1950s
Boeing 707, introduced in 1958, launches the jet age. It’s expensive, but its speed (doubling that of piston-engine airliners) makes it productive.

1960s
Boeing introduces the 737 in 1967. It becomes the best-selling and longest-running airliner in production. The jet has since undergone two extensive makeovers to keep it competitive.

Want to take this baby out? You'll need a PlayStation 2. The only place you can drive Toyota's Motor Triathlon Race Cara rig designed to handle a track, street circuit or rally course equally wellis in the forthcoming video game Gran Turismo 4 . That doesn't mean its marquee innovation is pure fantasy.

If you’re waiting for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 2 to spice up life on the couch, don’t hold your breath. Console gamers won’t be getting next-gen hardware anytime soon. This spring, both Sony and Microsoft told antsy fans that their focus for the foreseeable future will be on developing great software for their existing platforms.

This technology is very far out—in miles and years. A pair of satellites orbiting several hundred miles above the Earth would serve as a weapons system. One functions as the targeting and communications platform while the other carries numerous tungsten rods—up to 20 feet in length and a foot in diameter—that it can drop on targets with less than 15 minutes’ notice. When instructed from the ground, the targeting satellite commands its partner to drop one of its darts.

Directed-energy weapon specialists at the Air Force Research Laboratory are close to overcoming the two main hurdles that have confined laser weapons to science fiction for the last half-century. Tests by lead contractor Boeing have demonstrated that the laser has enough power to function as a weapon, and that the chemical exhaust, which could pose a considerable threat to the weapon’s operators and individuals on the ground, can be safely contained in a sealed system. If all goes according to the U.S.

Firing a gun has always been an intensely mechanical process: Pull the trigger and a hammer strikes the back of a bullet—usually inserted into the chamber by a spring mechanism—causing explosive powder in the bullet to shoot out a slug. The slug exits the front of the barrel and another spring ejects the empty shell from the side of the gun.

Submarines peaked in power and relevance during the Cold War; there has since been a shift in focus to aircraft-based combat, and subs have become budget-cut victims. But subs are still prized for their ability to sneak about global waters undetected and to defend surface ships from attack. Many U.S. subs are being converted from missile launchers into delivery vehicles for special operations troops.

Picture this: A massive destroyer receives the location coordinates of an enemy headquarters more than 200 miles away. Instead of launching a million-dollar Tomahawk cruise missile, it points a gun barrel in the direction of the target, diverts electric power from the ship’s engine to the gun turret, and launches a 3-foot-long, 40-pound projectile up a set of superconducting rails.

Mornings are the worst.


The coffee is too weak. The windup alarm clock is too loud. The phone rings, and it might or might not be my mom. There are no new e-mails. There is no hope for a Krispy Kreme. And man, oh man, I miss my Ambien.

Casio Exilim EX-Z40
Cost: $400

casio.com
Barrier to Entry: Controls not terribly intuitive

The Luddite Likes: Size, video, numerous settings

Verdict I’m not giving it back