gps navigation system

Hot on the heels of the Android 2.0 mobile OS release, Google's sweetening the deal: the Eclair-flavored refresh to their mapping app turns handsets into feature-rich GPS devices -- for free.

And you thought that lady from your car's navigation system was stern. Human-machine interface Researchers from Kajimoto Laboratory came up with this GPS navigation helmet that doesn't give directions in words, it "shows" the wearer which way to go by tugging on the appropriate ear, just like mom used to do. "Being pulled on the ear for navigation is a common situation when we were children," researchers write, "and hence, the sensation should be quite intuitive."

In the May 2003 issue, POPULAR SCIENCE showcased several of the groups vying for the X Prize, a $10 million award that will go to the first privately financed team that manages to launch a manned spacecraft to an altitude of 62.5 miles, then repeat the feat within two weeks. X Prize founder Peter Diamandis doesn't expect all of the 24 contenders to produce a finished craft, much less succeed. Their engineering approaches range widely, from runway takeoffs to balloon launches. Here are the plans of a few of the teams that received little or no mention in the original article.