4 topics covered in a June 25 Webcast include what machine vision can do for control systems, when machine vision is appropriate, how to incorporate it into control systems, and results others have obtained. www.controleng.com/webcasts

3rd quarter 2008 is when AuthenTec expects to have products incorporating the acquired (in April) software assets of EzValidation, including EzPassport fingerprint authentication software. AuthenTec, with more than 25 million sensors sold, uses radio frequency technology to authenticate fingerprints for laptops, phones, and other uses. www.authentec.com

3 ways to simulate a telescope with a computer (and enjoy stargazing without mosquitos) are Google Sky, Microsoft WorldWide Telescope, and Stellarium, says BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk

9 safety experts discuss safety instrumented functions on Foundation Fieldbus after successful May demonstrations in Amsterdam. Podcast runtime is 23:30 at www.controleng.com/podcasts.

10 good reasons to invest in robotics, including reducing operating costs, improving product quality and consistency, and improving the quality of work for employees, are available from ABB. See how to increase production output rates, reduce material waste, and increase yield at www.abb.com/robotics.

1.026 quadrillion calculations per second (petaflop computing) was reportedly performed by a U.S. military supercomputer called Roadrunner, a cluster of approximately 3,250 interconnected computer nodes based on a video game chip. For images and a graph of the still expanding Moore’s Law plotted against the flattening curves of electric power, clock speed, and operations per clock tick, read: “Roadrunner—Computing in the Fast Lane,” a Los Alamos National Labs article at www.lanl.gov

>12 More than a dozen “Listen in” news stories provide “you are there” insight into some of the recent controls, instrumentation, and automation news posted at www.controleng.com. Type “Listen in” at the top of the page and re-sort by date at www.controleng.com.

22,000 mentor-protege pairs have been matched since MentorNet’s founding 10 years ago. It is a collaborative open network of leaders and advocates for women in engineering. Half the students entering college with interest in studying engineering graduate with degrees in the field, the group says; underrepresentation of women in engineering and science is a loss for society, the economy, and the future of scientific discovery and technological innovation. Learn more at www.MentorNet.net

$100 billion is the estimated market value of industries today that Thomas Edison established in 1910. For more Edisonian inspiration, see Think Again in this issue and at www.controleng.com/archive for July 2008. www.innovatelikeedison.com