Setting A Standard In Multimedia Software
Volcanoes: Life on the Edge; Critical Mass: America's Race to build the Atomic Bomb; and Leonardo da Vinci
Features
Other Countries' Money
Foreign companies are tapping into the vigorous U.S. system of innovation by sponsoring and increasing amount of research and development at American companies. Is this a boon, or a subtle form of industrial espionage?
The Virtues (and Vices) of Virtural Colleagues
Electronic "collaboratories" that let researchers conduct experiments, review data, and communicate with collagues via computer are changing the culture of science.
Chess is Too Easy
Forget about Big Blue vs. Kasparov--the best test of artificial intelligence is to ask a computer to write a story. Meet Brutus.1, a software agent that creates short tales of betrayal,self-deception, and evil worthy of a human creator.
Aviation's Next Great Leap
Strapping rockets onto an aircraft creates a new breed of space plane. Look for cheaper satellite launch, ultrafast package delivery, and hypersonic passenger transport that would leave the Concorde in the dust.
Putting Teeth in the Biological Weapons Ban
Pound for pound, microbes such as anthrax rival nuclear weapons in their ability to inflict mass casualties. But the enforcing the existing treaty banning biological weapons must not compromise the biotech industry's valuable trade secrets.
Honey, They've Shrunk the Rover
The Sojourner vehicle that trekked across the Martian surface captured the world's fancy last summer, but we haven't seen anything yet. Next will come rovers that can roam miles across Mars and "aerobots" able to survey other planets.
Thinking About Emotional Machines
Affective Computing
Battling Bacterial Resistance
Challenged by the tendency of disease-causing microbes ot mutate into breeds that defy conventional antibiotics, researchers are pursuing a variety of high-tech schemes to give humans the upper hand in the war on infectious diseases.
The Art of Renaissance Engineering
A new exhibit illustrates how innovative techniques of grapic representation transformed this emerging discipline.
