August 2012: The Future of Sports

August 2012

Features

I Am Warplane

How the first autonomous strike plane will land on aircraft carriers, navigate hostile airspace and change the future of flight By Clay Dillow

Cage Match

How science is transforming the sport of MMA fighting By Matthew Shaer

Signals From the Void

Scientists are trying to get the first direct look at the black hole at the center of our galaxy. How close will they come to seeing the unseeable? By Seth Fletcher

How to Teach a Robot to Improvise

Drones are learning the difference between a car and a tree--and how to make their next moves By Andrew Rosenblum

Change of Venue

Shape-shifting stadiums could transform the way we watch sports By Bjorn Carey

Summer Olympics: 2020

Ideas for safer, better ways to play classic sports By John Brenkus

What's New

• The Goods: August 2012's Hottest Gadgets
• The First Phone That's Audible Anywhere
• Can Bridgestone’s Airless Tire End the Inner Tube Era?
• A Gaming System That Helps Players Outlast the Competition
• The First Shirt to Actually Lower Body Temperature
• How NFC Radios Will Help the Visually Impaired

Headlines

• Why Next-Gen Rovers Could Be Smaller Than a Grain of Sand
• Scientists Engineer "Chimera" Primates to Combat Human Ailments
• Rough Sketch: "This Squishy Arm is Cheap--Good For Search and Rescue"
• Seeing Through Walls With a Wireless Router
• Building Artificial Islands That Rise With the Sea
• A New Blood Test Could Spot Concussions Within Hours
• Researchers Trying to Give First Supersonic Biplane Some Lift
• Prosperity Isn’t How Much You Move--It’s How You Move It

How 2.0

• You Built What?!: A Fire-Breathing, Jet-Powered Dragon
• Jailbreak Your iPhone For New Functions in the Notification Center
• Gray Matter: Extracting Bismuth From Pepto-Bismol Tablets
• A Brainwave-Controlled Version of "Pong"
• Website of the Month: CollabFinder
• The Most Useful Testing Equipment For DIY Projects

FYI

• FYI: Did Prehistoric Birds Evolve Flight By Falling Out of Trees?
• FYI: Will Athletes Ever Stop Breaking Records?

Megapixels

• Megapixels: Space Shuttle Enterprise Gets Grabbed By a Crane