Popular Science (February 2005)

115 Pages·2005·13.516 MB·English

by  Various

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STORY OF THE PRINTER THAT’S FEBRUARY 2005 POPSCI.COM
REMAKING THE WORLD
PAGING DR. FRANKENSTEIN
THE RACE TO CREATE NEW LIFE IN THE LAB

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VOLUME 266 #2
CONTENTS
FEBRUARY2005
“He’s willing to stick his neck out. Once in a
while it gets chopped off,but he just picks
FOUNDED IN1872 it back up and screws it on again.”
tech LIFE BUILT TO ORDERp.64
17|What’s New
Volvo’s eco-friendly concept car.
High-tech hydraulics. Slimmed-down
cathode-ray-tube TVs.Biometric
sensors that secure your gadgets.
79|How2.0
GEEK GUIDEPut your digital pics online.
DIYBuild a home-theater PC.
GRAY MATTER Make spoons that dissolve.
TECH LESSONDraw with GPS devices.
news and views
31|Headlines
ENERGYSolar power captured in a dish.
SPACESailing into space with microwaves.
MEDICINEDo stem cells fuel tumors? 64
PREDICTIONPersonal germ detectors.
42|Soapbox
PLUGGED INBuy a smartphone,and
stop getting bilked. By Cory Doctorow
SCIENCE FRICTIONJames Cameron’s recipe
S
OP: MAGE for selling science. By Gregory Mone
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STOPH OURTES in his Los Alamos lab. By Michael Stroh
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POPULAR SCIENCE FEBRUARY 2005 7
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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
Copy Chief Rina Bander
Associate Editors Jenny Everett, Mike Haney, Gregory Mone
Assistant Editor Martha Harbison
Assistant Editor, Best of What’s New Joe Brown
Designer April Bell
Photo Editor Kristine LaManna
Staff PhotographerJohn B.Carnett
Editorial Assistant Barbara Caraher
A Sweet Web Producer Peter Noah
Contributing Design EditorChee Pearlman
Contributing Automotive EditorStephan Wilkinson
Contributing Editors Theodore Gray, Joseph Hooper,
Spot, Indeed Preston Lerner, Jeffrey Rothfeder, Jessica Snyder Sachs,
Rebecca Skloot, Bill Sweetman, Phillip Torrone, James Vlahos,
Charles Wardell, William Speed Weed
Contributing TroubadourJonathan Coulton
Contributing FuturistAndrew Zolli
Contributing Artists Mika Grondahl, Jason Lee, John
“I FEEL THE SAME JOY TODAY IN THESE EXPLORATORY TRIUMPHS THAT MacNeill, Garry Marshall, Stephen Rountree, Bob Sauls
I did when Sputnik 1first circumnavigated Earth,when our expectations of Editorial InternSarah Goforth
Art Intern Dana Stratton
what technology could do for us were nearly boundless.”
POPULAR SCIENCE PROPERTIES
That’s a quote from a 1987 essay by Carl Sagan. I happened upon it while
Publisher Gregg R. Hano
doing a little Sagan-oriented Web research,a surfing expedition that was in- Advertising Director John Tebeau
General Manager Robert Novick
spired,in turn,by a nifty bit of recognition that recently came our way: In early Executive Assistant Chandra Dwhaj
December,the Council of Scientific Society Presidents bestowed its annual Northeast Advertising Office: Manager Howard S. Mittman
[phone], Jill Schiffman [phone],
Sagan Award (“for outstanding achievement in improving the public under- Mike Schoenbrun [phone], Missy Dye Radin EL
standing and appreciation of science”) on none other than POPULARSCIENCE.It’s (A2d1 2A)s s7i7st9a-n5t0 C3h0ristopher Graves MART
a true honor when the presidents past and present of some 60 scientific or- Midwest Advertising Office: ManagerJohn Marquardt D
[phone], Megan Williams [phone] N
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[phone], Ad AssistantMary Infantino O
citement,importance and significance of science,discovery and research.” Detroit Advertising Office: ManagerDonna Christensen ST
I’ll happily embrace that as a resonant description of what the editors of [phone],Ad AssistantDiane Pahl OR
POPULARSCIENCEhave always tried to do,though it must be said that the mag- SCaanc cFiaratonrcei s(4co1 5A) d4v3e4rt-5is2in7g6 O,Affdic eA:s MsisatnaangteCraArlym Py etrone HEL F
Southern Regional Advertising Office: ManagerDave C
azine’s balance of the pure and applied sciences has gone through dramatic Hady [phone],Ad Assistant Christy Chapman UE
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Tocqueville had observed several decades prior: “Americans were naturally Director of Brand & Business Development L. Dennett Y
Robertson B
inclined to require nothing of science but its special applications to the useful Sales Development Managers Mike Saperstein, NG
alergtsi taimnda ttehley mreepalnys: “oAf nredn wdehraint,ge xliafec tcloy,misf owrtraobnleg. ”wTiot hw thhiacht? a” Arefatedre ra ltlo,dwaey lmikieg htot DSECleraliennnagiioeteilr rv VMea uSagenhraavgniceer,s EDveesnitgsn aenr dM ParroymMoctiGonasn nChristy Chapin UP; STYLI
say that the sweet spot for this magazine is that place where science and tech- Marketing CoordinatorEshonda Caraway O
nology meet in the lives of our readers; those “special applications”of science ACodnvseurmtiseinr gM Caorkoerdtiinnga tDoirreEcvteolyrnB Narebgarroan Venturelli R iGR
are a fundamental part of what POPULARSCIENCEis about. Senior Planning ManagerMargerita Catwell FO
Still,we do require more of science,and I think our readers require more of CSaornas uOm’Ceor nMnoarrketing ManagersJames Cahn, GLIA
us. That’s why I’m proud to publish articles like “Can Terrorists Build the Senior Production DirectorLaurel Kurnides E
Bwoomrsbt ?n”ig[phatgmea 5re8 ]t,oa bseo breear laizcecdo,uanntidn wg hoaf tw ish abte iwnogu dldon hea tvoe ptore hvaepnpt eitn. for our PPPrrroeeppdrrueecsstisso DMn iarAenscastiogsretarRnoJotbsSyéhn aM Kweonde piGnpaleelnn HELLE C
Publicity ManagerHallie Deaktor C
Which brings us back to Carl Sagan,the greatest popularizer of science in MI
Y
the second half of the 20th century. Just a bit later in that same essay,he cham- G B
pioned the importance of an unflinching examination of the dark. “The visions MIN
we present to our children shape the future,”he wrote. “It matters what those President Mark P. Ford OO
visions are. . . . I do not think it irresponsible to portray even the direst futures; Senior Vice Presidents James F. Else, GR
if we are to avoid them,we must understand that they are possible.” VEdicittoorr iMal. DSiareucetrohro fSf,c oSttte Mveonw Sbhruarye UX;
Director, Corporate Communications Samara Farber Mormar D
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CUSTOMERSERVICEANDSUBSCRIPTIONS R/
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8 POPULAR SCIENCE FEBRUARY 2005