electronic circuitry

Genius Unveiled!

Amazing inventions of 2004

Smart Smile
“Smile map” software introduced by Stony Brook University researchers in March detects
patterns of muscle movement when a person smiles, and uses the data to identify the person later on. Developers expect it to outperform conventional face-recognition programs, which calculate the
distances between major features.


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In February, MIT student Saul Griffith introduced a



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Your Car, 2022

This is the engine, fuel tank, and transmission of a revolutionary new kind of car. In this feature, we offer a first peek at the cool designs it makes possible.

The automobile has been on the verge of being reinvented practically since it was invented. Cars that would float and fly, cars that would walk, cars that would cruise like bubble-shaped VIP lounges: Surely a brand-new car was right around the corner, or at least a couple of years away. Problem was, the irreducible requirements of engine, transmission, suspension, and fuel tank, and all the mechanical linkages involved (pedal to throttle, driveshaft to wheels), dictated much about not only how a car would function, but how it would look.

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speedy Wind Turbine Towers
"To maximize energy output, the tapered towers of the Bahrain World Trade Center funnel wind between them, creating a negative pressure zone behind the buildings that draws more air through the gap."
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speedy A Super-Strong Bridge Beam
"The Hillman Composite Beam weighs one third as much as concrete competitors—saving 20 percent on shipping and installation costs—and can hold 50 percent more weight."
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speedy Transforming Bamboo
"First Yan Xiao tore strips of bamboo from the stalk and arranged them in such a way as to provide the most strength. He then coated the strips with glue and compressed them in a self-built hydraulic press into beams, 33 feet long and up to three feet wide, each capable of supporting eight tons."
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speedy Surf the Web Without a Browser
"Adobe AIR's programming tools let developers create snazzy desktop applications that connect to the Web."

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