April 2011: How It Works

Features

The Lost Satellite

Nearly a decade ago, NASA built an Earth-monitoring satellite that could have observed global warming in action. Then the agency stashed it in a warehouse in Maryland, where it remains to this day By Bill Donahue

Hacking the Cloud

More and more, computer data is being stored and processed on remote servers. But the price of that convenience could be a new wave of cybercrime **By Rena Marie Pacella

What’s New

• The Goods: April 2011’s Hottest Gadgets
• A Motion-Sensing Remote That Will Change Channel-Surfing
• Supergonomics: A Shape-Shifting Keyboard Keeps Wrists Healthy
• The Energy Harvesting Gadgetry Of A Ducati-Beating Superbike
• Clever Housekeeping Tools To Save Energy And Cash
• How It Works: A Tabletop That Sees and Responds to What’s Put On It
• For Safety and Control, the Metal Bat Gets Reinvented

Headlines

• Moveable Beasts: Tracking Winged Migrations To Predict Weather, Stop Disease, and Save Species
• The Air Force’s Space Fence System Monitors Orbital Debris To Prevent High-Speed Collisions
• Plastic Beads Fight Cancer By Cutting Blood Flow
• Project X Revealed: Five Decades of Secrets, Lies, and Half-Truths From International Space Agencies
• The Postal Network: USPS Trucks Could Monitor Air Quality, Road Conditions and Traffic
• Blood Simple: Improved Crime-Scene Analysis Techniques

How 2.0

• Golf Cart Powered by the Spirit (and Engine) of a Truck
• Add Apps and Tweak Software to Customize Your Android Phone or Tablet
• Gray Matter: Can’t Take The Heat
• Void Your Warranty: Create a Shinier AppleTV
• Ask A Geek: When Will I Get Better Than 1080P Video On My TV?
• How To Make LED-Illuminated Eggs, Just In Time For Easter

FYI

• FYI: Could A Layperson Land A Jumbo Jet?
• FYI: Is It Ever OK To Drink Your Own Urine?
• FYI: Can Scientists Measure Happiness?

Megapixels

• Digital Maps Of Moonscape Could Reveal Safe Landing Spots And Traversable Terrain
• Bats Out of Hell: Rescue Efforts for Some of the Smallest Victims of Australia’s Floods

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