to convert sunlight into electricity and has joined a reforestation project aimed at offsetting its CO2 emissions. For the pontiff, it's a moral issue: Church teaching holds that man must respect creation because it's destined for the benefit of humanity's future."

"A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip exploded in the western Negev on Monday, a day after an Israel Air Force strike killed three Islamic Jihad men posed at a launching ground in the coastal territory. There were no casualties or damages reported in the incident on Monday. Israeli security forces were summoned to the area to locate where the rocket had exploded. The IAF strike Sunday came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a "powerful response" to recent rocket and mortar shell attacks from the coastal territory. The strike targeted a cell as its members, which included a senior Jihad field commander, were launching rockets at Israel. Advertisement Four mortar shells were also fired at Israel from Gaza on Sunday, but they exploded on the Palestinian side of the border. Addressing an increase of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday advised Gaza's Hamas rulers to "watch their step, and not to cry crocodile tears if they force [Israel] to take action." "

"BRAZEN Muslim fanatics show off an array of deadly weapons as they threatened a face-off with US forces if they strike al-Qaeda terror cells in Yemen. Brandishing rocket-launchers and machine guns, the rebels marched through Somalian capital Mogadishu threatening to cross the Gulf of Aden to wage war on America. The fighters "graduated" from a war training school and are said to be inspired by al- Qaeda. Commanders of the al Shabaab mob vowed to reinforce al-Qaeda in Yemen if the US strikes - and urged other Muslims to follow suit. Britain and the US closed embassies in Yemen capital Sana'a for a second day amid fears of an attack. The situation in Yemen has escalated since student Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, tried to blow up a jet over Detroit. Two al-Qaeda militants died in clashes with government forces in Yemen yesterday. World leaders are desperate to prevent the Middle East country becoming a new al-Qaeda terror centre. "

"The missionaries were arrested on Friday trying to cross into the Dominican Republic from Haiti with a busload of 33 children they said were orphaned by the January 12 quake. They denied charges they were engaged in child trafficking, insisting they were trying to help vulnerable orphans. Haitian police have said some of the children have living parents. The case could be diplomatically sensitive at a time when the United States is spearheading a huge relief effort to help hundreds of thousands of Haitian quake victims, and as U.S. aid groups pour millions of dollars of donations into Haiti. The five missionaries were questioned behind closed doors at Haiti's judicial police headquarters in Port-au-Prince, where they are being held behind bars. They were escorted from their cells by uniformed Haitian National Police officers to a separate room where the judge awaited along with a clerk and a translator. "I heard five of them. Then I will hear the other five tomorrow," Judge Ezaie Pierre-Louis said. "After the hearing tomorrow, I will make a report to the prosecutor, then he will decide what he does next." Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Lassegue said the missionaries did not have lawyers present. One of the missionaries, a woman, was returned to the police building on Tuesday after being treated at a hospital for hypertension. Before the hearing, prosecutor Mazarre Fortil said authorities were in the preliminary stages of the investigation. "I am here to hear the Americans, to know more about the case, about what were their intentions," he said. "We are looking deeper into what happened to determine the next steps." SOME PARENTS GAVE UP CHILDREN Haitian authorities have repeatedly expressed concerns that child traffickers could prey on children in the chaos that followed the earthquake that killed up to 200,000 people."