Forget about jumping back to the age of the dinosaurs. In Primer, a time- travel movie opening this month, the characters barely backtrack a full workday. When Shane Carruth, the writer, director and co-star, set out to make a film about two friends who construct a time machine in a garage, he wanted to offer an unconventional take on the genre. “In other stories, people seem to 'jump' from one point in time to another,” Carruth says, which didn’t make sense to him.

Slideshow:


Freedom of Movement
The Secret Spot
Crossover Appeal

Slideshow:

Forza Motorsport
EyeToy Antigrav
Half-Life 2

Video and still cameras may seem similar, but they’re very different beasts. Decent stills require pixel-packed sensors that bog down processors. And video cameras have high-power optical zooms, which, at maximum magnification, blur stills at the slightest movement. Through miniaturization, optical stabilizers and faster chips, manufacturers are finally making
worthy combos, each in their own way.

Technology: ZigBee
Max. range bandwidth frequency: 300 ft./4x dial-up/2.4 GHz

What it can do: Control all your household appliances via remote

Why you should care: Uses very little power, saving batteries

How secure is it?: Very. Uses 128-bit encryption on a secure network

See it: Mid-2005

Technology: Bluetooth
Max. range bandwidth frequency: 30 ft./18x dial-up/2.4 GHz

What it can do: Link your cellphone to a wireless headset; print without using a USB cable

One in 12 women, and one in 45 men, will be victims of stalking in their lifetime, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. But for such a common crime, stalkers aren't common criminals. More often than not, they are—or once were—lovers, spouses or friends of their victims.

For years, scientist Bill McGuire of University College London has been warning the world about Cumbre Vieja, a volcano on the island of La Palma off the African coast. If it erupts, he says, it could force a Manhattan-size rock to splash down into the Atlantic Ocean, kicking up 300-story-high waves that would travel out from the island at jet speeds. Within nine hours, 85-foot-high swells would slam Florida’s Cape Canaveral. Now scientists at the University of Hawaii say that this wild scenario has historical precedence: A similar event unfolded 120,000 years ago in the Pacific.

1,300 Radiation dose, in millirems (mrem), from a single full-body computed tomography (CT) scan


1.5 Miles Distance you’d need to have been from the Hiroshima atomic explosion to receive an equivalent dose


29 Radiation dose, in mrem, from smoking a pack of cigarettes


.08% Increase in risk of death from cancer after a full-body CT scan


3.75% Increase in risk of death from cancer if you receive a full-body CT scan annually starting at age 25

This fall, Ohio State University’s Buckeye Bullet is gunning for an electric-vehicle land-speed world record on the salt flats of Bonneville, Utah, the site of the world’s premier speed events. The Buckeye Bullet’s attempt highlights the leaner, cleaner side of racing, featuring needle-shaped, battery-powered vehicles sprinting at 250-plus mph. Students aren’t the only Ones chasing green speed. Other teams include garage-savvy environmentalists, a former drag racer and a recovered quadraplegic who drives for charity, not just records.

Late this month, if everything goes according to plan, Space Exploration Corporation, or SpaceX for short, will launch its privately funded two-stage rocket, Falcon I, into low-Earth orbit, carrying with it the U.S. Department of Defense’s TacSat-1 satellite. The ride costs just under $6 million, a price that undercuts the competition by up to two thirds. â€We want to be the Southwest Airlines of space launches,†says SpaceX CEO and PayPal founder Elon Musk.