A major solar flare, possibly the second largest ever recorded, erupted today at 6:30 a.m. The intensity of the flare has sent a space storm careening towards the Earth. If the storm’s magnetic field is in the right direction – opposite that of the earth – it could cause problems when it reaches us Wednesday. It could knock out power grids, upset satellites and disrupt GPS signals. More benignly, if the weather is clear, people who peer into the northern sky on Wednesday night could see a shimmer of lights known as an aurora,” says NJIT physicist Dale Gary. >>

 “This storm is predicted to be a strong event, but events of this size are not too unusual,” says Dale Gary, Ph.D., professor of physics at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  “We don’t expect to see it cause an unusually large amount of activity on earth. We see an event of this sort happening on the average of once every 30 days or during an 11-year solar cycle, about 200 times.” >>

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Metal Storm Limited, Brisbane, Australia, a research and development company, signed a formal partnership agreement earlier this week to commercialize biometric technology patented by NJIT and applied to an electronic handgun developed by Metal Storm. >>

The news that NJIT's "smart gun" experts have partnered with Australia's Metal Storm, Ltd. was a shot heard round the world. Most--but not all-- of the coverage is a pickup of an Associated Press story written by the AP's Canberra, Australia bureau. Here are  links to the some of  the publications and Websites that ran the story: "Australian Gun Maker and New Jersey Institute Sign 'Smart Gun' Deal" August 29, 2003 siliconvalley.com "Company, Institute Sign Smart Gun Deal" August 30, 2003  BeaufortGazette.com "NJIT Members Help Develop New Electronic Gun Safety Device" August 31, 2003 posted on Website and broadcast  News12.com "NJIT Joins with Aussie Firm on  "Smart' Gun" August 30, 2003  Star Ledger "Company, Institute Sign Smart Gun Deal " August 30, 2003  heraldsun.com "Gun Maker, Tech Inst. OK Smart Gun Deal" August 29, 2003  Quote.com "Gun Maker, Tech Inst. OK Smart Gun Deal" August 29, 2003  Findlaw.com   "Metal Storm Developing Personalised Handgun"  September 3, 2003 Ferret.com.au    "Local Firm Signs for 'Smart Gun'," September 1, 2003  AustralianIT.com >>