Technology

“His scientific contributions are joyful, spark curiosity and inspire the young,” computer scientist Jeannette Wing says of her colleague Luis von Ahn (on the Carnegie Mellon campus, seated upon one of the “guest chairs” he keeps in his office).

The Player

Luis von Ahn's secret for making computers smarter? Get thousands of people to take part in his cunning online games

In the Persian Gulf, authorities are concerned about terrorism as well as piracy. Coalition vessels (the Coast Guard cutter Aquidneck, behind Coast Guardsman Zachary Coone) patrol exclusion zones around Iraq's Al Basrah and Khawr Al Amaya terminals, where tankers take on millions of barrels of oil daily.

The Pirate Hunters

As buccanneering is back with a vengeance, stepped-up law enforcement and high-tech tools work to help protect shipping on the high seas

Barbed Wire was designed for "preventing cattle from breaking through wire-fences," Glidden writes in his application.

Patent Pending

The Supreme Court may soon reinvent the rules for invention

Bill Gates (in 2003) has "far surpassed anything I accomplished in engineering and business," says Jimmy Carter, now a fellow philanthropist.

35 Who Made a Difference: Bill Gates

The king of software takes on his biggest challenge yet

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A Century of Flight - Taking Wing

From the Wright brothers to the latest robot jets, the past century has been shaped by the men and women who got us off the ground

All Aboard!

A new multimedia exhibition shows how innovations in transportation spurred the growth of the nation

The compass has a symbolic importance transcending its utility.

Useful Gadget

The legendary explorers carried destiny on their expedition. But they could not have fulfilled is without this unprepossessing device

"Electric boats intensify my connection to the water," says Houghton (at tiller).

Batteries Included

Let's hear it shhhh, not so loud for electric boats

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Digging Ditches

Narrow, humble irrigation ditches called acequias sustain an endangered way of life but for how long?

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When Your Toast Starts Talking To You, the Info Age Has Hit Home

When your toast starts talking to you, the Info Age has hit home

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