February 2011: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Seven insane scientific follies, from flying humvees to an off-switch for the Internet, and how we can do better
Features
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Flying Hummers By Tom Vanderbilt
- Blotting Out the Sun By David Roberts
- Industrial Cyber-Sabotage By Becky Ferreira
- Deep-Drilling a Supervolcano By Karla Starr
- Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes By Becky Ferreira
- An Internet “Off” Switch By Paul Ford
- Immortal Micro-Organisms By Karla Starr
The Power Broker
Trained Cancer Killer
Harnessing the might of the immune system to fight prostate cancer. By Carina Storrs
The Future of Food: A Second Green Revolution
How an unlikely alliance between genetic engineers and organic farmers plans to feed the world. By Frederick Kaufman
Headlines
- PIG Robots Keep Gas Lines From Blowing Up
- Inside the Army’s Coming Breed of Shockproof Helmets
- Sheep Help Scientists Clean Up Explosives Residue
- Fluorescent Imaging Helps Surgeons Cut More Cancer Cells
- SARbot Robo-Sub Helps Rescue Drowning Victims in Minutes
- How Engineers Build Computers That Work Like A Mind
How 2.0
- A Disc-Cutter-Powered Drag Racer That Hits Nearly 50 MPH
- Vise Cakes: Making a Grain Puffer on the Cheap With the Hosts of Food Jammers
- How to Make a Quick, Cheap, and Easy Metal Laptop Stand
- Ways to Use Dropbox Beyond Backing Up Files
- Getting Vitamins Into the Bloodstream Faster Than Ever, With a Whif(f)
FYI
What’s New
- The Goods: February 2011’s Hottest Gadgets
- GM eAssist: Hybrid Efficiency Comes to GM Cars–for Free
- Lexmark’s Scanner Borrows the Brains of a Camera for Instant Imagery
- Tracking Basketball Players With a Sensor Embedded in the Ball
- Casio’s Super Compact, Super Flexible TRYX Reimagines the Point-and-Shoot Camera
- Video Power: These Slim and Light Laptops Are High-Def Champs
Megapixels
- Volcanic Fury Overwhelms Indonesia
- Scientists Mine Dormant Bacterial Genes For New Antibiotics