Galileo, the interplanetary spacecraft that has changed the way we understand Jupiter and its 61 known moons, will perish on the 21st of this month as it plunges into the Jovian atmosphere. NASA engineers have put Galileo on a collision course with the planet so that the spacecraft, which is running low on propellant, can study the Jovian magnetosphere as a final task. The suicide mission will also ensure the craft won't end up crashing intoand possibly contaminatingthe ocean of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.

It's 8:30 a.m., late rush hour, and Jim Murphy has a multibillion-dollar set of new tunnels beneath downtown Boston at his fingertips. So far things have been quiet, but should traffic get gnarly, as it so often does in this city of six-hour gridlocks, his console will automatically display the problem areas. Then he'll have some options: Zoom in on the jam through closed-circuit cameras; direct traffic with variable message boards; and, if things take a turn for the worse, override local radio frequencies.

"Whatever you do, don't touch that," Derek Bell hollers through his helmet, pointing to the very large red button on the dashboard that controls the Halon fire extinguisher. "It takes all the oxygen out of the air and you pass out."

Here's another item to make the foes of genetically modified foods jittery: decaf coffee with the same smoothness, aroma and taste as a regular cup of joe-minus the kick in the pants. Well, almost. While scientists at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan have, for the first time, grown genetically engineered coffee plants that contain 70 percent less caffeine than normal, it will take upwards of four years for the plants to sprout beans. Then it will take a few more years for the crop to brew through the regulatory process in both Japan and the United States.

When artificial intelligence was all the rage in the 1980s, researchers joked that by the turn of the century, smart vacuum cleaners built in Japan would be cleaning smart tanks built in the United States. As it turns out, though, a few years into the new century the vacuum bot that is grinding across the floors of gadget freaks around the nation is American-designed.

Kristine LaManna, Photo Editor

My Pick: K&L 5 Seat Paddle Boat

Why: With a paddle boat and my own free docking station in the river near the FDR Drive, it would have been a cinch to make it home. Best, I could've taken four other Brooklynites with me.

Widgets.ws

MORE EDITORS' BLACKOUT WISH LIST PICKS

There is an entire subculture of people who derive pleasure from putting strange things in microwave ovens, things that microwave oven manufacturers would most strenuously suggest should not be put there. In the hands of these people, table grapes produce glowing plasmas, soap bars mutate into abominable soap monsters, and compact discs incandesce. As a scientist, I'm enthralled by such phenomena (particularly the grapes), but somehow I've always found the subject a bit unsatisfying: Cool, but what is it really good for?

Imagine a personal radio recorder. It would automatically record your favorite talk shows, play tracks by your favorite musicians, recommend artists that might interest you, and let you rate content so you don't have to suffer through the thousandth airing of that %&#*! Justin Timberlake song. Combine that power with the giant trove of content available on Sirius or XM satellite radio (100 channels apiece) and you'd have one cool product. Too bad it doesn't exist. Pogo's Radio Your Way, however, is a baby step in the right direction.

MP3 players proved the power of music-file compression.
A portable unit with massive storage and decent sound
quality? We'll take that deal. But can MPEG-4 extend that power to digital video players? Holding the Archos AV320 ($599), we were skeptical about whether a decent viewing experience is possible on a 12.5-ounce box. Then we pressed play. It's not perfect, but it's enough to get us excited.

Twenty-five years after Three Mile Island's near-meltdown stopped the industry cold (not a single U.S. plant has been approved since), nuclear energy is making a serious comeback. This fall, Congress is expected to start funding a $1.1 billion project to build a new breed of nuclear reactor. The design requirements represent a quantum leap: In addition to being safer and less vulnerable to terrorism than current nuclear plants, the new reactor must do double duty-generate electricity and crank out hydrogen, the presumptive automobile fuel of the future.