NY Times: effect vs affect

I found this headline in today's (Jan. 19, 2004) Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.) The CJ used to be the state's top newspaper. The headline:

'Cyborg' able to taylor reality

I read the article to see if it was some sort of play on words. It wasn't.

"So far", Dr. Hofstraat said, "tests have shown that the added metal does not effect the life span of the circuitry within the module."