Newswise — The editors of IEEE Spectrum selected and reviewed ten projects--five that used technology and software in brilliant ways, and five that missed their targets. There's also an opportunity for readers to cast online ballots for their preferred winners in commercial and humanitarian categories. For experts' comments on the current winners and losers, look for sidebar comments by technology watchers Robert W. Lucky, T. J. Rodgers, and Nick Tredennick.
"Brew, Baby, Brew" A backyard still that turns sugar into ethanol fuel may look sweet, but under scrutiny it turns sour.
"The Revolution Will Be Prosthetized" DARPA's prosthetic arm gives amputees new hope.
"That Sinking Feeling" An aquatic-car company ramps up to enter a market that's never made money.
"Mental Block" Emotiv says its game controller works at the speed of thought, but it doesn't.
"Multicore Made Simple" Intel's Larrabee is a chip every designer already knows how to program.
"Hot or Not?" BlackLight Power says it's developing a new energy source--and it won't let the laws of physics stand in its way.
"Hot Rocks" Geodynamics is turning Australia's natural radioactivity into the country's first geothermal power plants.
"Quantum Leap" "Quantum-dot lasers from Japan's QD Laser will make high-speed "fiber to the home" networks simpler, cheaper, and more power-efficient.
"Fruitless" A strawberry-picking robot won't be displacing farm workers anytime soon.
"Radio Eye in the Sky" ImSAR's synthetic aperture radio is both small and affordable.
RSS