January 2004 Feature Articles

Winners, Losers, Holy Grails

Winner: Across the Great Divide

The Alberta SuperNet is a model for the broadband future—everywhere

Loser: Flying Away

Forecast bad for tiny airborne probes

Holy Grail: Fiber to the Home

As every Internet surfer knows, broadband is good, broader band is better

Winner: The Smart Hybrid

Flip a switch, and DaimlerChrysler's plug-in hybrid electric van will become an electric vehicle

Loser: Recycling a Bad Idea

Finally, something that both foes and friends of nuclear power can agree on

Holy Grail: Self-Sustaining Fusion

A reactor is on the horizon—but will it always be on the horizon?

Winner: The Great Gallium Nitride Gamble

Pure, clear wafers of this material are the key to blue and ultraviolet semiconductor lasers for next-generation DVDs

Loser: A Promising Lithography Gets Stuck

Electron projection is just not fast enough

Holy Grail: Light from Silicon

Lasers and microprocessors could be made on the same chip

Winner: Superconductors on the High Seas

New ship motors propel a quiet revolution

Loser: General Motors on the Hy-Wire

GM is betting a billion that its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be ready for prime time by 2010

Holy Grail: Hypersonic Flight

The future of passenger flight promises ultrafast trips to any point on the globe

Winner: A Fountain of Knowledge

2004 will be the year of the analysis engine

Loser: A Dog Named SPOT

When Microsoft stops imitating and starts innovating, watch out

Holy Grail: The Infinite Archive

To preserve our knowledge base and cultures, we must find a way to save digital content for future generations

Winner: This is Your Brain Online

Paul Allen's $100 million for mapping the brain will produce the largest trove of biological data ever

Loser: Carbon-Crunching Critters

Genetic engineering won't stop global warming

Holy Grail: Customized Medicine

Genomics will yield drugs that can be tailored even to individuals

Technology Trends 2004

Biomolecular engineering is hot, the tech sector is turning around, and the United States will continue to dominate high-tech R and D in the coming decade. So say the IEEE Fellows in the second annual 2004 IEEE Technology Leaders Survey