Ratings

Technology

Going Up?

By Paul Adams Posted on 9.24.2008 70 Comments

One of the most promising technologies for the aspiring outer-space commuter is the space elevator. The concept, like quite a few others, was pressed into the public imagination by Arthur C. Clarke, who in his 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise described a incredibly thin, incredibly strong carbon filament with one end anchored on Earth and the other extending up to a satellite in geostationary orbit. Now, a group of Japanese scientists are convinced that they can build a space elevator more quickly and cheaply than has been believed possible. Such a cable could convey cargo into space very cheaply and easily. Carriages would travel up and down the cable under modest power, not the vast expenditures of energy that are currently needed to send anything into orbit.

Electronic Arts/Maxis Spore

By sway Posted on 10.23.2008 Comments

Spore gives players a new thrill: They can create and share nearly every object in the computer game, from beasts to flying saucers. To make that possible, engineers had to give people the tools to not just play the game, but design it as well.

Technology

The World's Spookiest Weapons

By Abby Seiff Posted on 5.9.2008 21 Comments

Atom bombs are just the beginning. In the last half-century, the greatest military minds on Earth have developed an arsenal of weapons to make mutually assured destruction seem tame. Whether these masterpieces of destruction come from miles above Earth or millimeters below the skin, they have one thing in common: they're spooky as hell.