Popular Science (April 2005)

132 Pages·2005·12.48 MB·English

by  Editors of Popular Science

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VOLUME 266 #4
CONTENTS
APRIL 2005
Pulse pounding,you hit the brakes and crank the
wheel,but it’s too late: You slam into the wall at 150.
And then? You stand up,go to the kitchen,and
FOUNDED IN1872
grab some more cheese puffs and a soda.
tech
RACE AGAINST REALITY,p.46
13|What’s New
Superpowerful cordless bandsaw. Cam-
eras attached to all kinds of gadgets.
Remote-controlled toys for the grown-up
kid. Jeep’s new off-road concept vehicle.
83|How2.0
GEEK GUIDEMastering astrophotography.
YOU BUILT WHAT?!A teeny tiny guitar amp.
GRAY MATTER Old-school flash powder.
TECH SUPPORTMake your own mash-up.
HL news and views
A
D
N
O 29|Headlines
GR
A SPACE TECHSatellite-hunting robots.
K
NETT; MI OALCTEERANNAOTIGVREA FPUHEYLWSeialfliloe oNr elalsbo ngo’se bs ioondliiensee.l. 46
CAR MEDICINEA new bone glue for fractures.
B.
N
OH 40|Soapbox
HIERLITZ; J PspLUaGmG’sE Ds cINouSrwgei.t cBhy iCnogr yso Dfotwctoarroew can stop
M SC SCIENCE FRICTIONA young scientist’s un-
NEILL; TO lsikteolyr ciheamspion: cartoons. By Gregory Mone 72
C
A
N M 46|Race Against Reality We hit the
H
O racetrack with six hot cars,two pro drivers
OS; J and one videogame. How does Xbox’s
DI
G STU Forzacompare to the real deal? By Joe Brown
N
AMI 56|Birth of a TitanAt last! Airbus rolls
G
OS. OFT its first A380 out of the hangar. Take a 65 13
UDIOS visual tour of the world’s biggest passen-
G STMICR ger aircraft. By Bill Sweetman
OFT GAMINCOURTESY 6el5ev|aTtohres ,Lreofwug-Re aisreka sH aingdh o-Rthiesre iFninreo-vsaa-fe
CROSNETT/ tions: How safe will the Freedom Tower
ON THE COVER: JOHN B. CARNETT/COURTESY MITHIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: JOHN B. CAR 16tst7db8eh0oe2lFCeere?Lr o |se otpABAcnotmytont tesr ap Ltristtnaabsehrru.us eoocr t tintobEeoir docs Gsce imitoorcomvleyrda .m’ etsB,oa yNfrn ryW oea mbxni19ldult2i 5 a HrS4BmiFaue iYL ngdbSoId bpoTdeelkreehe iG’endsipn gosW l gudbBescmeaeclTacdeokneswn- 56
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FROM THE EDITOR
Editorial Director Scott Mowbray
EditorMark Jannot
Art Director Nathalie Kirsheh
Executive Editor, Features Emily Laber-Warren
Science Editor Dawn Stover
Senior Technology Editor Suzanne Kantra Kirschner
Senior Editor, What’s New Eric Hagerman
Aviation & Automotive Editor Eric Adams
Senior Editors Michael Moyer, Kalee Thompson
Managing Editor Jill C.Shomer
Senior Associate Editor Nicole Dyer
Gentlemen, Copy Chief Rina Bander
Associate Editors Jenny Everett, Mike Haney, Martha Harbison
Assistant Editor Rena Marie Pacella
Start Your Assistant Editor, Best of What’s New Joe Brown
Deputy Art Director Christopher Chew
DesignerApril Bell
Photo Editor Kristine LaManna
Physics Staff PhotographerJohn B.Carnett
Editorial Assistant Barbara Caraher
Web Producer Peter Noah
Engines Contributing Design EditorChee Pearlman
Contributing Automotive EditorStephan Wilkinson
Contributing Editors Cory Doctorow, Theodore Gray, Joseph
Hooper, Preston Lerner, Gregory Mone, Jeffrey Rothfeder,
Jessica Snyder Sachs, Rebecca Skloot, Bill Sweetman, Phillip
Torrone, James Vlahos, Charles Wardell, William Speed Weed
MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON REX HAS FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE Contributing TroubadourJonathan Coulton
video arcade at the local ESPN Zone,and so have I. Our standard drill involves Contributing FuturistAndrew Zolli
Contributing Artists Mika Grondahl, Jason Lee, John
loading up a gamecard with $20 worth of credits,quickly and relentlessly MacNeill, Garry Marshall, Stephen Rountree, Bob Sauls
squandering that recreational bounty,and (after a token show of parental Editorial InternAmanda MacMillan
resistance) re-upping for another helping. Every machine is a sport simulator POPULAR SCIENCE PROPERTIES
of one kind or another,many with total-body engagement. There’s the clutch- PublisherGregg R. Hano
the-bar hang glider,the fully prone street luge,the hobbyhorse Kentucky
Advertising Director John Tebeau
Derby. And of course,there is every imaginable networked challenge-your-pals General Manager Robert Novick
Executive Assistant Chandra Dwhaj
racing sim,from snowmobile to hydroplane to Formula One. Northeast Advertising Office: Manager Howard S. Mittman
Most of these games seem carefully designed to stave off user frustra- [phone], Jill Schiffman [phone],
Mike Schoenbrun [phone],
tion by amply rewarding incompetence,every reckless 150mph collision Mike Saperstein(212) 779-5030
triggering a favorable course correction and little loss of time. Still,the phys- Ad Assistant Christopher Graves
Midwest Advertising Office: ManagerJohn Marquardt
icality of the play got me wondering: Is there any possibility Rex is learning [phone], Megan Williams [phone]
Ad AssistantSindy Sonshine
something on these machines? He’d gotten particularly adept at a skate-
Los Angeles Advertising Office: ManagerDana Hess
boarding game,maintaining balance while shifting his weight side to side to [phone], Ad AssistantMary Infantino
Detroit Advertising Office: ManagerDonna Christensen
steer. Any chance these skills would translate in the real,untethered world? [phone],Ad AssistantDiane Pahl
My curiosity about the blurring line between videogame simulation San Francisco Advertising Office: ManagerAmy Cacciatore
[phone],Ad AssistantCarly Petrone
and reality was piqued again when POPSCIautomotive editor Eric Adams Southern Regional Advertising Office: ManagerDave
and assistant editor/game junkie Joe Brown mentioned the impending re- Hady [phone],Ad Assistant Christy Chapman
Classified Advertising Sales Joan Orth [phone]
lease of Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport. This game has a sophisticated physics Direct Response SalesMarie Isabelle [phone]
Business ManagerJacqueline L. Pappas
engine that subjects its virtual supercars to real-world racing conditions with
Director of Brand & Business Development
hyperrealistic fidelity. Iwondered:By the time Rex turns 16,will we be LS.a Dleesn Dneetvt eRloobpemrtesnotn Managers Daniel Vaughan UP;
sending him straight from the sim to the highway—or,better yet,to the Senior Manager, Events and Promotions O
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American Le Mans course at Road Atlanta? CCrheriasttyiv Ce hSaeprivni cEellisn gDeersigner MaryMcGann R iG
Eric and Joe proposed an audacious test. We’d gather two high-end Marketing CoordinatorEshonda Caraway FO
gaming rigs,two expert drivers,one racetrack,and six hot real-world cars ACodnvseurmtiseinr gM Caorkoerdtiinnga tDoirreEcvteolyrnB Narebgarroan Venturelli GLIA RTEL
that also exist in Forza’s virtual reality,and we’d see just how well the game Senior Planning ManagerMargerita Catwell CEMA
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still falls off his skateboard just like any other kid starting out. I’m certainly PresidentMark P. Ford GRUE
nMmoaArtRk Kc.jal JinmAnNobtN@inOtigmT ei4n.tcoo ma car with him until he gets some real-world experience. SVEDCFcuodeiUicrsrnieStt too2iocTotrmO4ro riM/r aeM,V 7rlC. sEi DceosRSereriarpv SrePuvioEccreirRecetaroeVhsYt,reioIo dC pfSCuefEl,c eon cAoamSatstsNttnme e J MDva auuemnlosSsnieoUwec Sa soBcb htuSaiFrou.arCl nl r:EyWeR sl8I sPSe0eTab,0Im O -s2aiNt8reaS9: -Fp9ao3rpb9se9cr iM.ocroo mwrm/raiter to: N BAKER/REDUX; YLING BY NAILA R
Popular Science P.O. Box 62456 Tampa, FL 33662-4568 BEST
6 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2005

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CONTRIBUTORS YOUR GUIDE TO THIS
MONTH’S POPSCI
From “astrophotography”to “zaps”
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY PAGE 83
BANDSAW, CORDLESS 13
BELUGA JETS 59
BENNY GOODMAN 83
CARS, PLASTIC 124
CHEESE PUFFS 48
CHERENKOV LIGHT 79
CYBERCOPS, OVERTAXED 40
DIABESITY 96
DIAGRID STRUCTURE 65
ECLIPSE, HYBRID 32
Carving through the hype surrounding the Freedom Tower, the new skyscraper earmarked ELEVATORS, FIRE SAFE 66
for the World Trade Center site, required the crafty bad-cop/good-cop approach of reporter
FIRST-CLASS DOUBLE BEDS 58
LAURIE GOLDMAN[left] and her dad, SANDER[center], a New York City–based construction
consultant.Together they made the rounds with architects and engineers, teasing out the tech- FRICTION COEFFICIENTS 48
nical details of what proponents have called “the safest building in the world.” (Guess what? GEORGE CARLIN 58
It’s not.) “It’s a gift to work with your father on a project,” says the younger Goldman. “Peo-
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES 73
ple would let down their guard and talk to my dad, one construction veteran to another.”
Taking the architectural drawings and making them informative was a breeze for POPSCIcon- HOLY HEISENBERG! 44
tributing artist MIKA GRONDAHL[right], who is finishing a master’s degree in architecture.
HYDROPHONE 31
“It is interesting trying to guess in the design of the Freedom Tower where Daniel Libeskind’s
influence ends and David Childs’s takes over,” he says. See “Low-Risk High-Rise,” page 65. INTERFEROMETER 78
LABORATORY, UNDERWATER 30
PhotographerTOM SCHIERLITZbuilds wood furniture as LAGRANGE POINT 2 75 NETT
M51, WHIRLPOOL GALAXY 84 R
a hobby, so he knew a thing or two about saws before he shot CA
the cordless bandsaw featured on page 13. Schierlitz likens MAGNESIUM POWDER 90 B.
N
his photography day job to furniture design. “It’s mostly about MASS, DISTRIBUTION OF 98 OH
geometry and patience,” he explains. “You look at the item you Y J
NEUTRINOS, COSMIC 79 B
need to photograph—or pick up a couple pieces of wood— D
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and then you create something with it.” OFF-ROAD SEGWAY 25 PH
A
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POPSCIassistant editorJOE BROWN’s fascination with cars started PARASITIC SATELLITES 30 OTOG
early—he was reprimanded for constantly doodling them in 6th PERFORMANCES, DISMAL 38 H
P
grade, and indulged in illegal street racing as a college student. PORSCHE CARRERA GT 48 AN
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Artist ROB KELLY, who has made portraits of our columnists [pages SEISMOMETER, AFFORDABLE 101 ES
V
40 and 42], as well as our Headlines from the Future gurus [page SPAM-FIGHTERS, AMATEUR 40 R LE
38], got the portraiture bug a decade ago when he made a cut- E
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paper image of Orson Welles. “The cut paper gave a look I’d never SPECTRA, ABSORPTION 77 NNI
E
seen before. When I woke up the next morning and looked at it THE ESSES 51 Y J
again, I thought ‘Wow!’” Kelly created this year’s NBA All-Star TITANIUM SHEETS, MOLDED 62 ED B
Game poster. His work has appeared in The American Prospect. H
P
‘TOON-WATCHING BINGE 44 RA
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What was the first thing that popped into contributing editor O
TUBE GUITAR AMP, TINY 86 OT
BILL SWEETMAN’s head on seeing Airbus’s latest aircraft, the H
mammoth A380? “Moby Dick!” he says. “It’s not just the aircraft VERTICAL AXIS 20 N P
A
that’s big. Everything on it—from the engines to the landing gear— VIBRATION TESTS 59 DM
is huge.” Sweetman traveled with POPSCIstaff photographer John B. OL
VITRIFICATION 34 G
Carnett to Toulouse, France, to chronicle the unveiling of the 550- E
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plus-seater, complete with a fold-out cocktail bar [see page 56]. ZAPS 54 U
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8 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2005