Comments

I've subscribed to pop sci for 41 years now. I continue to find some inspiration in every new issue. I understand Kieth M's frustration that few of these automotive technologies have gained wide acceptance but keep in mind that 20 years ago in the US, gas was about $1 / gal. while in Europe it was $4 / gal. Now that we are facing $4 / gal. gas, the public is willing to go out and buy a radically different kind of car if it will cost less to operate. My 75 year old mother whirs around town in her Prius and she can't wait for the plug-in version to come out. I remember a Pop Sci article about a guy who bolted a Phantom F-4 starter motor to the transmission of his opel GT and tossed in a bunch of lead-acid batteries. He had a Briggs and Stratton generator that would kick in as needed. His biggest problem was switching the electrical power. All of that current was burning up relay contacts. There are a lot of steps between rough concept or crude prototype to finished product ready for market. In the end, there has to be a market and now finally, there is. That's how fantasy becomes reality. Think of Jules Verne's fantasy stories that inspired Wernher von Braun to build a moon rocket, and Admiral Rickover to build an atomic submarine - The Nautilus. Pop Sci has kept us inspired for all of those years and for that inspiration, I think Pop Sci deserves some of the credit for those new technologies that do in fact make it to market.