January 2007 Feature Articles

Forum: Our Readers Write

Manufacturing Mayday

Production glitches send Airbus into a tailspin

The Enabler

An engineer works to make computers usable by all

Thread-Bare Theories

String-theory critic calls for balance in physics research

Over the Moon

Making Every E-Vote Count

A noted cryptographer has a system that works

Winner: Nothing but Net

Britain switches its entire phone network to the Internet Protocol

Loser: Corn-o-copia

Extravagant subsidies and low coal prices have made for some strange ethanol projects

Great Thoughts

Podcast Picks

Fresh Spin On Logic

MIT team paves way for a spintronics microprocessor

Joules, BTUs, Quads—Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

Winner: Radio Revolutionaries

A Massachusetts company reinvents the cellular base station

Sci/Tech Museums

Around the World in 65 Days

The Big Picture

Loser: Grounded

No happy landings for latest twist on sci-fi staple

Gold Out of Dross

The Back Story

When Radio Was America

A book on the Golden Era of Radio takes us back to "those thrilling days of yesteryear"

Lithium Batteries for Hybrid Cars

Hybrid cars need to travel farther in electric-only mode, and that means lithium-ion battery technologies have a lot riding on them

You Tell Us

We found these seven projects intriguing, but couldn't clearly identify them as winners or losers. It's up to you to decide