In March of this year, the world’s large and most powerful laser was certified as operational at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. In 2010 at Lawrence Lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the energy of 102 giant laser beams will be focused on a pea-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel, and the hydrogen atoms’ nuclei will be ignited (or fused) in the world’s first controlled thermonuclear reaction.

Self-sustaining nuclear fusion has been a goal of scientists for more than fifty years. When NIF begins its ignition experiments in 2010, the goal will be closer to becoming a reality.

Between online bank accounts, stores, social networking sites and other websites which require a secure login, you may find yourself in the position of having to remember a variety of login / password combinations. Unless you always use the same login and password, which is probably not the best idea, you’ll find yourself in need of an organizing tool.

If your organizing system consists of scraps of paper or post-it notes, you may find it failing if you need to remember more than half a dozen passwords. You might want to try instead the Logio Secure Password Organizer, a handy gadget which allows you to store and encrypt all your passwords. Then all you’ll need to remember is one master password to access them. This small lightweight unit stores up to 200 passwords and retails for $29.95. It comes with a storage pouch, lanyard and user manual.

On May 15, the website for a new “computational knowledge engine” called Wolfram Alpha was launched. With a user interface similar to Google’s, the new website answers factual questions by computing answers using a knowledge database of structured data. This type on answer engine is different from a search engine like Google, which performs a semantic search by indexing a large number of answers and then narrowing down to the best answer.

Wolfram Alpha is built on Mathematica software and is particularly well suited for answering mathematical questions. The site also has a natural language interface, meaning it will interpret any text strings and attempt to deliver related data. For example, entering the name of a city or town will show its population, location, current time and temperature and other data such as neighboring communities.

The site is in its early stages (as evidenced by the name ‘Alpha’) and time will tell it points the way to the next generation of information engine for the Web.

Google and a group of other companies have been sued in U.S. District Court for trademark infringement. The subject of the suit is the use of the word “Android.” Google has used the name for its Linux-based, open source operating system for mobile devices. It turns out that Erich Specht of Illinois received a trademark for the name “Android Data” for his internet company in 2002. When Google tried to trademark the name Android in 2007, their claim was denied due to Specht’s prior application.

In addition to Google, Specht’s suit includes 47 other companies. Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Motorola and Samsung are among the group of defendants. Specht is requesting $2 million dollars from each defendant for each use of the tradmarked term. An out of court settlement is expected.