Popular Science (April 2007)

118 Pages·2007·33.49 MB·English

by  Various

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CONTENTS
FUNTTOHUWERE
FOUNDED IN 1872
THIS MONTH’S GUIDE TO INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY
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POPSCI.COM APRIL 2007 POPULAR SCIENCE 01
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CONTENTS
O P C I
THE
FUTURE
78
EVERY
on the web
DAY
W W W . P O P S C I . C O M
16
31
REGULARS
LIFT OFF We crack open a
MEGAPIXELS vertical-landing jet engine.
10 THE MUST-SEE PHOTOS OF THE MONTH
TAKE STUFF APART
Blood cells spin webs like Spidey; a Hulk-sized spectrometer.
WHAT’S NEW
One of our favorite activities at POPULAR SCIENCE is breaking things
open to see what’s inside. This month we’re popping the hood on
15 RECREATION
all kinds of gadgets, planes—even a gun—to get a closer look at
Go extra-fast on a scooter with an extra wheel.
how they work. Visit popsci.com/howitworks for animated views
16 THE GOODS
of the technologies featured in this issue, and many others.
A square club for straight drives; a TV that travels.
PLUS: Find out what makes Porsche’s $150,000 watch tick, and
22 GADGETS
learn how Indy cars stay glued to the track at 230 mph.
Wireless power zaps the last cords snaking off your desk.
26 HOME ENTERTAINMENT
POPSCI + INSTRUCTABLES = DO IT ALL YOURSELF
Now that’s a “Lazy Sunday”: Internet video on your TV.
HEADLINES O;
N
3St1a rSt pPaAcCkiEng T—OflU igRhItSs tMo zero G take off soon. DNEIWY H: LUIS BRU
3Sh2a rAk-LinTsEpRireNd Afi TnsI VhEar nEeNssE wRaGveY power. BL OG! OGRAP
37 SHRINKAGE OT
H
A hair-thin camera fi lms your guts in high-def. 3); P
3A8 c aWr sHalAesTm’San T pHedEd BleIsG a nI DoiEl-Afre?e future. ON LEE (
H7A778 hO iYBghOUW-UsILc h BDo2U oI.TlIeL0rT a sWseHmAbTle?s !his own nuclear reactor. K KALOTERAKIS; JASANE KISTLER, INC.
8Pa0c kVinOgI DPa Yc-OMUanR i nWtoA aRn RelAecNtrToYnic coffee table. UB); NICCKETPL
T8h2e RZuEnPeU isRn’Pt aOnS iPEoDd -TkiElleCrH—until you tinker with it. SchUaNr gSiAnCg Ks oLleaarr bna tgo a mt paokpes tchi.icso gma/dhg2e0tb-log. O (GOLF CLURTESY RO
Shoot for the stars with a homemade astro-camera. NO
UC
OF91YT HIaHir-EpuRllin gS girTls UandF nFuke-defying cockroaches. PImntuUrnoidTtyu cfSienaTgt utUrheeF. TnFheiws T ,m iOmonpGtrhoE vweTde HHjooiEnw fR o2r.c0e bs lwogit,h p Ionpstsrcui.cctoambl’es sl.actoemst, cooumr - M TOP LEFT: LUIS BRONELLO CALVETTI;
0046 LFERTOTME TRHSE EDITOR fgaeveokr-ittaes utisce er-xgpeenreimraetnetds DthIYa ns ietev,e tro b befroinrge .y Souub mmoitr eyo purro joewctns ,i dheaacsk sa nandd WISE FROATION: LE
112 THE FUTURE THEN find out what other readers are making at popsci.com/h20blog. OCKUSTR
CLILL
02 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2007
PPSS00440077__TTOOCC..iinndddd 0044 22//99//0077 22::0044::4433 AAMM
Say goodbye to
inconvenient pull chains.
Install a Maestro fan control and dimmer to
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• Choose from 7 quiet fan speeds to
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with screwless wallplate in white.
Find Maestro fan controls and dimmers near you
at select home centers, electrical suppliers, lighting
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Visit www.lutron.com/wtb2 or call 877.258.8766.
© 2007 Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
FROM THE EDITOR
THE
FUTURE
NOW
Editorial Director Scott Mowbray
Editor Mark Jannot
Deputy Editor Jacob Ward
Design Director Sam Syed
EDITORIAL
Executive Editor Michael Moyer
Editorial Production Manager Felicia Pardo
Constructive Military, Aviation & Automotive Editor Eric Adams
Senior Editors Nicole Dyer, Mike Haney, Kalee Thompson
Copy Chief Rina Bander
Senior Associate Editors Seán Captain, Martha Harbison
Destruction Associate Editor Doug Cantor
Assistant Editors Lauren Aaronson, Bjorn Carey
Editorial Assistant Damali Campbell
Editor at Large Dawn Stover
Contributing Automotive Editor Stephan Wilkinson
Contributing Technology Editor Steve Morgenstern
Contributing Editors Theodore Gray, Eric Hagerman, Joseph Hooper,
Suzanne Kantra Kirschner, Preston Lerner, Gregory Mone, Rena Marie
Pacella, Jeffrey Rothfeder, Jessica Snyder Sachs, Rebecca Skloot, Elizabeth
Svoboda, Bill Sweetman, Phillip Torrone, James Vlahos, Speed Weed
ONE THING POPULAR SCIENCE READERS Contributing Troubadour Jonathan Coulton
love to do is get to the bottom Contributing Futurist Andrew Zolli
Intern Katherine Ryder
of things, to understand how things work. And here is a measure of the lengths
ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY
we’ll go to give you what you love: Last November, at the pre-holiday, pre-launch Art Director Matthew Cokeley
height of the PS3-vs.-Wii videogame frenzy, we took our precious pre-release Photo Editor Kristine LaManna
Staff Photographer John B. Carnett
Nintendo Wii console—and destroyed it. Senior Designer Stephanie Fehmel
Contributing Artists Peter Bollinger, Kevin Hand,
It should be said that we did not intend to destroy it (though whether that Nick Kaloterakis, John MacNeill, Graham Murdoch, Bob Sauls
Photo Intern Susan Sheeran
absolves or intensifies our sin I’m not sure). As part of the research and photog-
POPSCI.COM
raphy for the second annual How It Works issue that you hold in your hands, Web Editor Megan Miller
Associate Web Editor John Mahoney
we set out to take the Wii apart and lay its secrets bare. That we were in a rush Web Production Intern Fred Koschmann
and didn’t have quite the right tools and POPULAR SCIENCE PROPERTIES
“Last November approached the task in a less subtle man- Publisher Gregg R. Hano
ner than we would certainly advise others Advertising Director Jay Adams
we took our Marketing Director Pete Michalsky
to do, well . . . I don’t mean to excuse our Northeast Advertising Office: Colleen Kassner 212-779-5007,
John Campbell 212-779-5030, Chris Young 212-779-5148
actions. I do, however, want to commend
Ad Assistant Chase Girvin Executive Assistant Christopher Graves
pre-release
what associate Web editor John Mahoney Midwest Advertising Office: Manager John Marquardt
312-832-0626, Ad Assistant Krissy Van Rossum
decided to do next: He took the autopsy Los Angeles Advertising Office: Manager Robert Hoeck
Nintendo Wii 310-268-7484, Ad Assistant Kate Gregory
photos of our disassembled, never-to-be- Detroit Advertising Office: Manager Edward A. Bartley
248-988-7723, Ad Assistant Diane Pahl
played-again Wii and posted them on
console—and San Fran cisco Advertising Office: Matt Bouyea 415-925-6600, ext. 108
popsci.com. And the crowd went wild. The Southern Regional Advertising Office: Manager Dave Hady
404-364-4090, Ad Assistant Christy Chapman
destroyed it.” “Wii Broke It” photo gallery garnered 1.7 Classified Advertising Sales Taryn Young 212-779-5555
Direct Response Sales Marie Isabelle 800-280-2069
million page views, making it our fourth Interactive Sales Manager Andrew Maiorana
Business Manager Frank Visone
most popular online feature in all of 2006.
Sales Development Director Michael Gallic
“Popular,” in some cases, is perhaps not the right word. We got a well-earned Sales Development Manager Eric Bratten
Promotions Manager Eshonda Caraway
helping of “any fool can smash and break things”-type chiding. But I was grati- Advertising Coordinator Evelyn Negron
Consumer Marketing Director John Reese
fied to see, in perusing the dozens of comments on the site, that curiosity Senior Planning Manager Marguerita Catwell
ultimately trumped curmudgeon, that responses of “Shame on you, POPSCI” CPuobnlsiucimtye Mr Manaarkgeetri nKgen Mdraan Raogmeargsn Aodlaam Feifer, Brian Fichtel
were outnumbered by those of “Sometimes the only way you learn is by just Senior Production Director Laurel Kurnides
Production Assistant Yolanda Tribble
diving right in” and “Hey, the GPU is bigger than the CPU. That’s interesting.” Prepress Manager José Medina
Vice President, Production and Technology Sylvia Mueller
Because even if I’m not thrilled that we destroyed a Wii to reveal and document Manufacturing Business Manager John Conboy
its mechanisms, I am happy that we were motivated by a classically POPSCI urge Prepress Director Robyn Koeppel
to know—and to tell. And I think you’ll agree that the intel in the How It Works
package that senior editor Mike Haney and
his team have delivered, beginning on page
47, is worth any number of disemboweled President Thomas F.X. Beusse
Editorial Director Scott Mowbray
videogame consoles.
President, Time4 Entertainment Paul Speaker
Senior Vice President, Finance and Operations
Victor M. Sauerhoff
Senior Vice President, Time4 Digital Todd Unger
Director of Communications Samara Farber Mormar
Director, Technology Annabelle Soper
T
Senior Manager, Technology Larry Corby ET
Technology Support Joseph Lamothe, Andre Reddy N
R
MARK JANNOT A
[email protected] CFcuoUsrSt soTeOmrvMeicrEesRe ar SnvEiycRteiVm. IYCeoE, up A lceNaanDs e aS luUsosBe Sc oaCulRl rI8 PW0T0IeO-b2N8 sS9it-e9:3 p9o9p osrc iw.croitme /to HN B. C
POPULAR SCIENCE, P.O. Box 62456, Tampa, FL 33662-4568. JO
04 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2007 POPSCI.COM
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LETTERS
[email protected]
FROM THE BLOGS
The February issue has harm—these are the sorts of
a great article, “Offi cer devices that are long over-
Gadget,” that looks at the due . The idea behind them
cutting-edge technology is more effective apprehen-
that might enable police to sion and prevention with less
work more safely and effec- deadly force. I don’t see how
tively. Video “grenades” that anyone could argue with that.
give 360-degree views, pain Cliff Biggers
beams that do no permanent cliffbig.blogspot.com
“TOO BAD THERE AREN’T MORE
PEOPLE LIKE BILL STONE.”
Star Power
It really is too bad that there aren’t more
people like Bill Stone and Burt Rutan
around [“Journey from the Center of the
Earth,” February]. Leave it to the for- Skimming the Surface Pellegrino-spitting facilities are as scarce
profi t people to take down the cost of Although I enjoyed the article about as water itself”—is naive. How can you
space business yet keep the technology Maritime Flight Dynamics’s development expect water-saving measures to fi x the
going forward. NASA certainly isn’t and testing of the Sea Phantom water- water problems of the developing world,
doing that. The only thing the govern- craft [“Fly the Friendly Seas,” Concepts & when many drought-plagued countries
ment should really do in regard to Prototypes, Feb.], the concept is certainly have no water to begin with?
space is to hammer out the rules and not revolutionary. Soviet manufacturers Nikolay Voutchkov
Senior vice president, technical
regulations. NASA could just become a built and tested their “Ekranoplans” from
services, Poseidon Resources
technical adviser, only when needed. the 1960s through the 1990s. Powered by
Stamford, Conn.
Mike Martinez either turbofans or turboprops, variants
Hudson, Wisc. could not only skim a few meters above
the water’s surface at up to 200 miles an
Bright Idea hour, but could travel up a beach and over tion. We regret that only
letters considered for
That was an awesome picture of the solid terrain. publication can be
answered.
International Space Station against the Hank Baltzersen E -mail FYI questions to
sun [“Hot Shot,” Megapixels, Feb.]. I Cincinnati HAdOdWre TsOs: C ONTACT US [email protected].
noticed another black dot in the upper 2 Park Ave., 9th Floor NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS
right-hand corner. Any idea what that Rethink Your Drink NFaexw: 2Y1o2rk-7, 7N9Y- 511000816 SToC IEsNuCbEs, cprliebaes teo c PoOnPtUaLcAtR:
Phone: [phone]
might be? In “Fighting Water Woes” [“Your Guide
LETTERS Web: popsci.com/subscribe
Antonio Villanueva to the Year in Science: 2007,” January], I Comments may be
Via e-mail think you missed the point of what I said eitdy.i tPelde afosre lienncgluthd ea nydou crl ar- SFoUrB sSuCbRsIcPriTpItOioNn IoNrQ dUeIlRivIeErSy
about Pellegrino-like quality. The main address and a daytime problems, or to report a
phone number. We regret change of address, contact:
Photographer Thierry Legault replies: It’s a idea is that desalination technology can that we cannot answer POPULAR SCIENCE
sunspot. We are currently in a period of low now produce water of very high quality unpublished letters. P.O. Box 60001
E-mail: Tampa, FL 33660-0001
solar activity, so sunspots are not numerous. at an affordable price. Your fi nal state- [email protected] Phone: [phone]
In fact, because we’re nearing the minimum ment—“Indeed, the best solutions to the POPULAR SCIENCE ONLINE Web: popsci.com/manage
of the 11-year activity cycle, sometimes the coming water crisis may be as mundane Check out our Web site INTERNATIONAL
at popsci.com. EDITIONS
sun appears without any spots at all. This and varied as low-volume-fl ush toilets For inquiries regarding
single spot seems small, but it’s almost half and drought-resistant crops, especially QUESTIONS FOR FYI international licensing or
We answer your science syndication, please contact:
the size of Earth! in the developing world, where funds for questions in our FYI sec- [email protected].
06 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2007 POPSCI.COM
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