What XBRL Means For You

The Truth is In There
In the film Catch Me If You Can, an inventive con man lived large on forged checks, thanks to ingenuity and an eye for detail. Today he'd need a degree in molecular physics.

Bar codes and radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags allow a company to mark its goods inexpensively, but a new breed of molecular and near-infrared markers may make counterfeiting and related forms of fraud vastly more difficult to pull off.

Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratories and currently marketed by Isotag Technology Inc., the markers are nonintrusive molecules that provide a chemical signature detectable in a lab or via an infrared reader in the field. Added to, say, gasoline or car parts, these markers provide a way to distinguish the real thing from a fake or even a diluted product.

"Counterfeiting, theft, and diversion are no longer acceptable costs of doing business," says Isotag CEO David Moxam. Priced at less than a penny per unit (although a complete system entails other expenses), the markers are invisible, yet their presence (or absence) provides what he calls a "legally defensible" proof of authenticity; in fact, the technology has been presented successfully in court several times. Moxam says molecular markers won't replace bar codes or RFID tags for supply-chain purposes, but for brand-authentication they may become elemental.

Counterfeiting costs companies money, of course, but it gets worse: counterfeit pharmaceuticals are rampant, particularly in less-developed nations. A foolproof way to distinguish real medicine from snake oil could save lives.

This Just In
Wireless Internet may be the way and the light for mobile computing, but it's also scaring the epilettes off of airline pilots. According to a story in the Boston Globe, the left-seat set is apparently concerned that Wi-Fi devices may interfere with communications systems on planes. "The proliferation of these new devices has opened a wide variety of new concerns," John Cox, executive air safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association, told the Globe.

While radio signals from Wi-Fi cards are 20 times weaker than signals from cell phones, airlines nevertheless allow passengers to turn their laptops on once a plane surpasses an altitude of 10,000 feet. Passengers are prohibited from using cell phones on planes -- no matter how high up. Officials at the FAA have commissioned an in-depth study to see if Wi-Fi devices present any danger to navigation. The agency is also examining if the flatware used on flights could be any colder.

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