Apr
28
The deadly collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota was merely one example of America's troubled concrete-and-steel underpinnings. But as we discover in excerpts from PM's "Bridges to the Future" summit with the National Science Foundation, its replacement may also be illustrative--of high-tech solutions for the next generation of infrastructure. Plus, Mike Allen proposes a plug-in car with an onboard micro-generator, Barbara Peterson finds out why in-flight Wi-Fi might be more important than cellphones at 30,000 ft., and we meet a parachute tester who puts Point Break to shame.
Apr
28
A high-tech, high-octane season of movies has arrived, but has the increasing influence of comic books diluted science fiction on the silver screen? Annalee Newitz, editor of the awesome new sci-fi blog io9, makes the case for a modern revival. Plus, in an exclusive interview, Lost gurus Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse preview the science inside the rest of Season 4--and the inventor of Iron Man's digital suit tells us where Tony Stark's new weaponry really came from.
Apr
2
America's patent office might stand on the brink of an open-source revolution, but whatever happened to turning heady science into practical new gadgets? PM resident roboticist Daniel H. Wilson, whose new book looks way ahead on how robots could prevent an alien invasion, joins us to dream up inventions we might have in our 22nd-century households. Plus, CIA veteran Robert Wallace talks spy tech, Formula One guru Guy Negre explains the power of the Air Car as we get pumped for the Auto X Prize and ponder a microcar comeback, and Yale physicist Robert Adair takes a swing at the science of steroids.
