Optical Discs, Toshiba, SETI@home & Traffic Cones

Two years from now the world's smallest optical disc will let your mobile phone store five two hour movies, squirrel away 25,000 digital photos or hoard 48 hours of MP3 music.

Toshiba has announced that it plans to market a fuel cell powered notebook computer by 2004. This unit will have an operation time of about 10 hours, three or more times longer than conventional batteries, without charging.

The future of SETI@home director David Anderson has spoken out to calm fears sparked by the project's chief scientist, Dan Werthimer, that the project is under threat of closing.

A 33-year-old has been charged with breach of the peace after police received reports that the man was engaging in a sexual act with a traffic cone at the bottom of Calton Hill, Edinburgh.