ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 24 MAR 01:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: “Innovation at the Edge”: Technology has done U-turn, dispersing control of large networks from hub to edge. Development of personal computer, and introduction of client-server style of computing in 1980s, freed people to use their own initiative, and built upon centrifugal opportunities presented by deregulation and privatization. Other areas influenced by centrifugal force are those of energy and“remaking of the telephone system in the image of Internet”. MONITOR:“The Power Industry’s Quest for High Nines”: Innovations are improving quality of electrical power, so computer networks can run for not just 99.9% of time, but for 99.9999% that e-commerce demands. “Talking Heads”: Since online retailers want customer-personalized websites, much progress has been made in creating friendly, animated, lifelike talking heads that are well-informed about regular customers, and even resemble them.“Designer Enzymes”: Enzymes are special proteins which act as catalysts, accelerating(10,000-1m times)important chemical reactions in living cells. In manufacturing new drugs, it would save much time and money (and lives?)if exactly right new or modified enzyme could be found with characteristics needed to speed up specific reaction. However, exact combination of factors must be found among many candidates, say 20¹⁰⁰. Researchers have used computers(and brains)to make search manageable.“Through a Glass Brightly”:“Optical fibres guide light over hundreds of kilometres by exploiting differences in the refractive index to bend a light beam. Their core is made of glass that has a high refractive index, bending light strongly, while outer cladding has lower refractive index and thus bends light less. Net effect is to make light signals bounce along core as though they were in a pipe with mirror-like finish. New approach is“crystal fibres”which have bundles of microscopic pipes along length of fibre. Advantages: avoid needing two types of glass, use much narrower core, and get effect of using two types of glass. Extremely narrow cores also enable more effective use of bandwidths or more even light-spread.“Biochips Down on the Farm”: Quick/accurate tests whether food(ingredient)contains genetically modified(GM)material(s) are important if it is prohibited by buyer or must be labelled. Such test is under development in form of electronic biochip called“eSensor”consisting of small circuit-board laced with up to 36 gold electrodes. Each of these is linked to more than a billion identical single-stranded DNA molecules, and each DNA strand is attached to kind of electrically conductive carbon compound. When matching DNA molecules are found, signal is created.“Smart Tyres”: New tyre-wear/grip monitoring system avoids bumpy lives by being divided into two. Sturdy parts located in tyres consist of crystals that produce minute electrical current when deformed by pressure or road-grip. Radar-like probe, safely in body of vehicle, detects and interprets these deformations and notifies either driver or an automatic safety mechanism, say to avoid skidding. Other types of sensors(radar/laser)are already being used to determine and maintain safe distance from car ahead when on cruise-control. Under development are sensors designed to assist in steering/braking if accident is imminent.“Virtual Hype, Real Products”: In most fields“virtual reality”(interaction with artificial environment)has not met expectations of early 1990s, but has remained in laboratories. Practical applications/funding are now being found. Systems exist to scan large structures, or locate exact position of people, specialty tools, or robots’ arms. One VR product manipulates microscopic objects, even molecules.“Son of Paperclip”: “Paperclip”is over-enthusiastic spontaneous advice-giving tool built into Microsoft’s Office. “Son”in question is Mobile Manager which evaluates incoming e-mails on a user’s PC and decides which are important enough to forward to pager, mobile phone or other e-mail address, i.e. distinguish junk mail from important messages. It learns with experience user’s relative priorities and is not intrusive. “Making Materials Atom by Atom”: In searching for better materials scientists are designing multitudes of new ‘‘virtual”materials atom by atom on computers; they determine each variation’s properties until they find right structure. Variations are effectively infinite.“Magic Bullet for Pain-Killers”: Most pain medicines are imprecise: large doses provide little relief, often with side effects. Innovation concentrates directly and only on nerves causing pain; tiny quantities give long-term relief and may be used for muscle spasms/nervous-system diseases. TEAM SPIRIT:“Have Legs, Will Run”: Many breakthroughs now are products of research teams. IBM Research Laboratory, Zurich has created ingenious memory device. “Millipede” - which looks like a brush - uses 1,000 microscopic pointed levers that record information by making minute marks on plastic. Product of experts in several different fields cooperating closely. REPORTS: “The Shape of Phones to Come”Telecommunications: Starting as hobbyist movement 5 years ago,“Voice over Internet Protocol”[VOIP] is remaking telephone systems worldwide. It is one of biggest overhauls in decades, but not last by long way. Essay explains current technological war between telephone companies and those, represented by VOIP, enabling use of Internet for(free)long-distance calls. It has brought enormous improvements in service by both systems, and increasing similarity in technology. It is certain that today’s Internet will not be up to demands about to be made on it. A wholly new, far bigger, packet-switched network, combining scalability of Internet with quality and global reach of telephone system, will have to be built from scratch: network that connects everything to everything.“Power to the Telephone Masses”“Session Initiation Protocol”(SIP): emerging as favoured standard for setting up, modifying and terminating telephone calls over Internet. Advantages are simplicity and independence; users can handle various communications very easily.“Upgrading the Internet”Data Networks: Internet needs to be upgraded, but if done badly, its ability to support innovative, as-yet-unimagined applications could be in jeopardy. Two immediate problems are growing shortage of addresses and need to“scale up”network to cope with faster connections in efficient manner. Both should be done without threatening net’s original”end-to-end”freedom to send anything to anybody, which is vital to innovation. “The Fuel Cell’s Bumpy Ride”Energy: Car companies are betting heavily on fuel cells as engines for tomorrow’s cleaner cars. But how to make and store hydrogen fuel? Considerable detail about why direct hydrogen fuel-cell-only engine is likely to beat hybrids or methanol-powered engines since it is best long-term solution in terms of efficiency, quietness, running costs, low maintenance, power-source for other purposes, constant torque, and of course total lack of emissions other than water. Problems of safety, storage, and supply can be surmounted, particularly if governments give hydrogen strong regulatory support.“The Cutting Edge of Virtual Reality”Medical Technology: Tomorrow’s medicine is about robotics, augmented vision and creating VR images of the body. Descriptions of computer-based tools for medical diagnosis, training, telemedicine, image-guided and minimally invasive surgery. Robotics is set to push forward frontiers of what is humanly possible, even under a microscope, while extremely precise surgery, even on beating hearts, is within reach. Of particular value to Third World, isolated, and those involved in disasters, is imminent provision of many forms of expert health care by(long-distance) electronic contact. Trend is towards global access to medical data/expertise.“The Solid Future of Rapid Prototyping”Manufacturing: RP for “printing”3D model engineering parts direct from designs on computer screen depends on being able to turn out real components made of real materials instead of plastic look-alikes. Instant one-step manufacturing is goal. Describes both(rapidly-moving)leading edge of technology in this field, and major breakthroughs that seem about to create a world in which complex one-off products can be produced quickly and cheaply, and assembly-line’s advantage is put in question. Since cost of making tools no longer figures in equation, economics of mass production will give way to mass customisation. Parts will be made in production runs not of 1m or even a few thousand, but of one.“Machines with Minds of Their Own”Evolvable Hardware: Left to evolve on their own, certain machines can learn to be smarter, surpassing even humans in some of most intellectually demanding tasks. Advances in“evolvable hardware”(EHW): computer/device is given ability:(1)to reconfigure itself(or elements of problem to be solved); and(2)to mimic natural selection(genetic algorithm)by instantaneously testing millions of options(mutations)and selecting best(through one/many cycles -i.e. generations), until it achieves optimum level of performance. Already possible to contain entire genetic algorithm within single microchip, and run thousands of evolutionary trials in fraction of a second. Main use of EHW so far been in designing analogue circuits, since humans have not learned to think, talk, see, etc. digitally. LAST WORD: “Rethinking Machines”: Danny Hillis, computing pioneer and inventor of 10,000-Year Clock, has distinctive perspective on relationship between humanity and technology. Thinks about machines that change way people think about machines. Particularly concerned that:”We are educating people today in the same way we did when there was 1% as much knowledge”; and pitfalls of engineering are becoming apparent:”Engineered systems are brittle, frail and liable to fail in unexpected ways”.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 23 JUN 01:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: “Invention is the Easy Bit”: Beware of new ideas. They can be 25 years ahead of their time, and however good their concept, they may not catch on - or find a profitable demand/use. Example given is peer-to-peer(P2P)Internet, which was understood and theoretically available in 1970s but, without sufficiently powerful computers and fast communication links, could not take off. Articles investigate whether P2P and Grid are now going to do so. MONITOR: “Reality Check for Video-On-Demand”: Unlike television broadcasting, streaming video over Internet gets more uneconomic the bigger the audience. It is estimated that demand for streaming video will rise by 175% a year between now and 2005, when it will account for 45% of all content on Internet, but economics still has to be worked out. Vision of instant access, via Internet, to massive amounts of entertainment is uncertain.“The Smaller the Better”: Practical definition of nanotechnology is anything precisely fabricated with dimensions of less than 100 nanometres, which is millionth of millimetre. Investors have suddenly started taking nanotechnology seriously; whether they have patience to hang around for pay-off is uncertain.“Speed Reading”: New gene-sequencing technique could decode a person’s genome in hours instead of years. Detector would work by running single strand of DNA through tiny hole, and reading off sequence of four nucleotides as they pass through. “Spotting the Potholes”: Video-taping road surfaces to identify subsidence/holes for repair is slow since only single, bulky tape is produced for analysis. Van has been equipped with digital cameras that not only collect more accurate data, but high-definition images are sent directly to engineers’ computers and can be accessed by anyone on network. Automatic system also detects and classifies cracks in road to assist preventive maintenance.“Put On a Coat”: One of problems of transplanting“foreign”but healing cells to help cure a disease(e.g. diabetes)is that body will normally reject them as alien. Second is that polymer coatings applied to cells to enable them to avoid this immune response must be exactly right thickness(which protects but does not interfere)for cells to be effective. Ingenious method of“shrink-wrapping”cells both dodges immune system and produces an exactly-equal coating. “Powered Paper”: Firm has invented battery no thicker than band-aid that can be printed onto paper or packages. It uses well-known and conventional “silk-screen” process. Paper could then play audio clips from CD in its package or display moving images on flexible screen. Linking battery-powered paper to equally-thin temperature sensor could monitor exactly progressive temperatures of wrapped products that could go bad.“The Sound of Shuffling”: Perhaps this is joke, but AT&T claims to be able to reproduce exact sounds - and therefore atmosphere - of live concert or sports event on recording that can be played in home equipped with five speakers. “Extreme Measures”: Thanks to lithography using extreme ultraviolet light, i.e. changing printing process of chips rather than material, chip manufacturers are using EUV lithography to print circuits as thin as 0.03 microns. That would allow building 10-gigahertz microprocessors by 2005 compared with 1.5 gigahertz devices today.“Marching On Its Stomach”: Fed with sugar cubes, gastrobots - robots with stomachs(microbial fuel cells) - make their own energy on the go, allowing them to wander freely. Being free of power socket or of having to carry heavy - and time-limited - power supply, makes it first robot ever to be powered by food alone. Work has begun on robot gathering soil data in orange groves; operates by extracting juice from fallen fruit. TEAM SPIRIT: “Of High Priests and Pragmatists”: In series on managing innovation, essay looks at ways of getting disparate groups to work together more effectively. One group developing environment-friendly solvents found that adding social scientist to team speeded up innovation. REPORTS: “Computing Power on Tap”Computer Networks: Essay argues that after Internet comes Grid. It looks at most ambitious attempt yet to combine millions of computers seamlessly around world in order to make processing power available on demand anywhere, rather like electrical power.“Profit From Peer-To-Peer” Computer Networks: Despite Napster’s continuing travails, number of fledgling firms are out to sell idea of peer-to-peer computing to large enterprises. Essay also looks at risks associated with P2P - not a single concept, but array of technologies.“Batteries Not Included”Portable Power: Weekly has shown special interest in fuel cells for vehicles. This reports that miniature fuel cells, refilled like cigarette lighters, could soon be replacing batteries in mobile phones, laptops and other gizmos.“Beyond Cruise Control”Transport: Automated driving aids, soon fitted to cars, will warn drivers of possible accidents. May even help them actively to avoid crashes. Main problem is that all systems under development are based on simple highway environment; none is yet suited for use on complex urban roads.“Sleeping Policemen”: Intelligent speed adaptation(ISA) - technology for forcing driver to observe speed limit - works by building into car a digital map marked with local speed restrictions. Main justification is high cost of speeding; ISA could reduce accidents by 40% and fatal ones by nearly 60%.“Look, No Hands”: Fully automated rail systems are feasible, and forms already exist. Automated road vehicles would need their own lanes and some kind of infrastructure for guidance. Current trials include stretches of highway with instruments embedded in their surface to guide vehicles via sensors to on-board autopilots.“The New Organ-Grinders”Bio-Engineering: With genetic cures for killer diseases still years away, bio-engineers are developing range of mechanical organs to replace worn-out parts of human body. Treating people with heart disease, liver complaints or diabetes could soon become like repairing a car, while avoiding political/scientific challenges posed by cloning. Companies are substituting blood and tissue with metals, chemicals and plastics. Every part of body is being studied to see how it can be replicated artificially or augmented in some way.“Patently Absurd?”Intellectual Property: Patents that protect not only inventions but also ways of distributing and selling them are causing an uproar. Essay probes whether more traditional patents - granted for novel, non-obvious and useful - are any better at promoting innovation, and concludes they do not in cases of complex, patent-loaded industries. Recommends patent authorities find greater variety of tools for protecting intellectual property than at present.LAST WORD:“Godfather of the Pill”Carl Djerassi: 50 years since [he] invented contraceptive pill, and changed human behaviour for good. Not stood still since, scientifically or socially. Latest work - a play:”Oxygen”- examines nature of achievements and accolades, but his invention has pushed him to ponder social and ethical aspects of technology.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 22 SEP 01:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION:“The Crashing of Gears”:For two centuries, each new surge of economic activity has come in three distinct phases. First phase was heady upswing as successful participants enjoyed fat margins, set standards, killed off weaker rivals and established themselves as leaders of pack. Then came second phase as market matured and dominant firms hunkered down for slower growth. Final phase, short and sharp decline, occurred when whole new set of technologies started jostling for attention of investors. World economy has just come to end of first phase of present cycle, and is now starting slower second phase. MONITOR:“Tapping the Ether”:Wireless networking may be fast, cheap and convenient, but is wide open to anybody who wants to eavesdrop.“How to See Through Walls”: Transparent concrete is encouraging architects to rethink how they design buildings. Article describes both advantages and disadvantages.“Visionary Implant”: Although still early days, first attempts to make an artificial retina - to restore sight to blind - look remarkably promising. Number of groups trying to perfect an‘electric retina’.“Seeing is Believing”: By doubling resolution of existing liquid-crystal displays(LCDs) IBM has created monitor which, when viewed from 18 inches away or farther, shows images that human eye finds indistinguishable from real thing. Article suggests that hospitals and engineers will benefit most since able to extract more accurate data.“‘Instant-on’ Magnetically”: Race is on to build non-volatile high-speed memories that will allow computers to be turned on and off like televisions. Magnetic RAM(MRAM)seems poised to become non-volatile technology of choice.“More Than Skin Deep”: Absorbing drugs gently through skin beats injecting, swallowing or sniffing them.“Transdermal” technology or“the patch”offers several advantages described, and is growing rapidly in popularity(e.g. to limit tobacco consumption).“Safe Keeping”: Digital archival repositories(DARS)as way of protecting digital information from corruption or destruction would involve widely distributed network of independent repositories, connected via Internet, that can make copies of each digital object stored in one another’s archive and then spread them around Napster-style to ensure they are preserved”.“No Hiding Place for Anyone”: Embedded in bank notes or designer labels, Hitachi’s ‘mu-chip’ can beep out owner’s location and details to marketers and thieves alike. Critics argue it may constitute direct infringement of personal privacy. TEAM SPIRIT:“Agility Counts”:In series on managing innovation, essay looks at agile programming: culmination of many faddish ideas for producing software more efficiently. Most popular methodology uses techniques such as pair programming, in which one person programs while partner checks result for bugs and makes sure only essential code is produced. REPORTS: “A Lingua Franca for the Internet”Programming: Far from producing universal programming language, Internet is encouraging proliferation of new ones. Whichever language, Java or C#, wins battle for hearts and minds of programmers, business of writing software is becoming steadily easier. On horizon, programming languages face daunting challenge of helping to turn Internet into more intelligent place with opportunity for languages designed with artificial intelligence specifically in mind. “A Bigger Role for Small Satellites”Space Technology: Certain types of satellites have started to shrink in size, cost and development time, making it possible for communities, companies, schools, hospitals -and, perhaps one day, even individuals - to have own satellite.“Skyscrapers in the Sky”: Communications satellites will continue to get bigger in order to generate more electrical power on board to transmit an ever-increasing number of communications and broadcasting channels and increase signal strength on ground. Geo-synchronous orbits are scarce and expensive, so geo-synchronous satellites are also going to carry ever more components.“To Infinity and Beyond”: Because they cannot afford own rockets, small satellites have to hitch ride on commercial launchers. Suitably packed together using standardised racking system, bunches of small satellites might even begin to seem attractive primary payloads. “Machines With a Human Touch”Artificial Intelligence: Instead of using ones and zeros of digital electronics to simulate way brain functions, ‘neuromorphic’ engineering relies on nature’s biological short-cuts to make robots that are smaller, smarter and vastly more energy-efficient. Engineers look at brain structures such as retina and cortex, and then devise chips that contain neurons and primitive rendition of brain chemistry. “Short-cuts”reflect fact that over time evolution allowed nature to come up with some extremely efficient ways of extracting information from environment. “List Makers Take Control” Software: Essay looks at how/why electronic directories are essential for keeping and sharing information. Directories are basis of Internet and of such popular online services as auctions, file swapping and instant messaging. Now Microsoft is working on mother of all directories: its Passport online authentication utility and Hailstorm services. These could become master list of identities of most net users, as well as repository of all kinds of personal information. Privacy advocates complain that Microsoft is trying to put itself in middle of all transactions on Internet. “Drugs Ex Machina”Pharmaceuticals: Thanks to automation, miniaturisation and information technology, drugs companies are at last preparing to reap rewards of genomics, result of sequencing human genome(i.e. to work out protein blueprint for building human being). Unfortunately, deluge of data has yet to spur any dramatic increase in number of new drugs discovered. Chemists still need detailed information on how protein in question interacts with compound under study. Gathering this information is goal that large pharmaceutical laboratories around world have now set themselves. To reap rewards of genomics, pharmaceutical firms are having to computerise and automate process of drug discovery. LAST WORD:“An Incurable Itch”: Carver Mead led to invention of new electronic devices, novel approaches to circuit design/systems in mimic of variety of biological functions. Pushed electronics industry towards miniaturisation. Some call him one of founding fathers of information technology.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 08 DEC 01:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: “The Loss of Diversity”: The broad diversity of technological design appears to be narrowing. Is innovation running out of big ideas to exploit? Discuss. MONITOR: "No Laughing Matter" Are the new crop of game consoles more - or, indeed, a good deal less - than they are made out to be? “Unzipping the Server”: A new standard called Infifiband promises to clear the communication bottleneck among servers. Will it catch on fast enough to save computer makers that are slugging it out at the lower end of the market? “Quiet Revolution on the Track”: Designing F1 racing cars has little to offer makers of family saloons. But it is helping to create a whole new approach to solving problems in engineering design. “Machines That Answer Back”: Software for analysing e-mail inquiries from customers and replying automatically is doing a surprisingly good job. “Sound Waves Beat the Knife”: Internal bleeding is dangerous and difficult to treat. A new ultrasound technique promises not only to solve such problems, but also to reduce the need for invasive surgery when treating tumours. “Turn the Handle and Talk”: Wind-up chargers are not only for sub-Saharan villages.Mobile-phone users in California could find them useful too.DIALOGUE:“The Same - Only More So?”: In the last issue, we asked readers what technologies they thought would propel the next big surge in economic activity. The most popular view was that they will still be IT-based. REPORTS: “Just Talk to Me”Speech Recognition: At long last, speech is becoming an important interface between man and machine. In the process, it is helping to slash costs in business, create new services on the Internet, and make cars a lot safer and easier to drive. "Without speech recognition, people are going to have a hard time coping with the demands that the information society is placing on them'. 'Over the next few years, it is in the motor car, not on the telephone, that speech recognition may make its biggest impact'.“Learning the Meaning”: Ability to generate realistic speech from text stored in a computer will be crucial.“Into Deeper Water”Oil Exploitation: The world's apparently unquenchable thirst for oil is fuelling a boom in exotic kinds of exploration technology for use in much deeper waters. 'On one recent day, the crew drilled an elaborate multi-directional well that twisted and turned its way to a giant pocket of oil 28,000 feet away'. 'Thanks largely to technological advances, the average "finding and development" cost of oil has fallen to a third of the $20 a barrel it was'. CASE HISTORY:“The Art of the Quantum Leap”Magnetic Storage: The innovation of the 'giant magneto-resistive' head - the breakthrough that boosted the capacity of hard-drives from a few gigabytes to 100 gigabytes and more - came from chance observation, basic research and a vast, painstaking search for the right materials. This case history points to the need for companies to build close ties between their research laboratories and product development divisions. 'The GMR head required an innovative application of innovative science to make a device that overcame the limits of an existing technology'. REPORTS:“The Heart of the Matter”In Silico Biology: Better tools, and more data, mean that creating virtual organs by computer is no longer a pipe-dream. How will this help the drug industry? 'Computer modelling may be standard practice in designing an aircraft or studying planetary motion, but it is only now taking off in physiology'. 'Though a mammoth task, many of the mathematical tools, modelling tricks and instruments used for the virtual heart can be used on other organs'. “Mightier Than the Pen?”Data Input: With 5,000 years of continuous development and billions of satisfied customers to its credit, the pen may not seem like a product in need of radical improvement. Yet plans are afoot to overhaul the humble writing instrument completely. 'Many believe the pen is a reactionary holdout and needs to be networked if it is to serve any useful purpose in today's interconnected world'. “Designer Plastics” Catalysts: After years of development, a new breed of catalysts called metallocenes is shaking up the plastics business, rapidly penetrating commodity markets and promising a new age of cheap designed plastics. Are they the revolution proponents claim? 'Plastics companies have begun licensing the technology en masse, with plans to begin producing metallocene-based plastics on a larger scale'. 'Metallocene-based packaging can be tailored to breathe at a rate to match the respiration of the food it is storing, with increased strength to boot'. LAST WORD:“Grassroots Innovator”: Richard Jefferson wants to change the face of agriculture, by putting innovation back into the hands of farmers. 'Apomixis technology could save cassava and potato growers as much as $3.2 billion a year'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 16 MAR 02:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION:“A Lemon Law for Software”: If Microsoft made cars instead of computer programs, product-liability suits might by now have driven it out of business. Should software makers be made more accountable for damage caused by faulty programs? MONITOR:“Sun Stroke”: Sun Microsystems - the largest maker of servers for computer networks - is about to turn its mantra, 'The Network is the Computer', inside out. Will the new vision relegate centralised servers to the scrap heap? "Power Play Over Fuel Cells": Government and industry have joined forces in California to thrust stationary fuel cells into the public eye and onto the grid. “Plug and Play at Home”: Having learned from their previous mistakes, firms making computer networks that piggy-back on a building's electrical wiring are due to re-enter the home networking business with a vengeance. “Soft as Silk, Strong as Steel”: Spider silk is a far better engineering material than conventional silk, but harvesting it commercially has been a problem until now.“Chips that See in Colour”: A new kind of optical chip that detects colours directly is set to transform the digital camera business. “Flap Over Hot Chips”: Piezoelectric fans could play an important role in cooling future generations of laptops, mobile phones and other gizmos. DIALOGUE:“Cassandras Not Needed”: In the previous issue, readers were asked whether technology was losing its flair for diversity of design. The majority expressed no such qualms. REPORTS: "Heavenly Music" Digital Radio: A handful of satellite start-ups are hoping to deliver global digital audio to the last analogue holdout: radio. Meanwhile, conventional AM and FM broadcasters are responding with their own digital scheme. 'Two companies with a little imagination and a lot of cash snapped up chunks of the spectrum in the newly available S-band'. 'Operators of traditional radio stations in US claim not to be worried about the satellite invasion, saying there is plenty of advertising to go round'. 'To station owners, the advantage of IBOC is that it does not require new transmitters or additional licences. Stations can switch in three days". "AI By Another Name" Computing: After years in the wilderness, the term 'artificial intelligence' seems poised to make a comeback. 'HAL encapsulated the optimism of the 1960s that intelligent computers would be widespread by 2001'. CASE HISTORY: "Accuracy is Addictive" Global Positioning: The invention of GPS married ideas from quantum mechanics and relativity with the need to track Russian satellites. Most remarkable of all, the concept - now the basis of a $12 billion industry - was put yogether over a single weekend. 'Remarkably, GPS calls into play Einstein's theories of special and general relativity - among the most esoteric theories of physics'. REPORTS: "Tongues of the WEB" Machine Translation: With its proliferating number of tongues, the Internet is giving MT - the use of computers to translate languages - a much needed shot in the arm. 'The Internet changes the game for machine translation: users want speed, rather than quality, and are more likely to accept poor results'. 'Rather than seeing MT as a product they can simply buy off the shelf, large firms are now realising that MT systems must be customised'. "The Engines of Lilliput" Micromachines: Miniature engines and electricity generators are being carved out of silicon with the help of chip-making tools. Far from being toys, these micromachines have real work to do in industry and defence. 'There is no escaping the fact that, ultimately, micromachines will have to have microengines to drive them'. LAST WORD: "Mach 1 at Microsoft": Times are not good for industrial research centres, especially in computing and telecoms. Rick Rashid runs one of the few corporate laboratories that is still expanding. But despite its money, talent and experience, can Microsoft Research live up to expectations? 'In the early days, luring talented researchers to Microsoft was unquestionably a challenge'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 22 JUN 02:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Picking Winners": Your suggestions, please, for recent innovations that are changing the world. On 18 Sep 02, The Economist will launch its own Innovation Awards scheme with a ceremony... to announce the winners in each of five categories: bioscience, communications, computing, energy and environment, and nanotechnology. MONITOR: "Instant Messaging Joins the Firm": With the immediacy of the telephone and the written record of e-mail, instant messaging is no longer just a handy way of chatting online. It is fast becoming a secure and flexible tool for business. "Solar Cells Go Organic": Although they are not particularly efficient, plastic cells that are flexible enough to be sprayed on roofs or printed on clothes look like being remarkably cheap. "Nature's Way of Plating": Some obscure thin-film chemistry from the 1960s is making a comeback as a way of putting pure coats of practically anything on to anything. "Making the Connection": As the voltage used in modern chips falls and the power they consume soars, getting large currents on and off devices is becoming a headache. "Quantum Leap for Medicine": Quantum effects used in devices called SQUIDS are providing a powerful new tool for diagnosing ailments from the faint magnetic signatures they create. "More Power to the Thumb": There has to be a better way of typing text mesages on cell phones. There is, but mobile operators are reluctant to introduce it. "ARMs Around the World": One of the most ubiquitous microprocessor designs is also one of the least well-known - but not for much longer. DIALOGUE: "Buggy Whipped": In previous issue, readers were asked whether a 'lemon law' was needed for software. Most agreed that commercial software was far too buggy, but that product-liability laws were not the answer. REPORTS: "Watch This Airspace" Wireless Telecoms: Four disruptive technologies are emerging that promise to render not only the next wave of so-called 3G wireless networks irrelevant, but possibly even their 4G successors. 'Compared with 3G, Mark Goldburg of ArrayComm, a smart-antenna maker in San Diego, California, reckons its i-Burst is about 40 times more efficient'. 'SkyPilot's rooftop units use smart antennas to beam data back and forth, enabling frequencies to be reused more efficiently and increasing capacity'. 'Network operators will still be needed to carry long-haul traffic, but their role could become less (rather than more) important in the future'. "A Match For Flash?" Memory Chips: Four new storage technologies promise cheaper and better alternatives to the pricey memory chips used in most gizmos today. But old memories, especially embedded ones, tend to linger on. 'Where most forms of flash memory can be read from or written to only 1m or so times, ovonics memory can be addressed up to 10 trillion times'. CASE HISTORY: "Hooked On Lithium": Without the lithium-ion battery, introduced a decade ago, portable gadgets - from mobile phones and video cameras to laptops and palmtops - would have remained brick-like objects best left on the desk or at home. But the innovation would have floundered had electro-chemists in US not teamed up with a Japanese firm. REPORTS: "Relishing the Flavour" Food Technology: Researchers are finally solving the mystery of how the brain perceives flavour. The insights are helping food companies predict - and design - new products that people will find hard to resist. 'The liking for sweet and salty substances reflects the wise choises that humanity's ancestors made in a hostile environment'. "Inoculating the Network" Network Security: Keeping networks secure from intruders is becoming one of the hottest bits of the computer business. As companies begin to realise how vulnerable they are, intrusion-detection firms are honing a new set of security tools that mimic the body's immune system. 'Far from being fortresses, most companies today are more like airports, allowing a steady flow of information into and out of the network'. LAST WORD: "Tinkerers' Champion": It is not just libertarians who are concerned about the restrictions caused by US's latest copyright law. Edward Felten, a professor at Princeton University, argues that the 'freedom to ttinker' - the right to understand, repair and modify one's own equipment - is crucial to innovation, and as valuable to society as the freedom of speech. 'We construct the world by interacting with it, not by letting things control us'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 21 SEP 02:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Comeback Kid?": As the locus of innovation moves on to other fields, can information technology ever regain its pre-eminence? MONITOR: "Clean Coal's Uphill Haul": A flurry of activity is reviving clean coal technology. After two decades of unfulfilled promises, will coal come clean this time? "Cutting the Ties That Bind": Better than Bluetooth or WiFi, a robust new wireless scheme promises to deliver multimedia around the office and home without cables or fuss. "Microchips in the Blood": Many of the promised genomic drugs will be impossible to swallow as pills. Instead, they will have to be injected in minute quantities at precise intervals for months at a time. Just syringe-on-a-chip. "Hanging Bytes, Pregnant Bits": Electronic voting has been getting a lot of attention since the Florida recount debacle. But doing away with a paper-based record may not be such a good idea. "Telling Right From Left": Many man-made drugs, unlike natural ones, come in right-handed and left-handed versions. Separating them has been a huge problem - but not for much longer. "Web of Trust": If you like surfing the web, it is probably because you believe people are basically good. "Music to Their Ears": With compact-disc sales plummeting, record companies are rethinking how to distribute copyright music online. This time, the technology for managing digital rights could actually be smart enough to do the job. DIALOGUE: "Thanksgiving For Innovation": Governments worship at the altar of innovation for good reason: it now accounts for more than half of economic growth. In recognition, The Economist has inaugurated a series of Innovation Awards. Winners identified/described in: Bioscience; Computing; Energy and Environment; Nanotechnology; Telecons; and Blue Lasers. REPORTS: "Goodbye to the Video Store": Streaming Video: For too long, 'video-on-demand' has promised more than it could deliver. But new ways are emerging for shrink-wrapping massive video files for delivery over the Internet. 'The consumer-electronics makers cannot afford to lose the battle for the set-top box'. 'Others are counting on MPEG LA's licensing rules to steer content creators towards other codecs'. 'When Napster went down, Morpheus, LimeWire and Audiogalaxy quickly filled its shoes'. CASE HISTORY: "Spitting Image": Engineering insight, dogged determination and a dash of serendipity have made the lowly inkjet imaging device the king of computer printers. 'The race to develop the inkjet printer had a profound cultural impact on both companies'. REPORTS: "Desperately Seeking Lightness" Composites: As they struggle for market leadership, Boeing and Airbus are having to rethink how they make aircraft, and what materials they use. Airbus is taking the bigger gamble, with its new super-jumbo, the 550-seat A380. 'The real pay-off is when the design is rethought to take full advantage of the composite's properties - not just its strength-to-weight superiority'. 'The question now is whether Airbus's technological assertiveness will win it the lion's share of that $1.2 trillion feast'. "Computers That Run Themselves" Computing: For decades, scientists have concentrated on making computers more powerful. Now they want to build systems that are smart enough to look after themselves. 'The complexity of today's computing will, in the not too distant future, outgrow the human ability to manage it'. LAST WORD: "The Other Bill": For a quarter of a century, Bill Joy - 'Edison of the Internet' - has envisaged a world in which countless devices are wired together. Now he is trying to turn that vision into a reality, but not without warning of the risks to society. 'As technology becomes ever more accessible to ever more people, they become ever more reliant upon it'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 14 DEC 02:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Innovations's Golden Goose": The reforms that unleashed US innovation in the 1980s, and were emulated widely around the world, are under attack at home.[Relevant legislation unlocked all the inventions and discoveries that had been made in US laboratories with the help of taxpayers' money.] MONITOR: "Brave New World of Farmaceuticals": A flood of new medicines will hit the market if producing biopharmaceuticals in animals rather than reaction vessels can be made to work better. "Through a Glass Deeply": Cheap 3D displays will be coming to a computer near you next year. Unfortunately, little software will be available to take full advantage of their stunning depth of field. "Symphony For Local Radio": Listeners could be receiving AM and FM radio with CD-quality sound sooner than even most broadcasters had expected. "Uncommon Protection": How to license Internet copying. "Images From a Blurred World": Wavefront coding produces pin-sharp images of microscopic objects, where slightest variation in focus creates only a blur. "Unretouched By Human Hand": The need to protect photographic images from being tampered with is finally being acknowledged. "Battle of the Blues": As if there were not enough recordable DVD standards, two new ones, based on the blue laser, offer as big an increase in storage as the DVD did over the CD. "A Quart into a Pint Pot": With its tiny screen, surfing the web with a mobile phone has been maddening. A clever new web browser could change all that."Shaken Not Stirred": The merits of passive exercise[-lying on a special motion platform.] "Dotty Idea For Telecoms?": Quantum-dot lasers could have a bright future in optical networks - once the global glut of unused fibre is finally illuminated. DIALOGUE: "Gridlock On the Superhighway": By choosing the wrong technology, the new local carriers that piled into the telecoms business after deregulation skewered themselves, and set universal broadband access to the Internet back by years. REPORTS: "The Race to Computerise Biology" Bioinformatics: In life-sciences establishments around the world, the laboratory rat is giving way to the computer mouse - as computing joins forces with biology to create a bioinformatics market that is expected to be worth nearly $40 billion within three years. 'In just a few years, gene chips have gone from experimental novelties to tools of the trade'. 'A big risk of computer modelling and other tools is to rely too much on them'. "Move Over, Silicon" Semiconductors: Chip makers are looking for ways to make electronic devices out of cheap plastic instead of pricey silicon. Success could lead to a new market for flexible displays and memories that can be printed on anything - ushering in an age of disposable computing. 'If scaled up, a square centimetre of such material could store a staggering 6.4 gigabits'. CASE HISTORY: "Trapeze Artists": Intelligent design and clever marketing have made Adobe the king of online documents. But mistakes made along the way were just as important. 'The key was to separate Acrobat Reader from the full version of Acrobat - and to give it away'. REPORTS: "The Power of Voice" Telecoms: Despite telecoms' current woes, innovation has not stopped. Ironically, it could be developments in telephone services - dismissed by broadband newcomers as a loss-leader - that revitalises the struggling industry. 'This time, the voice applications are radically different from those dismissed a few years ago'. "Bespoke Chips for the Common Man" Semiconductors: Using custom chips that do one or two things spectacularly, rather than lots of things averagely, has been a luxury for those needing performance at any price. Now chips that can be rewired in an instant promise to bring the benefits of customisation to the mass market. 'Making a mistake in a custom chip's design may mean missing a market opportunity'. LAST WORD: "A Drug of One's Own": For three decades, Ronald Levy has been seeking ways to use the body's immune system to fight cancer - much as it does the common cold. His goal has been to create 'personalised drugs', first in the form of antibodies and now as vaccines, capable of destroying a patient's actual malignancy. 'Dr Lavy proved that his antibodies worked, but the cost of making them was prohibitive'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 15 MAR 03:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Launching Telecoms II": New wireless technologies that render bandwidth irrelevant could kick-start a revolution in communications bigger than the internet. MONITOR: "Unfixing Fixed Wireless": New wireless technologies for delivering broadband to homes are about to challenge DSL and cable. "Turnaround for Wind Power": For wind power to become a significant source of energy, it must be able to generate electricity at a cost that is competitive. One way to do this is to make cheaper windmills with the fan placed downwind from the support pole. "Flu Shots for Computers": How to make computers fight worms and viruses as humans do - by relying on their immune systems. "Will Parallel Chips Pay Off?": With more transistors on a chip than they know what to do with, some semiconductor firms are adopting the parallel-processing approach of supercomputers. "A Bug's Life for Robots": Creepie-crawlie robots are learning to venture where wheeled machines stumble and humans fear to tread. "Waste Not, Want Not": It is economics, not technology, that is holding back the recycling of electronic waste. The European Union has a plan to change that. REPORTS: "The Quest for the Protein Chip" Biotechnology: Despite their complexity, can protein biochips do for proteomics what DNA microarrays did for genetics? "Array designers are now turning out chips that are capable of profiling thousands of proteins at a time'. 'The pay-off will be huge. Protein microarrays should be 10 to 100 times more useful than gene chips'. "The Revenge of Geography" The Internet: It was naive to imagine that the global reach of the internet would make geography irrelevant. Wireline and wireless technologies have bound the virtual and physical worlds closer than ever. 'While the notion of war-chalking has gained much attention, hardly anybody actually does it'. 'A mobile device linking the real and virtual worlds could change your perception of your surroundings'. CASE HISTORY: "Beyond the Nanohype": Nanotechnology is still buoyed more by hype than actual pay-off. Two big issues need to be addressed before nanotech - like biotech a couple of decades before - can really begin to earn its keep. REPORTS: "Bugs as Catalysts" Chemical Engineering: Industry is having a hard time finding new catalysts to supercharge many of today's complex reactions. So researchers are scouring the world for bacteria and fungi that can do the job biologically. 'Although several thousand enzymes are known, the number industry has to work with is not that large'. "Feeling the Heat" Semiconductors: Thermal problems caused by the latest chipmaking processes could seriously limit the pace of development of the semiconductor industry itself. 'The semiconductor industry is too big - and too smart - to let such problems get in its way'. "Little Squirt": To stop chips from frying themselves, inkjet heads - borrowed from printers and plotters - squirt cooling fluid directly on to the chip's surface. LAST WORD: "The Wizard of Small Things": Richard Smalley is on a (some say hopeless) mission to harness nanotechnology to solve the world's energy problem.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 21 JUN 03:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Innovation By Numbers": Suggestions requested for innovations that have propelled enterprises to the forefront of their fields over the past decade (four categories: biotech, computing, energy/environment, and telecoms). MONITOR: "Coming Soon to a Laptop Near You": After years of patient development, light-emitting diodes made from plastics rather than semiconductors are poised to take on the venerable liquid-crystal display. "Feeling the Danger": Coatings made from a new class of nanomaterials can detect when their underlying structures are about to fail and cause an accident. "Storing e-Text for Centuries": Digital preservation means a whole lot more than merely making lots of back-up copies. "Bite Out of Breast Cancer": A probe based on technology developed for the Mars mission promises to be the biggest boon yet in checking for breast cancer. "The Smoother, the Faster": By tweaking the internet's software foundations, data-transmission speeds for demanding users have been boosted threefold."Bulk Chemicals by the Drop": Bigger does not always mean better in chemical plant. Doing chemistry on a microscale can be quicker, cheaper and safer. "Speed Reading the Book of Life": An electronic prism for sorting segments of DNA does in seconds what used to take days. "Getting Cars to Talk Back": Remote diagnostics allow service centre to phone or e-mail to tell owner whether problem(s) serious enough to need immediate attention. "More Hit, Less Miss for Biotech": Can biotech be made as predictable as physics? A unique modelling tool is bringing some sorely needed discipline to the business. "Defining Nanotubes": Searching for a standard way to characterise the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes - microscopic, superstrong cylinders of carbon atoms which might one day replace the silicon in semiconductors. REPORTS: "Building a Better Bug-Trap" Software: People who write it are human first and programmers only second - in short, they make mistakes, lots of them. Can software help them write better software? 'It takes a whole page of algebra to prove that a three-line program works properly'. 'Expecting programmers to change their behaviour overnight is unrealistic'. "Spare Parts for the Brain" Bioengineering: Plugging microchips directly into the brain is no longer science fiction. The technology promises treatments for numerous brain disorders, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases as well as epilepsy. 'In the future, robots with simulated brain circuits might help us to identify and simulate new forms of treatment for damaged brains'. CASE HISTORY: "Spread Betting": How code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology emerged as the world standard for mobile phones. 'What seems impossibly complex today may well seem simple tomorrow - thanks to the relentless advance of Moore's law'. "Player-Piano Pioneer": Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood actress, also played an unlikely off-screen role as a technological pioneer, co-inventing in the 1940s an early incarnation of spread-spectrum wireless technology. REPORTS: "Grokking the Infoviz" Software: Information visualisation is about to go mainstream. While it may not be the killer application some expect 'infoviz' is going to help users to manipulate data in wholly new ways. 'Users often react enthusiastically when they first see new visualisation tools, but then turn wary'. "The Sentient Office Is Coming" Computing: Though still in their infancy, sentient computing systems are likely to be everywhere within five years - listening and watching, and ready to anticipate their users' every need. 'Like it or not, the future is Big Brother - so let's talk about it'. LAST WORD: "Alchemist at Large": People poke fun at alchemists. 'They're underrated', says Marvin Cohen. Easy for him to say so - he just might be the real McCoy. 'Because the idea sounded so outrageous, no-one was interested in testing it'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 06 SEP 03:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. OPINION: "Expect the Unexpected": Innovators who keep their eyes open for unexpected results - and quickly take advantage of them - reap the biggest awards. MONITOR: "Supercharging the Grid": One of the bright spots on US's creaky old power grid is an experimental section in upstate New York, where some superconducting cables are about to be tested commercially. "Voltage Ahoy": Superconducting power systems are still about five times too weak to generate the 25,000-50,000hp required to run a ship. An all-electric ship would be built around the concept of 'power electronic building blocks' - effectively, a semi-conductor-based power controller that is programable. "Falling, Flailing, Virtual Doll": Unlike the rag dolls thrown lifelessly from windows on film sets, virtual stuntmen flail and stagger just like real people. "Solar Cells Come Down To Earth": Solar cells are still ten times too expensive for use in housing. Recently developed nanorod composites could change that. "Ups and Downs of Chip Design": Wiring chips on the diagonal would remove many of the up and down detours that connections have to make today. "Nanomaterials Move Up a Notch": Novel materials, made by coaxing nanoparticles to assemble themselves into three-dimensional patterns, offer intruguing magnetic and optical properties. "Soul of a Newer Machine": The first of IBM's 'Blue Gene' supercomputers is finally taking shape. "A Web Address for Every Car?": Will the car - that mainstay of the industrial age - become a vehicle for the information age as well? "Fountain of Truth?": An ambitious new text-analysis system mines the web for hidden trends. "Who Watches the Watchers?": With more and more video cameras remotely watching public and private spaces, clever automation is needed to keep an eye on things. "Uncrackable Beams of Light": Quantum cryptography - hailed by theoreticians as the ultimate of uncrackable codes - is finally going commercial. "More Light Than Heat": Need glass that lets in light but keeps out heat. Developed is a sheet of plastic sandwiched between plates of glass and doped with nanoparticles of lanthanum hexaboride. REPORTS: "Banking On the Technology Cycle" Information Technology: Once the most aggressive users of IT, financial institutions have learned to make do with less. But few can go on cost-cutting indefinitely. Computer- and telecoms-makers could soon be feasting again. 'US financial services firms are no longer the innovators they once were'. 'Few things in technology have promised so much and delivered so little as CRM software'. "Battle for the Big Screen" Flat Panel Displays: Innovations in design and manufacture of liquid-crystal displays have increased screen sizes and reduced costs dramatically. Now the LCD is poised to challenge the king of the big screens, the plasma display. 'Since 1994, engineers have pushed the limit of LCD substrates to more than six feet'. CASE HISTORY: "Out of the Ether": An unfinished doctoral thesis and a chance encounter with an engineering intern gave Ethernet's inventor the inspiration for the popular computer network. But a lot of lobbying, brainstorming and clever marketing were needed to turn it into a global standard. 'The PC's explosive growth during the 1980s dragged Ethernet along with it'. REPORTS: "We Are What We Eat" Nutrition: Studies linking how genes and diet interact are helping food companies design products capable of protecting people prone to certain diseases. 'Some healthy people may increase their risk of heart disease with an extremely low fat/high carbohydrate diet'. "Reinventing Europe" Innovation: With so much of its industrial base ageing and resistant to change, how can Europe close the research and development gap with US? 'Companies need to separate their perception of the value of an idea from the way it is presented'. 'Some universities are more interested in making it easy to get their own IP into the marketplace'. LAST WORD: "Embryonic Man": Irving Weissman believes embryonic stem cells will usher in a second biotech revolution, offering a whole new armoury of medicines - just as equally controversial recombinant DNA did when it sparked the first biotech revolution a couple of decades ago. 'Who do we care about more - a speck of cells or a grown human being suffering from a life-threatening or debilitating illness?'

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 06 DEC 03:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR: "Open Source's Local Heroes" Software: If the commercial sort does not speak your language, open-source software may well do so instead. "A Squirt in the Eye" Retinal Implants: Technology borrowed from inkjet printing could help people blinded by retina-wasting diseases. "Computers that Read Your Mind" Computing: Researchers have developed a promising new way to control computers by thought alone. "The Internet, On Wheels" Networking: New initiatives are extending the range of the internet in an unusual way - by road. "Thigh, Robot" Medical Devices: Today's mobility aid could soon be replaced by smarter, more active ones. "How To Bake the Perfect Chip" Semiconductors: A new rack for baking silicon chips keeps them clean and improves productivity. "Measuring the Data Mountain": Almost all new information (92%) is stored on magnetic media, primarily hard disks. Overall, the amount of information being produced is growing by 30% a year. "Not To Be Sniffed At" Chemical Sensors: When it comes to detecting chemical weapons, chopping molecules up with a laser may make them easier to find. "Windows With a Grand Vision" Telecommunications: An Austrian firm has a wacky plan to install pan-European virtual reality. "A Kinder, Gentler Frankenfood" Genetic Modification: Might a clever technological twist help to make GM foods more widely acceptable? "Out of Sight" Materials: A transparent magnet could be used to make new kinds of computer memories and displays. "And the Winners Were..." Innovation Awards: Annual Economist prizes recognise innovators in technology categories. Year's winners: Bioscience: Raymond Damadian - nuclear magnetic resonance. Computing: Tim Berners-Lee - world wide web. Telecoms: Paul Baran - packet switching. Energy: Geoffrey Ballard - fuel cells. No Boundaries: Ronald Coase - private property rights over spectrum. RATIONAL CONSUMER: "Changing the Game" Consumer Electronics: Economist's new column on the business and technology of consumer devices looks at the changing dynamics of the video-gaming industry. REPORTS: "Prepare to be Scanned" Biometrics: High-tech security systems that rely on detailed measurements of the human body, known as biometrics, are taking off. But should they be? 'Biometrics still do not work well enough for many applications in which they are being deployed'. "Predicting the Micro-Weather" Weather Forecasting: High-resolution weather forecasting is becoming increasingly sophisticated. 'Unlike the government weather services, private firms can concentrate on particular areas - such as cities, ski resorts or oil fields - in finer detail'. CASE HISTORY: "MRI's Inside Story" Medical Imaging: Magnetic-resonance imaging, which provides detailed pictures of people's insides, has proved to be an invaluable medical tool. But exactly who should take credit for its invention is deeply controversial. This case history explains how scientific rivalry and engineering cunning drove the development of a life-saving technology that is now used to perform over 1m scans a week. 'Since the Nobel committee rewards scientific achievement, not good manners, it would have been fairer to include Dr Damadian in the prize'. REPORTS: "How the Radio Changed Its Spots" Smart Radios: Radios capable of switching from one wireless standard to another, with nothing more than a dose of new software, are at last emerging from the laboratory. 'Smart radios could promote innovation by allowing new wireless standards to flourish, while concealing the underlying complexity from users'. "Hard Disks Go Home" Consumer Electronics: Hard disks are starting to appear in household devices, from televisions to stereos, adding novel features and making possible new products. 'Unlike the tapes used in video-recorders, hard disks are "random-access" devices which allow instant jumps from one place to another'. LAST WORD: "The Father of Fractals": Benoit Mandelbrot's unusual multidisciplinary approach led him to an extraordinary discovery. He worries that modern science is now becoming too specialised. 'Science is like a professional sport - an athlete is assessed solely within a narrowly defined event'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 13 MAR 04:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR: "Robots, Start Your Engines" Innovation: Could a robot race funded by a military-research organisation help to advance the development of autonomous fighting vehicles? "Drivers Wanted" Motoring: It is already possible to build driverless cars, trucks and buses. But practical problems and safety concerns mean they may never be allowed on the roads. "Off With the Pith Helmets" Management: The use of anthropologists in technology firms, once a novelty, has now become commonplace. What changed? "Beyond the Digital Divide" Development: Amid much worthy talk of 'bridging the digital divide', technology firms have realised that fostering the adoption of information technology in the developing world would not just benefit locals, but is in vendors' best interests as well. "Cows Go Wireless" Wireless Technology: The use of electronic tags to track cattle and monitor their health is likely to accelerate following US's first case of mad-cow disease. "Return of the Homebrew Coder" Software: Most modern software is written by huge teams of programers. But there is still room for homebrew coders, at least in some unusual niches. "The Car That Screens Your Calls" Motoring: In-car systems that monitor driver activity, and then screen out unwelcome technological distractions such as phone calls, could improve road safety. "Pressing Pause, Nature's Way" Biotechnology: A trick borrowed from an obscure bacterium could provide a new way to preserve human tissue without refrigeration. "Heart of Glass" Avionics: Computerised instrument panels, already widely used in military aircraft and large passenger jets, are coming to small planes too. "Blogging Goes To Work" Software: Blogging brings to mind self-absorbed teenagers posting their daily musings online. Might the technology be useful in business? RATIONAL CONSUMER: "Digital Cameras Zoom In" Consumer Electronics: Freed by digital technology from te constraints of film, the camera business is being transformed. REPORTS: "Building the Energy Internet" Energy: More and bigger blackouts lie ahead, unless today's dumb electricity grid can be transformed into a smart, responsive and self-healing digital network - in short, an 'energy internet'. 'The technology exists to enable a radical overhaul of the energy industry. Its effects could mirror the internet's impact on communications'. "The Gentle Rise of the Machines" Robotics: The science-fiction dream that robots would one day become a part of everyday life was absurd. Or was it? 'We may be surrounded by more robots than we realise - just not of the type that Hollywood, or robot researchers, led us to expect'. CASE HISTORY: "DNA's Detective Story": The analysis of genetic material, to create DNA fingerprints and profiles, has revolutionised forensic science. But, as this case history explains, having overcome initial doubts over its accuracy, the proponents of DNA analysis now face new and more challenging ethical questions. 'It is more difficult to criticise innovations that have legitimate uses in fighting crime. But such technologies deserve special public scrutiny'. 'While critics succeeded in making it clear that DNA testing was not foolproof, such scrutiny improved it by helping to define much-needed standards'. REPORTS: "Fixing the Drugs Pipeline" Drug Design: The more pharmaceutical companies spend on research and development, the less they have to show for it. What has gone wrong - and how can it be fixed? 'Rather than abandoning established practices for new-fangled techniques, these novel approaches to drug discovery combine the best of both'. "Why Speed Isn't Everything" Semiconductors: When it comes to designing chips, making them go faster is no longer the most significant challenge. Is Moore's Law dead? LAST WORD: "Nanotechnology's Unhappy Father": Eric Drexler invented nanotechnology. But what he thought he had invented is not what has come to pass. 'Nanotechnology now refers to something much closer to traditional chemistry than to the Drexleresque world of molecular manufacturing'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 12 JUN 04:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Shape of Phones To Come”Innovation: What is best shape for mobile handset - and what will devices of future look like? “The End of Your Tether?”Wireless Recharging: Even whizziest mobile phone or laptop needs one last, solitary wire - to recharge its batteries. Or does it? “Background Illumination” Consumer Electronics: Could everyday household furnishings be unobtrusive information-display devices of the future?“Once Again, With Feeling”Sensory Feedback: Adding sense of touch to artificial limbs could improve dexterity and make them feel more like part of the user’s body. “Press ‘Print’ For Body Parts”Rapid Prototyping: Advances in three-dimensional printing are opening up number of new medical applications for technology.“In Dust We Trust”Sensor Networks: They have generated a lot of hype. But might sensor networks, also known as ‘smart dust’, actually be useful?“Inside the Mind of the Consumer”Neuro-Marketing: Could brain-scanning technology provide accurate way to assess appeal of new products and effectiveness of advertising?“A Long Road Ahead of It”Transport It was supposed to revolutionise transport and change world. How is Segway doing?“A Sandwich That Packs a Punch”Materials: Novel manufacturing technique has produced metal with flexibility of rubber, which could have wide range of uses.“From Genetic Code To Security Code”Security Technology: Tiny DNA fragments can function as invisible embedded security tags. RATIONAL CONSUMER:“The Meaning of iPod”Consumer Electronics: How Apple’s iPod music-player and its imitators are changing way music is consumed. REPORTS:“An Open-Source Shot in the Arm”Medicine: The open-source model is good way to produce software, as example of Linux shows. Could same collaborative approach now revitalise medical research too? “We are so used to patents that we forgot ways to discover drugs in public domain, and we need to rediscover them”. What does it mean to apply term ‘open source’ in fields outside software development, which do not use ‘source code’ as term of art?“A Golden Vein”Computing: Analysis of customer information, better known as ‘data mining’, is finally delivering on its promises - and expanding into some promising new areas. As cost of storage plummets and power of analytic tools improves, there is little likelihood that enthusiasm for data mining will diminish. CASE HISTORY:“A Brief History of Wi-Fi”Wireless Networking: Few people have kind word to say about telecoms regulators. But success of Wi-Fi shows what can be achieved when regulators and technologists work together. Wi-Fi’s ultimate significance may be that it provides glimpse of what will be possible with future wireless technologies. REPORTS:“The Road Tolls For Thee”Transport: As road tolls become ever more widespread, technology used to collect them is becoming increasingly complex - and could ultimately shape future of motoring. Tolls force today’s users, not future generations, to pay for infrastructure, and could be more equitable and efficient way to manage traffic. Electronic toll-collection schemes and their underlying technologies will probably become platform for all kinds of attractive new services.“Going With the Flow”Materials: Smart-fluid technology is moving from laboratory curiosity to commercial possibility, and is being put to use in cars, bridges and even digital cameras. Using small fluid in place of mechanical parts enhanses control and increases robustness by reducing number of bits that can break. BRAIN SCAN:“Unix’s Founding Fathers”Dennis Ritchie invented C and was one of key members of team behind Unix - two developments that underpin much modern software. It is that interplay between technical and social that gives both C and Unix legendary status.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 18 SEP 04:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Deus ex Machinima?”Computer Graphics: Hollywood movies increasingly resemble computer games. Now a growing band of enthusiasts is using games to make films.“Science Fiction? Not Any More”Communications: Taking its cue from “Star Trek”,an American company has devised a clever new form of voice-driven wireless communicator.“Home Is Where the Future Is”Consumer Electronics: What ever happened to the dream of the smart home - and might it finally have taken a step closer to reality?“Pictures As Passwords”Computer Security: Passwords are a cheap, cheerful and ancient security measure. But might it make more sense to use pictures instead?“Gadgets With a Sporting Chance”Consumer Electronics: New sports equipment, from tennis rackets to running shoes, uses processing power to enhance performance. Is that fair?“Data You Can Virtually Touch”Computer Interfaces: Is haptic technology, which allows users to”feel”virtual objects, finally ready to come out of the laboratory?“Last Gasp of the Fax Machine”Office Technology: That most exasperating piece of equipment, the fax machine, is on its way out. But it will take a very long time to die. “And the Winners Are...”Innovation Awards: Our annual prizes recognize innovators in six technology categories. Here are this year’s winners. The six fields(and the winning activities): bioscience(gene cloning); communications(Wi-Fi); computing(Linux); energy(Prius hybrid car); social and economic innovation(Grameen micro-credit); and special“no boundaries”category(scanning-tunnelling microscope). RATIONAL CONSUMER:“Televisions Go Flat”Consumer Electronics: TVs based on bulky cathode-ray tubes are giving way to flat-panel models. How will the Market evolve? REPORTS:“You’re Hired”Computing: By unloading work on to their customers, firms can grant them more control - and save money in the process.“Supercharging the Brain”Biotechnology: New drugs promise to improve memory and sharpen mental response. Who should be allowed to take them? CASE HISTORY:“How Google Works” Internet Searching: With all the fuss over Google’s IPO, it is easy to overlook its broader social significance. For many people, Google made the internet truly useful. How did it do it? REPORTS:“Down On the Pharm” Biotechnology: Will genetically engineered goats, rabbits and flies be the low-cost drug factories of the future?“Untangling Ultrawideband” Consumer Electronics: Which technology will prevail in the battle to banish the spaghetti behind your TV and computer? BRAIN SCAN:“Touching the Atom”: Scientists’ ability to see individual atoms, and manipulate matter one atom at a time, is due in large part to Gerd Binnig, co-inventor of the scanning-tunnelling microscope.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 04 DEC 04:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Plugging In, At Last”Communications: After years of delay, provision of internet access over power lines is taking off - though not for reasons you might expect.“A Grid By Any Other Name”Grid Computing: It might be next big thing in computing. But for now, grid computing’s biggest problem is that nobody can agree what it is.“Security Through Viral Propagation” Security Technology: A new kind of door lock combines low-tech and high-tech approaches to enhancing security - but is it really safer?“The Evolution of the Photofit”Security Technology: A new type of computerised photofit system takes novel evolutionary approach to generating images of suspects.“The Future of Crowd Control”Security Technology: Should a more high-tech approach to keeping peace, using sounds, shocks and stinks, replace existing methods?“Good Vibrations”Consumer Electronics: French firm has found way to turn dumb surfaces, from walls to table-tops, into interfaces to electronic devices.“Not Quite Out of This World”Telecommunications: After years of hype, a new, cheaper way to blanket cities with wireless coverage may finally be about to get off ground.“Human-Powered Health Care”Medicine: With its new range of portable and robust wind-up medical devices, Freeplay aims to revolutionise health care in developing world.“Your Cheating Phone”Communications: Do mobile phones make it easier or more difficult to deceive people about your location, activities and intentions? RATIONAL CONSUMER:“Battle of the Blue Lasers”Consumer Electronics: How previous standards wars compare with today’s contest between HV-DVD and Blu-ray. REPORTS:“The Rise of the Green Building” Architecture: New buildings use design and technology to reduce environmental impact, cut costs and provide better places to work.“Going green saves money by reducing energy and maintenance costs, and may boost productivity.“Playing To Win”Computing: How close is the relationship between real-world skills and video games, on playing fields and battlefields?”As gaming technology improves and military hardware becomes more expensive, games are being relied upon more heavily as training tools.”“The goal of OneSaf is to simulate entire army. If it works, it will allow commanders to evaluate effects of new tactics or hardware.”CASE HISTORY:“Why the Future Is Hybrid”Automotive Technology: Hybrid petrol-electric cars such as Toyota Prius are becoming increasingly popular. But are they any more than a rest-stop on road to hydrogen car?”Consumers will buy environmentally friendly cars provided there is no compromise on performance.”“Beauty of hybrids is that they do not require changes in driver behaviour or fuel infrastructure.”REPORTS:“Move Over, Big Brother” Security: Privacy advocates have long warned of states spying on citizens. But technology is, in fact, democratising surveillance. ”Surveillance society is on its way - but not in form that privacy advocates imagined.” “In Praise of P2P”Computing: Despite legal wrangles over music piracy, peer-to-peer technology has many uses and is here to stay.”Equation of P2P with piracy has obscured its many virtuous uses.”BRAIN SCAN:“The Journey of the Sorcerer”: Craig Venter, man who led private effort to sequence human genome, still has plenty of new ideas up his sleeve.”How long will it take to make a synthetic bacterial genome? Announcement could come as soon as next year.”

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 12 MAR 05:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"Humanoids On the March" Robotics: Humanoid robots are becoming ever more advanced. Are firms making them just interested in publicity, or are they chasing a new market?"Who Wants To Buy a Computon?" Grid Computing: Electricity is sold by the kilowatt-hour. Now a researcher has proposed that computing power should be sold by the computon."Electronics, Unleaded" Environment: New European rules will force electronics firms to eliminate toxic substances and take back and recycle their products. "Phones With Eyes" Mobile Devices: Camera-phones are not just for taking pictures. They can be used for other things too, from shopping to treasure hunts."Material Benefits" Materials Science: A novel technique combines existing technologies to make customised 'microstructured' materials with specific properties."The Talking Cure" Speech Technology: Good speech recognition requires fast PC. A chip-based implementation could make the technology more portable."A Wider Choice of Software" Software: A new kiosk-based approach to selling software on the high street makes obscure but useful titles available to a far larger market. "Better Than A Poke In the Eye" Medical Technology: Medicated contact lenses could be an easier, more effective and safer way to deliver drugs than eye drops."A Spiritual Connection" Technology and Society: Around the world, mobile phones seem to have a spiritual or supernatural dimension that other forms of technology lack."Bright Sparks" Innovation Awards: Economist invites nominations for its annual prizes recognizing innovators. Deadline for nominations is 16 May 05. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"The Device That Ate Everything?" Consumer Electronics: Will snazzy mobile phones gobble up digital cameras, music players and other portable devices? REPORTS:"Change Is In the Air" Smart Travel: New technologies promise to make air travel smoother for passengers and cut costs for beleaguered airlines."Check-in can be handled by a small program on your phone, downloaded like a game or a ringtone"."Behind the Digital Divide" Development: Much is made of the 'digital divide' between rich and poor. What do people on the ground think about it? 'I'm illiterate,'says one fisherman. 'I don't know how to use a computer, and I have to fish all day." First editorial"The Real Digital Divide"(11)and Economics Focus"Calling Across the Divide"(74)in 12 Mar 05 The Economist report on the value of mobile phones in poor countries, and state that a new report by World Bank notes that 77% of the world's population already lives within range of a mobile network. CASE HISTORY:"United We Find" Computing: Collaborative filtering software is changing the way people choose music, books and other things, by helping them find things they like, but do not know about. 'A search-engine user hunts alone; user of a collaborative-filtering system is part of a crowd.' REPORTS:"Dusting For Digital Fingerprints"Forensic Computing: As criminals and crime-fighters go digital, analysing clues from computers is a growing field. 'Evidence can be gathered from hard disks, networks, and devices such as mobile phones.' "AI Am the Law" Computing: Software that gives legal advice could shake up legal profession by dispensing faster and fairer justice. 'Smart software could make legal advice more readily available and rulings more consistent.' BRAIN SCAN:"The Future, Just Around The Bend" Ray Kurzweil is an accomplished inventor, but he is best known for his wild prognostications about the future. Is he as crazy as he sounds? 'Kurzweil plays at the boundary between scientists, futurists, visionaries and sci-fi kooks.'

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 11 JUN 05:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"And Now, a Game From Our Sponsor" Gaming: As young people spend less time watching TV and more time online and playing games, advertisers have devised new way to reach them."Diamonds That Are a Cut Above" Materials Science: The combination of an expert system and a novel laser-cutting technique could boost the value of rough diamonds. "Google, Meet TiVo" Search Technology: New frontier for search engines is to make video clips as easy to search as text. But that is more easily said than done. "Home Alone" Technology and the Elderly: The world's population is getting older. How can technology help old people live independently at home? "Anti-Hurricane Technology" How Can You Slow Down a Hurricane?: Scientist at MIT proposes creation of small, man-made tropical cyclones to cool the ocean and rob big, natural hurricanes of energy source. "Walk This Way" Robotics: Getting robots to walk gracefully on two legs is hard. But a new approach could make robots more elegant and versatile. "A Bridge Too Far?" Materials Science: As unlikely as it sounds, plastic is becoming an increasingly popular material from which to build bridges. "Data With a Human Touch" Computing: The idea of using the human body to interconnect electronic devices sounds like a gimmick - but could have its uses. "From Dumb Pipes To Smart Sensors" Material Science: Optical fibres are widely used to pipe data around at high speeds. But fibre optics can be used as sensors, too. "Flash and Carry" Computing: Flash drives, which allow huge amounts of data to be carried around easily, are changing from geek toys into fashion items. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Why Radio Is Worth Watching" Consumer Electronics: Digital radio broadens choice for listeners and opens up new possibilities for broadcasters. REPORTS:"Technology That Imitates Nature" Biomimetics: Engineers are increasingly taking a leaf out of nature's book when looking for solutions to design problems. "Models That Take Drugs" Biosimulation: Designing drugs in computers is still some way off. But software is starting to change the way drugs are tested. CASE HISTORY:"An Unexpectedly Bright Idea" Lasers: Few innovations of the past century have changed as the laser. A laboratory curiosity at first, there now seems no limit to its usefulness. 'It is not surprising that the pioneers of the laser could notpredict what it would be used for, since its applications have been so many and varied.' REPORTS:"When Modern Art Shows Its Age" Art Conservation: Contemporary works of art, based on modern materials and technologies, are proving hard to maintain. "On A Roll?" Electronics: Flexible-display technology is coming - but it still falls far short of the science-fiction ideal. 'Full colour flexible displays that can show video are still some way off.' BRAIN SCAN:"How To Make (Almost) Anything"Neil Gershenfeld: wants to build devices that do for atoms what PCs do for bits - make them cheap and easy to manipulate. 'Today's clunky machines will turn into a universal fabricator that can make almost anything.'

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 17 SEP 05:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"Watch This Space" Consumer Electronics: As mobile phones threaten to depose them as the most personal of technological devices, high-tech watches are fighting back. "Mashing the Web" Software: Programmers are combining data from different websites to create 'mash-up' sites with entirely new capabilities. "Sailing Ships With a New Twist" Transport: Giant kites that act like sails could bring wind propulsion back to ocean-going ships, reducing emissions and saving on fuel costs. "The Doctor In Your Pocket" Medical Technology: Nearly everyone in the developed world carries a mobile phone - so why not use it to deliver health care? "Summer Camp For Coders": Ms Byron spent the summer contributing code to Drupal, an open-source project that automates the management of wesites... Byron is one of 419 students (out of 8,744 who applied) who were accepted for Google's 'summer of code'... Google acted as a matchmaker and sponsor. "Held Aloft By Hydrogen" Aviation: An unmanned aircraft powered by hydrogen has taken to the air for the first time. Such aircraft could have both military and civilian uses. "A New Way To Stop Digital Decay" Computing: Could a 'virtual computer', built from software, help to save today's dogotal documents for histrians of the future? "The Policeman On Your Dashboard" Transport: A new salellite-based driver-monitoring scheme could provide a glimpse of the Big Brotherish future of motoring. "Hear No Evil" Digital Media: Can an 'open source' approach be applied to the music business? Magnature, an innovative record label, thinks it can. "Building a Better Battery" Energy: As portable devices become ever more elaborate and demand ever more power, will battery technology be able to keep up? "No Jam Tomorrow?" Transport: New techniques are being developed to spot existing traffic jams, predict future ones, and help drivers avoid both kinds. "Websites Of Mass Description" Social Software: New 'tagging' websites make it easier to share content, find items of interest, and form online communities. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Gaming's Next Level" Consumer Electronics: How will the next-generation games consoles differ, and how can they attract new gamers? REPORTS:"And Now, the War Forecast" Software: Can software really predict the outcome of an armed conflict, just as it can predict the course of the weather? "The March of the Robo-Traders" Software: Programs that buy and sell shares are becoming ever more sophisticated. Might they replace human traders? 'Eventually, robo-traders may be capable of analysing news feeds, deciding which shares to buy and sell, and devising their own strategies'. CASE HISTORY:"Better By Design" Software: 'Product life-cycle management' software that helps companies design, manufacture and manage their products is becoming increasingly popular among big firms. 'PLM software provides the framework within which companies can take new ideas and implement them quickly in actual products'. REPORTS:"Death To Folders" Computing: Cheap hard disks and fast search software could change the way we store and find documents on our computers. 'As the power of desktop-search software grows, the need to organise things in folders disappears'. "Just What the Patient Ordered" Medicine: Patient-driven approaches to developing drugs for orphan diseases are turning pill-takers into pillmakers. 'Patients are getting involved in drug research and trials, and are even setting up biotech firms'. BRAIN SCAN:"Medicine Without Frontiers" Leroy Hood: One of medicine's boldest visionaries, [he] has spent his career marrying biology with technology. 'Critics suggest that systems biotechnology may simply be too complex for mathematics. Dr Hood is unfazed'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 10 DEC 05:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"Breaking the Sound Barrier - Again" Transport: A new breed of supersonic business jets, without Concorde's drawbacks, could soon be taking to the skies. "Walk This Way" Transport: New moving walkways have been given a speed boost. But will pedestrians in airports and shopping centres be able to cope? "Odd Bedfellows, Striking Results" Health Care: Video games, often denounced for their supposed ill effects, actually have surprising range of therapeutic uses. "A Sight For Sore Thumbs?" Communications: Researchers are dreaming up some surprising new ways to enter text into mobile devices more quickly. "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" Environment: The low-tech graveyards where ships are picked apart by hand could give way to a greener, more high-tech alternative. "Market, Market, On the Wall" Technology Trends: If prediction markets are so good at making forecasts, why not use them to identify emerging technologies? "Fingerprints For Car Parts" Security: People have fingerprints, but objects do not - unless you spray them on in the form of thousands of tiny microdots, that is. "The End Is Virtually Nigh" Gaming: How the inhabitants of an online game are responding to their impending destruction and the end of their virtual world. "And the Winners Are..." Innovation Awards: Our annual prizes recognize successful innovators in seven categories. Here are this year's winners [categories only:] Bioscience; Computing and communications; Energy and the environment; Social and economic innovation; Business-process innovation; Consumer product; No boundaries. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"A Matter Of Definition" Consumer Electronics: Switch to high-definition(HD) television will gather pace in 2006 - but beware the jargon. REPORTS:"Sunrise For Renewable Energy" Energy: Renewable energy may not appear to be competitive with oil and gas at the moment, but the gap is closing. 'Pricing schemes that favour renewable energy are being made possible by "smart" meters'. 'Talisman, an oil company, has decided to put up two windmills on top of one of its gas platforms'. "In the Very Near Future" Communications: 'Near-field communication' technology could fuse tickets, key cards and cash with mobile phones. 'NFC could turn your mobile phone into a travel pass, wallet, cinema ticket, or even your door key'. CASE HISTORY: "From 'Toy Story' to 'Chicken Little'" Computer Animation: The introduction of digital technology has transformed animated films. But will computer-animated humans ever look realistic on screen? 'For a full-length feature film, rendering can take more than a year of round-the-clock calculation using a vast amount of computing power'. REPORTS: "Medicine's New Central Bankers" Health Care: Biobanks, which link tissue samples to patient data, are all the rage - but have drawbacks as well as benefits. 'While bioethical and regulatory worries about biobanks abound, lack of agreement on standards could prove to be a more immediate impediment'. "Threads That Think" Materials: The incorporation of sensors and controls into clothing is the first step towards a new realm of 'smart fabrics'. BRAIN SCAN: "The Computer Will See You Now" Larry Weed: has spent his career trying to inject dose of computing into health care -in the face of fierce opposition.'As governments push for health-care automation, resistance to IT use could finally crumble".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 11 MAR 06:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"Turning Wind Power On Its Side" Energy Technology: Wind turbines that rotate about a vertical axis, rather than the usual horizontal one, could have a number of benefits. "Hackers Go Home" Consumer Technology: Technological tinkering, or hacking, is not limited to computers. Cars, cameras and vacuum-cleaners can be hacked too. "Signs of the Times"Advertising Technology: Huge video screens that bombard people with ads while they shop offer an attractive new outlet for advertisers. "Listening To the Internet" Internet Trends: Companies are eavesdropping on online discussion forums to find out what their customers really think about them. "Organs To Order" Biotechnology: Could the creation of replacement organs, grown to order for particular patients, be just around the corner? "Attack of the Eurogoogle" Search Technology: Can an ambitious new European search engine, backed by the governments of France and Germany, challenge Google? "March of the Robolawyers" Software:A new program uses game theory to produce fairer outcomes when dividing the property of divorcing couples. "Dancing With Google's Spiders" Search Engines: Google is engaged in an elaborate dance with firms determined to keep their websites high up in its rankings. "Flight of Fancy?" Energy Technology: Following the success of hybrid cars, which run on both electricity and fossil fuels, attention is turning to hybrid planes. "Bright Sparks" Innovation Awards: Economist invites nominations by 24 Apr for its annual prizes recognising innovators in: bioscience; energy/environment; computing/ telecoms; "no boundaries"; consumer products; business processes; social/economic development. RATIONAL CONSUMER: "Television's Next Big Shift" Consumer Electronics: Will 'placeshifting', which lets you watch your TV from anywhere, be as disruptive as timeshifting? REPORTS: "What the Nose Knows" Smell Technology: Technology can manipulate and reproduce sight and sound with amazing fidelity. But what about smell? "Wi-Pie in the Sky?" Communications: Cities across US plan to build municipal Wi-Fi networks to widen access to broadband. Will they work? 'Using Wi-Fi at high power levels for citywide coverage could drown out existing networks'. 'If city governments cannot even fill potholes, how will they be able to manage running a network?' CASE HISTORY: "Not Just a Flash in the Pan" Storage Technology: Flash-memory chips are encroaching on markets previously dominated by hard disks, recordable DVDs and magnetic tape. Will flash displace all other storage technologies? 'Flash will increasingly compete with hard dicks to become the preferred storage technology in laptops. Expect a showdown in the next few years'. 'Universal memory, the holy grail of storage. would combine the speed of RAM with the non-volatility of flash and the low cost of hard disks'. REPORTS: "Reinventing the Internet" Networking: New initiatives aim to overhaul the internet. but how can a 'clean slate' redesign ever be implemented? "Pulling the Plug on Standby Power" Energy: Billions of devices sitting idle in 'standby' mode waste vast amounts of energy. What can be done about it? 'It is now illegal in California to sell a television that consumes over three wattes in standby mode'. BRAIN SCAN: "Power to the People" Iqbal Quadir: pioneered wider access to mobile phones in Bangladesh. Can he do the same for electricity and clean water? 'The aim of his new venture is to establish small, neighbourhood power plants in Bangladesh'.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 10 JUN 06:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:"On the Move at Last?" Energy: Fuel cells capable of powering portable electronic devices are finally heading towards marketplace. "Waiting for the Space Elevator" Space: After decades of speculation, the idea of a ‘space elevator’ capable of lifting payloads into orbit is being taken a bit more seriously. "Sounds Good?"Software: ‘Music intelligence’ systems that can distinguish hits from misses could change the way pop music is made and marketed. “When Looks Are No Longer Enough” Gaming: As graphics improve, artificial intelligence is becoming ever more important part of designing video games. “Brainpower Under the Bonnet” Transport: Carmakers are putting artificial neural networks into engines to increase fuel-efficiency and reduce pollution. “Artificial Artificial Intelligence” Software: For many tasks, humans outperform computers. So why not farm out computing tasks to people, not machines? “Making Waves” Energy: Converting the motion of the sea into electricity requires a trade-off between efficiency and resilience - or does it? “The Cult of the Wireless Rabbit” Info: Nabaztag, a Wi-Fi-enabled rabbit able to talk, sing, light up in different colours and wiggle its ears, is the latest entry in the new field of ‘smart objects’. “Invisible Mending” Medicine: Inserting surgical tools via a patient’s mouth is technically challenging, but means unsightly scars can be avoided. “Reprogram Your Life” Technology and Society: ‘Life hacking’ applies a programmer’s mentality to streamlining daily routines and getting things done. RATIONAL CONSUMER: “Bluetooth’s Quiet Success” Consumer Electronics: What does the success of Bluetooth wireless technology reveal about standards battles? ROBOTICS: “Trust Me, I’m a Robot” Robot Safety: As robots move into homes and offices, ensuring that they do not injure people will be vital. But how? ‘The question is whether new robot-specific safety rules and regulations are needed - and, if so, what they should say’. COMPUTING: “How To Build a Babel Fish” Translation Software: The science-fiction dream of a machine that understands any language is getting slowly closer. ‘Most of the time, the languages that translation researchers deal with in their laboratories are so unfamiliar that they may as well be alien’. CASE HISTORY: “The Power of Positrons” Medical Imaging: Positron-emission tomography is more expensive and complex than other body-scanning technologies. But, as this case history explains, it has proven its worth after years of struggle. ‘As anatomical images reach a limit in what they can reveal, PET’s ability to look at underlying biological processes is just starting to be tapped’. MILITARY TECHNOLOGY: “The March of Technology” Military Equipment: Researchers are devising new ways to turn soldiers into cyborg-like, high-tech fighting machines. ‘Individually, each radio or night-vision system works well. But these separate devices do not work smoothly together’. ENERGY: “Plugging into the Future” Electric Cars: A grassroots movement is building hybrid petro-electric cars that can be recharged from the mains. Why? ‘A motley crew of hackers, entrepreneurs and idealists has sprung up to boost the nascent technology of plug-in hybrids’. BRAIN SCAN: “Present at the Creation” Vinton Cerf: was one of the founding fathers of the internet and has continued to take an active role in its development.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 23 SEP 06:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Splitting the Digital Difference” Computing: A variety of novel approaches aim to bridge the gap between mobile phones and Pcs in the developing world. “Behold, the Bus of the Future” Transport: Magyev trains are expensive; buses are cheap. The Superbus, a high-tech vehicle, is a compromise between the two. "Pipe in the Sky?"Transport: The latest attempt to revive the fortunes of airships involves using them to construct oil and gas pipelines. “In the Beginning Was the Word” Computing: New systems that turn text into realistic speech could help the ill, direct lost drivers and make video games more absorbing. “A Meaty Question” Biotechnology: Meat grown in vats, rather than in the form of animals, could soon be on the menu. It might even be healthier and better for you. “Getting the Internet On Track” Communications: Internet access on aircraft has been slow to take off, but it could be coming soon to a railway carriage near you. “From Hypertext to Hypervideo” Software: New technology that links together segments of online video delights viewers, vloggers and video-on-demand vendors. “A Rubbish Business Model” Energy: The dream of turning worthless waste into valuable fuel is as potent as ever. But is the whole idea too good to be true? “The Writing on the Wall” Technology and Society: Is the mobile phone mightier than the spray can? New ‘digital graffiti’ systems are being put to a variety of uses. RATIONAL CONSUMER:“Gaming’s Next Episode?” Consumer Electronics: The idea of ‘episodic’ games, which can be bought and played in small chunks, has pros and cons. CHINA’S ECO-CITIES:“Visions of Ecopolis” Technology and the Environment: China has ambitious plans to build a model ‘eco-city’ near Shanghai. How green will it be? AUGMENTED COGNITION:“Computers That Read Your Mind” Software: Systems that work out what users are doing, and then respond accordingly, could help people to work more effectively. CASE HISTORY:“An Even Brighter Idea” Lighting Technology: The light bulb is synonymous with invention. But, as this case history explains, it may lose out to the light-emitting diode, which is better in many ways. ‘Light bulbs are among the last devices that use vacuum tubes, an old technology that has been replaced in radios and most televisions’. “Lighting Up the World” Lighting Technology: The greatest impact of LED-based lighting could be in developing countries, where it can be powered by batteries or solar panels. HIGH-TECH CONCRETE: “Concrete Possibilities” Materials: It has been in use for centuries. But now, tired of being walked all over, concrete is ready for a high-tech upgrade. ‘The kilns that produce Portland cement also produce large amounts of carbon dioxide, accounting for 5-10% of global emissions’. DIGITAL DETECTIVES: “Secrets of the Digital Detectives” Computing: How fraud-detection systems combine dozens of clues to spot suspicious patterns in mountains of transactions. BRAIN SCAN: “Mr BlackBerry Sends a Message” Mike Lazaridis: co-founder of the firm behind the BlackBerry, is a passionate advocate of fundamental scientific research. ‘Mr Lazaridis expects his philanthropy to produce some demonstrable payoff for his own firm. In fact, he thinks this is already starting to happen’.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 02 DEC 06:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Cat and Mouse, on the Web” Technology and Society: Techniques to evade censorship of internet traffic are improving, to the chagrin of authoritarian regimes. “Buildings with Minds of Their Own” Architecture: ‘Responsive’ buildings, capable of changing shape and responding to their users’ need, are on the drawing board. "It All Depends on Your Point of View" Computing: New techniques analyse two-dimensional pictures to produce detailed three-demensional models of the world. “Always Greener” Materials: The technology of synthetic grass has moved on since the days of AstroTurf. A new form of fake grass has taken root. “The Joys of Physics” Video Games: Software that encapsulates the laws of physics is a key ingredient in making games more realistic. “Treasure on the Ocean Floor” Robotics: It might make sense to mine metals from the sea bed, rather than from terrestrial mines. But it will require some nifty technology. “Shockingly Slow” Communications: The delivery of broadband internet access over power lines is finally starting to make progress. “Tracking Your Every Move” Communications: Mobile phones that can work out where they are using satellite technology are proving to have a variety of uses. “News You Can Choose” New Media: ‘Social news’ websites allow readers to generate virtual newspapers by voting stories on and off their front pages. “And the Winners Are...” Innovation Awards: Our annual prizes recognize successful innovators in seven categories. [Names/broad activities of winners are each listed under these categories:] Bioscience; Computing and communications; Energy and environment; Social and economic innovation; Business-process innovation; Consumer product; No boundaries. COVER TITLE: “The Phone of the Future” Communications: The phone has had a splendid 130-year history. What will it look like in future? Will it even be called a phone? BIOMETRICS: “Biometrics Gets Down to Business” Biometrics: Body-scanning security technology is finally taking off - and not just because governments are adopting it. CASE HISTORY: “New Chips On the Block” Biotechnology: DNA chips have revolutionised biological research. This case history argues that they also have the power to make the practice of medicine much more precise. CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES: “Was That a Stop Sign?” Transport: Roboticists have already built vehicles that can drive by themselves. Their next challenge is to master urban driving. “The Road to KITT”: Even production cars are starting to become more autonomous. CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY: “Can Coal Be Clean” Energy: Making power from coal is still a grubby business, but various technologies can make it much cleaner. ‘Coal pants produce a quarter of the 25 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide released every year’. BRAIN SCAN: “The Edison of Our Age” Stanford Ovshinsky: may not be a household name, but his inventions have the power to change the world. ‘Mr Ovshinsky may be 84, but he still dresses in natty suits and moves with a young man’s energy’.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 10 MAR 07:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Plan B for Global Warming?” Environment:"Geo-engineering" is the direct use of technology to counteract climate change. The idea is highly controversial. “Displays to Keep an Eye On” Consumer Electronics: New displays are starting to appear in consumer devices, offering advantages over today‛s liquid-crystal screens. "Lets Get Physical" Video Games: "Exergaming", which combines on-screen action with physical exercise, shows that gamers need not be couch potatoes. "Call And Response" Computing: Nobody enjoys telephoning a call centre. Could "chatbot" technology make the experience less painful? "Working the Crowd" Online Advertising: New business models let communities of internet users control how their personal information is bought and sold. "Beyond the Stagecoach" Transport: Fans of "personal rapid transport" claim that nifty individual pods are the future of public transport - again. "Three Wheels Good?" Transport: Bombardier, based in Quebec, developed Can-Am Spyder Roadster, a three-wheeled motor vehicle. "Big Brother Just Wants to Help" Software: The use of data mining by governments need not be sinister, and could help to deliver public services more efficiently. "The Slow Death of Dial-Up" The Internet: The spread of broadband connections heralds the demise of dial-up access. But it will take a long time to die. "Bright Sparks" Innovation Awards: Economist invites nominations for its annual prizes recognising innovators in seven categories: bioscience; energy/environment; computing/telecoms; ‛no boundaries‛ ; consumer products ; business processes; socal and economic innovation. TREETHANOL: "Woodstock Revisited" Energy: Could new techniques for producing ethanol make old-fashioned trees the biofuel of the future? "Treethanol has particular appeal in countries that have a lot of trees and import a lot of fossil fuel, such as New Zealand and Sweden". PEOPLE TRACKING: "Go With the Flow" Visualisation: Data from mobile-phone networks can create maps that show how people are moving around. "People-movement maps could lead to improvements in transport planning, traffic-light placement, signage and road layout". CASE HISTORY: "Bright Prospects" Energy: Solar power is in the ascendant. But despite its rapid growth it will not provide a significant share of the world‛s electricity for decades. HAPTICS: "How Touching" Computing: "Haptic" technology is gradually bringing the neglected sense of touch into the digital realm. "The ultimate aim of haptics research is to find ways to simulate the feeling of any shape, texture or tactile sensation". NAME-MATCHING: "What‛s in a Name?" Computing: Intelligence agencies are using new software to handle the arcane business of comparing lists of names. "Name-matching can play a crucial role in counterterrorism by enabling analysts to piece together snippets of intelligence". BRAIN SCAN: "Watching the Web Grow Up" Tim Berners-Lee: created the web in 1991. Now people are talking about Web 2.0 - but he is more excited by other things. "The semantic web aims to allow computers to extract useful information from data on the net".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 09 JUN 07:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Getting Wind Farms Off the Ground” Energy:If people object to wind farms cluttering up the countryside, one answer might be to put them in the air instead.“A Cool Concept”Energy: Hydrothermal cooling is a novel approach that uses cold water from lakes and oceans to run air-conditioning systems. "Seeing the Light" Visual Implants:An electronic retinal implant uses technology borrowed from digital cameras to restore some sight to the blind. "Bubbling Under"Microbubbles: A new technique to treat disease involves the careful injection of tiny, drug-coated bubbles in the bloodstream. "Overdoing It?"Networking: Internet-service providers are worried that new online-video services, such as Joost, will overload their networks. "Robot Wars" Military Technology: Unmanned vehicles and robot soldiers are on the march. Can such machines be programmed to act ethically? "The Trees Have Eyes" Conservation: An elaborate combination of technologies is being deployed to try to curb the illegal hunting of endangered species. "Online Gaming's Netscape Moment?" Video Games: Existing virtual worlds are built on closed, proprietary platforms, like early online services. Might they now open up, like the web? "Sharing What Matters" Software: A computer maverick hopes to upgrade the web, transforming it from a document collection into a data commons. "Home Truths About Telecoms" Technology and Society: Anthropologists investigate the use of communications technology and reach some surprising conclusions. MEDICINE:"Turning Surgery Inside Out" Medicine: "Natural orifice" surgery could have a number of benefits, but it requires an entirely new set of tools. WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY: "Radio Silence" Wireless Technology: It was hailed as a breakthrough that would revolutionise logistics. What ever happened to RFID? CASE HISTORY: "The Truth About Recycling" Environment: As importance of recycling becomes more apparent, questions about it linger. Is it worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste jut going into a landfill in China? Here are some answers. COMPUTING: Taking Storage to the Next Dimension: Computing: After years of development, holographic data-storage systems are finally ready to go on sale. "Are You Talking To Me?" Speech Recognition: Technology that understands human speech could be about to enter the mainstream. BRAIN SCAN: "Bringing Free Software Down To Earth" Mark Shuttleworth: software entrepreneur and space tourist, believes open-source software is not just for geeks. "My hope is not just that we can achieve parity with the proprietary world, but that we can leapfrog it".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 08 SEP 07:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“A New Old Idea” Telecommunications:The idea of sending information through the air in the form of flashes of light is being given a high-tech makeover.“Everlasting Light”Energy: Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly light bulb that uses very little energy and should never need changing. "Old Clean Coal" Energy: Using photosynthesis to capture exhaust gases from power plants could reduce the emissions produced by coal-fired stations. "Sea Change" Offshore Technology: Rising costs and clever kit are transforming the oil platform - and could even do away with it altogether. "Piecing History Together" Computing: The German Democratic Republic bequeathed a 600m-piece puzzle to the reunified country. It is about to be solved using software. "What Is This That Roareth Thus?" Transport: The untold story of a failed attempt to introduce electric buses in London a century ago offers a cautionary technological tale. "A Plane That Thinks It's a Boat" Transport: After a long gestation, ground-effect vehicles that fly on cushions of air could finally be ready for take-off. "The Ultimate Game Gear" Video Games: New furniture, controllers and screens are helping to make video games even more immersive and realistic. "Zap! You're Not Dead" Medicine: A new approach to proton-beam radiotherapy, which allows treatment to be precisely targeted, could make it more widely available."Hearts and Minds"Medicine: New device detects heartbeats and brain activity at a distance, doing away with uncomfortable electrodes. "Health 2.0" Technology and Society: Is outbreak of cancer videos, bulimia blogs and other forms of "user generated" medical information a healthy trend? COMPUTING: "The World on Your Desktop" Computing: As the internet becomes intertwined with the real world, the resulting "geoweb" has many uses. "The Trouble With Computers" Computing: They may be powerful, but computers could still be easier to use. Might new forms of interface help? NUCLEAR POWER: "Nuclear Dawn" Energy: Attitudes to nuclear power are shifting in response to climate change and fears over the security of the supply of fossil fuels. The technology of nuclear power has been changing, too. "The latest generation of reactors includes important improvements over prior designs". PATENTS: "A Patent Improvement" Intellectual Property: A new scheme will solicit comments via the internet to improve the vetting of patent applications. "The information provided should improve patent examiners' grasp of highly technical fields". BIOMIMETICS: "Borrowing From Nature" Clean Technology: Architects believe that biologically inspired designs can help to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. BRAIN SCAN: "Jolly Green Heretic" Stewart Brand:, a pioneer of both environmentalism and online communities, has not lost his willingness to rock the boat. "Environmental change changes everything, including environmentalism itself".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 08 DEC 07:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences and sometimes others are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Getting Serious” Computing:Virtual worlds are being put to serious real-world uses - and are starting to encounter some real-world problems. “No Fridge Required”Medicine: A technology that mimics nature should allow sensitive biological samples to be stored at room temperature. "Accelerated Progress" Medicine: "Microdosing" borrows from archaeology to provide a novel way to test the effectiveness of new drugs without hurting anybody. "The Eyes Have It" Medical Technology: The techniques used to replace worn-out eye lenses are getting better, making the process simpler than ever. "Shellfish Desires" Fishing and the Environment: A new invention makes trawling for fish much less harmful to coral, sponges, seaweed and other denizens of the seabed. "Heat From the Street" Energy: A clever new system uses asphalted roads, rather than solar panels, to collect solar energy in order to heat an office building. "Playing Tag" Mobile Technology: Crossing mobile phones with social-networking sites would help people find friends, and potential friends, nearby. "The Small Print" Nanotechnology: A novel technique borrows from screen printing to provide a way to build tiny devices using miniature stencils. "Crystal Clear"Materials:Photonic crystals embedded in a sponge can be used to make electronic paper capable of displaying images in colour. "Hafnium and Chips" Semiconductors: A new recipe involving a hitherto obscure element is the latest way to make microprocessors even faster. "Don't Invent, Evolve"Innovation: The inventor's traditional trial-and-error approach can be automated by software that mimics natural selection. INNOVATION AWARDS:"And the Winners Are...": Annual prizes recognize successful innovators in eight categories: Bioscience, Computing and Communications, Energy and Environment, Social and Economic Innovation, Business-Process Innovation, Consumer Products, No Boundaries [this year: Giant-Magnetoresistive(GMR) Effect], Corporate Use of Innovation. AUGMENTED REALITY: "Reality, Only Better" Computing: Superimposing computer graphics on the real world, instead of displaying them on screens, has many potential uses. "Head-mounted displays could show soldiers the locations of friendly forces, as in a video game". COMPUTING: "Spreading the Load" Computing: A new wave of science projects on the web is harnessing volunteers' computers in novel ways - and their brains, too. "Volunteer computing is huge untapped resource, not just clever publicity stunt". "Playing or Processing?" Computing: The distinction between gaming and useful processing is beginning to blur, for both people and machines. CASE HISTORY: "Unmanned and Dangerous" Aviation: Unmanned aerial vehicles are a vital tool of modern warfare. Once-harmless drones are now deadly attack aircraft. Where did the technology come from, and where is it going? "UAVs' success is not due to a single breakthrough, but a combination of innovations in several areas". ELECTRIC SHIPS: "Making Waves" Transport: Maritime engineers are already embracing electric propulsion for ships - and electric planes could be next. RETAIL SURVEILLANCE: "Watching As You Shop" Retailing: Big shops are using elaborate technology to monitor and influence the behaviour of their customers. "Shoppers are not just being monitored by cameras and sensors - sometimes speech is recorded, too". BRAIN SCAN: "Cyberlawyer 2.0" Lawrence Lessig: is known for his work at the interface between technology and law. Why is he shifting his focus to corruption? "Copyrights will not expire so long as Congress is free to be bought to extend them again".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 08 MAR 08:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“The Battle for Wikipedia's Soul” The Internet:The popular online encyclopedia, written by volunteer contributors, has unlimited space. So does it matter if it includes trivia? “Guiding Light”Display Technology: Three-dimensional TV pictures for all the family, with no need for special glasses, could be on the way. "More To It Than Meets the Eye" Materials Science: As more commercial uses are developed for holograms, they may soon be found all over the place. "The New Shape of Circuitry"Materials: Making circuits that are stretchable could open up a host of new applications, from medical sensors to video-game controllers. "A Healing Balm" Materials Science: Self-healing substances that are capable of repairing themselves when damaged are under development. "Stay Tuned" Communications: Broadcasters plan to hop, skip and jump around the world with a new long-range digital-radio technology. "Bright Sparks" Innovation Awards: Economist invites [by 07 Apr] nominations for annual prizes recognising innovators. "Making a Total Hash of It" Computing: A supposedly cast-iron way of identifying digital documents, known as a hash function, is looking a bit rusty. "Down and Dirty" Energy: If geothermal energy, which exploits underground heat reserves, is to become widespread, it will have to work outside volcanic areas. "A Bag Full of Sunshine" Energy: A combination of flexible solar cells and low-energy lighting provides a way to bring electric light to isolated communities. "Less Troubled Waters" Chemistry: Detergents with active ingredients that can be switched on and off should help the oil industry, as well as getting clothes clean. "End of a Dammed Nuisance" Energy: A new generation of free-standing turbines promises to liberate hydroelectric power from its dependence on dams. "Your Call is Important to Us" Software: Making call centres run smoothly involves an ever-greater dependency on technological trickery behind the scenes. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Power Plays" Consumer Electronics: Displays that reveal how much electricity your home is using can give you a nasty but informative surprise. COCHLEAR IMPLANTS: "Sounds Like a Good Idea" Biomedical Technology: As cochlear implants improve, people who use older versions of the technology could face a different choice. "The case for upgrading will become more compelling as new types of electrode emerge". SOFTWARE BUGTRAPS: "Software that Makes Software Better" Computing: Programmers are using a variety of software tools to help them produce better code and keep bugs at bay. "If new tools do not fit with existing ways of doing things, no one will use them". CASE HISTORY: "In Search of the Perfect Battery" Energy Technology: Researchers are desperate to find a modern-day philosopher's stone: the battery technology that will make electric cars practical. Here is a brief history of their quest. "Compared with computer chips, battery technology has improved very slowly over the years". PICO-PROJECTORS: "Looking at the Bigger Picture" Consumer Electronics: How do you fit an enormous screen into a portable device? By using a tiny projector, of course. INTERNET WIRETAPPING: "Bugging the Cloud" Law Enforcement: Governments want to extend wiretapping rules from phones to the internet, but doing so is hard. "Only [US]'s NSA is thought to have the computing power to unscramble Skype packets". BRAIN SCAN: "From Palmtops to Brain Cells" Jeff Hawkins:, best known as the creator of the Palm Pilot, hopes his new theory will lead to more brain-like computer software. "His new model could result in more brain-like software, in fields from robotics to video games".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 07 JUN 08:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Watching While You Surf” Online Advertising:New ad-targeting systems, which determine users' interests by monitoring which websites they visit, are proving controversial. “Stop That Car!”Transport: New technological tricks and devices are being developed to enable police officers to track and halt suspect vehicles. "The Rise of the Low-Cost Laptop" Computing: The ambitious "$100 laptop" program is having a few problems, but it may have catalysed a whole new market. "An Internet of Sorts, On Rails" Transport: Ruhr may eventually host an underground miniature railway, capable of carrying freight on automated trains. "Your Number's Up" Networking: The internet will run out of addresses unless a new numbering system is adopted. After years of inaction, there are now signs of progress. "A New Twist for Offshore Wind" Energy: Floating wind-turbines are being developed that can be used at sea in deep water, and do not need to be permanently fixed in place."Fridges of the World, Unite" Energy Efficiency: Smarter appliances that turn themselves down at times of peak demand should mean fewer brown-outs. "Checks in the Post" Communications: A new tracking device, small enough to be slipped into an envelope, can pinpoint hold-ups within postal services. "Mr Neutron" Security Technology: A new scanning technology, which can see things X-rays cannot, could help to beef up the inspection of air freight. "Rummaging Through the Internet" Computing: New techniques to navigate and gather information online promise to revolutionise web browsing. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Changing Gears" Automotive Technology: A baffling range of new types of car gearbox has broadened the choice far beyond manual and automatic. COMPUTING:"From Blueprint to Database"Computing: Aircraft and cars are designed using elaborate digital models. Now the same idea is being applied to buildings. WAVE POWER: "The Coming Wave" Energy: Enthusiasm for renewable energy means wind turbines and solar panels are popping up all over the place. But what happened to wave power? CASE HISTORY: "Tapping the Oceans" Environmental Technology: Desalination turns salty water into fresh water. As concern over water's scarcity grows, can it offer quick technological fix? "Sometimes, using desalination within water management may be the only way to ensure supply". TELEMEDICINE: "Telemedicine Comes Home" Medicine: Telemedicine permits remote consultations by video link and even remote surgery, but its future may lie closer to home. "The shift to telehealth reflects the broader shift from diagnosis and treatment to 'wellness'". OPEN-SOURCE HARDWARE: "Open Sesame" Consumer Devices: Revealing the underlying technical details of electronic gadgets can have many benefits, for both users and manufacturers. BRAIN SCAN: "The Free-Knowledge Fundamentalist" Jimmy Wales: changed the world with Wikipedia, the hugely popular online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. What will he do next? "As Wales struggles with Wikipedia's intellectual controversies, he now does so as a minor celebrity".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 06 SEP 08:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“The Meek Shall Inherit the Web” Computing:In future, most new internet users will be in developing countries and will use mobile phones. Expect a wave of innovation. “Gas, Gas, Quick Boys”Chemical Sensors: A new nanodevice able to detect low concentrations of chemical agents could help to thwart terrorist gas attacks. "Tailpipe Power" Thermoelectric Devices: Generating electricity directly from wasted heat is becoming more practical, in both vehicles and buildings. "Whirlybirds Go Green" Transport: Switching to diesel engines could make helicopters, and other aircraft, more efficient and less damaging to the environment. "Liquid Logic" Computing: Liquid cooling could improve the performance of computers, allow waste heat to be recycled and make solar cells more efficient. "The Computer Says No" Computing: Image-processing software could help to identify artists by their characteristic brushstrokes - and spot forgeries. "Following the Crowd" The Internet: The idea of 'crowdsourcing', or asking crowds of internet users for ideas, is being tried out in some unusual quarters. "I, Human" Robotics: They are staples of science fiction. And it seems that humanoid robots may make people feel more at ease than other designs. "Virtual Fencing" Electronics: A new way of corralling cattle, using satellite-tracking and warning signals rather than fences, is being tested in New Mexico. "Armchair Archaeology" Computing: Archaeologists are using free satellite imagery from Google Earth to make discoveries, develop theories and plan expeditions. RATIONAL CONSUMER: "Moving Pictures" Consumer Electronics: High-definition video cameras are getting cheaper, but sometimes it is better to keep things simple. CAMOUFLAGE: "How to Disappear" Military Technology: Advances in camouflage, concealment and deception are revolutionising an age-old art of warfare. MEDICAL ROBOTS: "Swallow the Surgeon" Biomedicine: Tiny medical robots are being developed that could perform surgery inside patients with greater precision than existing methods. CASE HISTORY: "Touching the Future" Computing: Touch screens are becoming an interestingly popular way to control mobile phones and other devices. How does the technology work, and where is it heading? "Touch screens may be intuitive and user-friendly, but they are not new". GREEN HOMES: "Home, Green Home" Energy and the Environment: Even as housing markets in many countries collapse, demand is growing for low-impact 'green' homes. "Once a house is sealed, producing its own power and using it efficiently, its inhabitants are the weak link". Another Green Revolution: Most homes are in the developing world. They are going green, too. HYDROGEN CARS: "The Car of the Perpetual Future" Transport: Mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell cars have been promised for a decade. Where are they? BRAIN SCAN: "The Frugal Cornucopian" Amory Lovins began making the case for resource efficiency decades ago, long before it became fashionable. Now things going his way."His enthusiasm for market forces makes him a most unlikely eco-warrior".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 06 DEC 08:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Fresher Cookers” Technology and Development: The humble cooking stove is being overhauled around the world with the help of 'user focused' design. “Quiet, Please”Military Technology: Using rubber rather than steel tracks on military vehicles could reduce wear and tear on both soldiers and equipment. "A Stitch Whose Time Has Come" Medicine: A Protein extracted from cows' blood could provide the best answer yet to the age-old question of how to sew up wounds. "How Green is Your Network?" Environment: Telecoms firms are reducing the power consumption of their networks, for economic and environmental reasons. "Moving Images into the Future" Entertainment: Digital-cinema projectors that use lasers rather than xenon lamps could lead to richer colours on the silver screen. "A Really Secret Ballot" Security: A variety of schemes to encrypt ballot papers should reassure voters and help to make elections more secure. "Green Iron" Environment: Treating industrial wastewater with scrap iron can be a cheap and effective way to reduce pollution from factories. "Spinning a Good Tale" Medicine: A quantum-mechanical effect used in hard disks may hold the key to the development of a hand-held biology laboratory. "And the Winners Were..." Innovation Awards: Economist annual prizes recognise successful innovators in eight categories: Bioscience; Business Process; Computing and Telecommunications; Consumer Products and Services; Energy and the Environment; No Boundaries; Social and Economic Innovation; Corporate Innovation. Winners, with their rationales, plus the judges, all provided. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Small is Beautiful" Computing: Netbooks are small computers that are cheaper and lighter than full-scale laptops. They have their merits - but do not ask too much of them. SPACE SOLAR POWER: "Let the Sun Shine In" Energy: Satellites that beam solar power to earth have often appeared in science fiction. Will they ever become reality? "Space solar power is an idea far ahead of its time, but the necessary technology already exists". CYBERWARFARE: "Marching Off to Cyberwar" The Internet: Attacks launched over the internet on Estonia and Georgia highlight the difficulty of defining and dealing with 'cyberwar'. "The United Nations Charter does not spell out what counts as 'the use of force' in cyberspace". CASE HISTORY: "Wind of Change" Energy: Wind power has established itself as an important source of renewable energy in the past three decades. The basic idea is ancient, but its modern incarnation adds many new high-tech twists. "Global wind resources are so vast that they could easily meet the world's current energy needs". INTERNET OVERLOAD: "Surviving the Exaflood" The Internet: Predictions that an 'exaflood' of traffic will overload the internet have been doing the rounds. But will it really happen? "Too little internet traffic could prove to be more dangerous to the industry than too much". CLEAN TECHNOLOGY: "Masdar Plan" Environment: Abu Dhabi has embarked upon an ambitious plan to build a zero-emission clean-tech centre in the desert. Will it work? BRAIN SCAN: "Enlightenment Man" Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google, believes knowledge is always a good thing - and that more of it should be shared. "Solving big problems is easier than solving little problems," [Larry Page, the other co-founder] likes to say.

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 07 MAR 09:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Shifting Gears” Aviation: 'Green' jet engines, able to power aircraft while producing fewer emissions, are under development. Which design will prevail? “Recharged”Energy: There is life in a 150-year-old battery technology yet, it seems, as venerable lead-acid batteries are given a modern overhaul. "Fuelled By Coffee" Biofuels: A novel form of biodiesel is derived from an unusual feedstock that is more commonly used to fuel mental activities: coffee. "Party Time!" Energy: It may sound silly, but metallised balloons could provide an unusually cheap and effective way to generate solar electricity. "Bone In a Bottle" Tissue Engineering: Attempts to grow artificial bone marrow in the laboratory have failed - but now a new approach is showing promise. "A Mousetrap for Bacteria" Antisepsis: Miniature traps that catch bacteria might provide a way to tackle the problem of patients becoming infected while in hospital. "Bouncing Ideas Around" Computing: A chip that can store light, if only for a microsecond, could be an important step towards lightning-fast optical computers. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Laser" Precision Agriculture: Using lasers to determine the level of moisture in a field could help farmers decide when to irrigate - and when not to. "A Good Yarn" Nanotechnology: Cotton fibres coated with carbon nanotubes could be used to make clothing that glows, or detects bleeding. "Revolutionary Buildings" Engineering: Clever construction techniques could usher in a new architectural era in which entire buildings are capable of rotating. "Fair Comment" The Internet: Books and other products sold by online retailers can attract thousands of reviews. Why are they worth reading - or writing? "Bright Sparks" Innovation Awards: Economist invites nominations for its annual prizes recognising innovators. "Serious Fun" Technology and Society: 'Alternate reality' games mixing puzzles and plot lines, online and off, becoming more popular. RATIONAL CONSUMER:"Just Click to Park"Motoring: As the amount of on-board electronics increases, cars are gradually getting closer to being able to park themselves automatically. WIRELESS CHARGING: "Adaptor Die" Consumer Electronics: A new push is under way to let mobile devices off the leash by doing away with their dependence on power cables. "It now seems to be a matter of when, rather than if, wireless charging enters the mainstream". CARBON CAPTURE: "Scrubbing the Skies" Environment: Removing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere could help combat climate change. Will it really work? "At moment, air capture is merely experimental. A breakthrough could pose some tricky questions". CASE HISTORY: "The Rhythm of Life" Medical technology: Devices that maintain and restore a normal heartbeat date back to the 1950s. Now they are becoming far more widely used. "Before the first implantable device, pacemakers were so big they were pushed around on trolleys". "After decades of incremental innovations, the stage is set for rapid improvements in the coming years". VIDEO ANALYSIS: "Machines That Can See" Computing: Advances in computer-vision software are begetting a host of new ways for machines to view the world. "Computers no longer struggle to make sense of what they see, but can instead outperform humans. CROWD MODELLING: "Model Behaviour" Software: Simulating the behaviour of crowds of people, or swarms of animals, has both frivolous and important uses. BRAIN SCAN: "The Internet's Librarian" Brewster Kahle wants to create a free, online collection of human knowledge. It sounds impossibly idealistic - but he is making progress. "It is easy to dismiss Kahle as an idealist, but he has an impressive record of getting things done".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 06 JUN 09:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Third Time Lucky” International Biotech: A 'third wave' of biotechnology is arriving. Will it be able to avoid a poor reception from the general public this time around? Might its third wave -so-called industrial biotech, also known as 'white biotech' or 'green chemistry'- resolve biotech's image problem? “Very Handy”Robotics: Mechanical hand seeks dangerous, dirty and dull jobs. Qualified to handle eggs. "Red Tape in Orbit" Space: A small company has won an important legal challenge to US's space-technology export-control regime. "Running On Air" Transport: Powering hybrid cars with compressed air rather than electric motors could be a cheaper way to increase fuel efficiency. "Spies in the Sky" Military Technology: Blimps equipped with remote-sensing electronics are cheaper than drone aircraft, and have many other advantages. "Dot Mars" Computing: A modified version of the internet's communications protocol, devised for interplanetary use, being tested by spacecraft. "On the Pulse" Medical Technology: A new, low-cost design for an artificial heart takes its inspiration from an unusual source - the cockroach. "Zap!" Medical Technology: Researchers are devising laser-defence systems to shoot down mosquitoes and prevent the spread of malaria. No, really. "Taken Your Medicine?" Health Care: Mobile phones provide a cheap and simple way to ensure that patients have popped their pills. "Mapping a Better World" Software: Interest groups around the world are using mapping tools and internet-based information sources to campaign for change. "A Stitch in Time" Nanotechnology: A new way to prevent flaws in composite materials. RATIONAL CONSUMER: "With a Little Help..." Domestic Robots: Machines that look after your home are getting cleverer, but they still need care and attention if they are to perform as intended. SMART GRIDS: "Building the Smart Grid" Energy: By promoting the adoption of renewable-energy technology, a smart grid would be good for the environment - and for innovation. "Once smart meters are installed, power companies can determine the location of outages more easily". "A smart grid could promote innovation in energy, just as the internet did in computing". THE CONNECTED CAR: Automotive Technology: Cars are becoming more connected, both to remote systems for navigation and information, and to each other. "If the benefits are palpable, drivers will be prepared to give up some privacy". CASE HISTORY: "The Other Kind of Solar Power" Energy: Think of solar power, and you probably think of photovoltaic panels. But there is another way to make electricity from sunlight, which arguably has even brighter prospects. "Concentrating solar-thermal technology could regain its historical lead over the photovoltaic appreach". MOBILE PHONES AS SENSORS: "Sensors and Sensitivity" Data Collection: Mobile phones provide new ways to gather information, both manually and automatically, over wide areas. "Mobile phones and sensors could provide a central nervous system for the planet". PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING: "The Sound of Light"Biomedical Technology:Novel scanning technique that combines optics with ultrasound could provide detailed images at greater depths. "Photoacoustics provides greater access at a much lower cost than other imaging technologies". FATHER OF THE CELL PHONE: Marty Cooper, pioneer of mobile telephony, has spent entire career pushing wireless communications to new heights. "Cooper thinks the real impact of mobile communications is yet to come".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 05 SEP 09:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Keeping Pirates At Bay” Policing the Internet: The music industry has concluded that lawsuits alone are not the way to discourage online piracy. "Tilting in the Breeze" Energy: A novel design for a floating wind-turbine, which could reduce the cost of offshore wind-power, has been connected to the electricity grid. "Span of Control" Engineering: A new generation of 'smart' bridges use sensors to detect structural problems and warn of impending danger. "Keeping a Grip" Transport: A new type of tyre, equipped with built-in sensors, can help avoid a skid - and could also improve fuel-efficiency. "Trappings of Waste" Materials Science: Plastic beads may provide a way to mop up radiation in nuclear power-stations and reduce the amount of radioactive waste. "Air Power" Energy: Batteries that draw oxygen from the air could provide a cheaper, lighter and longer-lasting alternative to existing designs. "The Taxonomy of Tumours" Medicine: A new technique aims to measure the activity of a tumour, and could also help provide a new way to classify cancers. "The Digital Geographers" The Internet: Detailed digital maps of the world are in widespread use. They are compiled using both high-tech and low-tech methods. "Washing Without Water" Environment: A washing machine uses thousands of nylon beads, and just a cup of water, to provide a greener way to do the laundry. "Hard Act to Follow" Environment: Making softwoods more durable could reduce the demand for unsustainably logged tropical hardwoods. "Memories Are Made of This" Computing: Memory chips based on nanotubes and iron particles might be capable of storing data for a billion years. "Only Humans Allowed" Computing: Can online puzzles that force internet users to prove that they really are human be kept secure from attackers? RATIONAL CONSUMER: "The Road Ahead" Consumer Electronics: Your next satellite-navigation device will be less bossy and more understanding of your driving preferences. MOBILE AUGMENTED REALITY: "Reality, Improved" Computing: Thanks to mobile phones, augmented reality could be far more accessible - and useful - than virtual reality. "Information from social networks can be overlaid on the real world". UNMANNED MILITARY AIRCRAFT: "Attack of the Drones" Military Technology: Smaller and smarter unmanned aircraft are transforming spying and redefining the idea of air power."In Afghanistan and Iraq, almost all big convoys are preceded by a scout drone". CASE HISTORY: "A Factory on Your Desk" Manufacturing: Producing solid objects, even quite complex ones, with 3-D printers is gradually becoming easier and cheaper. Might such devices some day become as widespread as document printers? "The ability of 3-D printers to speed up the design process will have a big impact on industry". "3-D printers can already be found in the workshops of artists and enthusiasts". BIOHACKING: "Hacking Goes Squishy" Biotechnology: The falling cost of equipment capable of manipulating DNA is opening up a new field of 'biohacking' to enthusiasts. "The right way to regulate biohacking may not become apparent for some time". 3-D IMAGING: "3-D: It's Nearly There" Three-dimensional imaging: New technologies that display 3-D visuals are on the verge of spreading from cinemas into the wider world. BRAIN SCAN: "Paranoid Survivor" Andrew Grove, the former boss of Intel, believes other fields can learn from the chipmaking industry that he helped bring into being. "Dr Grove thinks pharmaceutical firms should study chipmakers to accelerate learning and innovation".

ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY 12 DEC 09:-Each Quarterly article is listed by full title; then, to ensure summaries reflect articles both as accurately and briefly as possible, key introduction sentences, and sometimes others, are taken almost verbatim, but without surplus words or detailed punctuation. MONITOR:“Greenery on the March” Clean Technology: Finding alternative sources of energy is becoming a pressing military necessity for US armed forces. "Glue Bones" Biomedicine: An adhesive secreted by a marine worm inspires a promising new treatment for compound fractures of human bones. "Electrical Potential" Biomimetics:The electric eel's ability to generate powerful shocks has inspired the development of a new type of battery. "Making Ink Bulletproof" Ink: Basic ink compositions have remained unchanged for millenia, but some companies think there is still room for improvement. "Who Pays For the Pipes?" Telecommunications: If broadband providers are reluctant to lay expensive optical fibres, consumers can sometimes pay for it themselves. "A Question of Character" Mobile Phones: Typing text into a mobile phone is fiddly enough in English. How do handsets and their users manage in other languages? "Better Ways to Collaborate" Software: E-mail has severe limitations as an online collaboration tool, but it has the benefit of ubiquity. Might it be displaced by something new? "And the Winners Were..." Innovation Awards: Economist annual prizes recognise successful innovators in eight categories: Bioscience; Business Process; Computing and Telecommunications; Consumer Products and Services; Energy and the Environment; No Boundaries; Social and Economic Innovation; Corporate Use of Innovation. Winners, with their rationales, plus the judges, all provided. RATIONAL CONSUMER: "Powering the Drive"Motoring: Manufacturers of electric cars, and prospective buyers, will have to find ways to deal with 'range anxiety' for the next few years. NEW DISPLAYS FOR E-READERS: "Read All About It" Display Technology: Readers of electronic books must choose between long battery life or vibrant, living colour. Could they have both? INSIDE STORY: "Nuclear's Next Generation" Inside Story: A group of six new blueprints for nuclear power-stations promise advances in safety and efficiency. How do they differ from existing designs? "The technology behind civilian nuclear power has not progressed much since the 1950s". Box describes "How the six generation-IV designs differ from today's reactors". AGRICULTURAL ROBOTS: "Fields of Automation" Robotics: A new generation of agricultural equipment promises to take more of the toil out of farming by automating the business of growing fruit. "Greater mechanisation may prompt farmers to change the varieties they grow". SURGERY USING SOUND AND LIGHT: "Son et Lumière Meets Surgery" Biomedicine: 'Non invasive' surgical techniques based on sound and light could be much easier on the body than ordinary surgery. "Non-invasive techniques reduce the need to slice people open in order to treat them". BRAIN SCAN: "Beyond the Ether" Bob Metcalfe has grabbed opportunity at every turn in his multiple careers - ever since he invented Ethernet at the age of 27. "Dr Metcalfe predicted the internet would collapse under the weight of traffic in 1996. It did not."