Technological overoptimism lurks as a persistent risk to both professional and amateur watchers of advances, from artificial intelligence to the flying car. But sometimes new technologies actually live up to some of the wildest expectations for them.

This year’s SciAm 50 awards are replete with instances of new machines or chemicals that come close to the true meaning of innovation as something entirely new. One winner has created an instrument that measures fluids in zeptoliters, or sextillionths of a liter. (You know, the zeptoliter, the measurement unit that is 1,000th of an attoliter?)

6 Comments

1. 1. Richard A. Strong 04:48 PM 12/17/07

   You are cordially invited to view my flying car project at www.strongware.com/dragon.

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2. 2. Carolyn Dry 02:34 AM 1/2/08

   The article on materials highlighting the work of Professors Sottos and White at U Illinois says their self repair system using hollow tubes with repair chemicals can repair many times. My patented work using hollow tubes with repair chemical in matrices has shown to self repair many times and my patented invention (8 patents to date) predates theirs by years but is omitted in their claims frequently. I was a professor at U Illinois and showed Nancy Sottos my invention when PBS came to film me. SInce then she has gotten lots of research funding and publicity on self repair. I wish that their work advanced the field; instead many of their attempts have failed to work. On the other hand, our work in my company Natural Process Design, Inc. has developed self repair of composites that are processed in realisitc ways and repair quickly and successfully. In 1993 your magazine published an article which covered my work on self repair of concrete entitled
   Gary Stix, "Concrete Solutions," Scientific American, April, 1993, pp. 103-112.
   
   Carolyn Dry

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3. 3. gstan1 03:25 AM 1/6/08

   This years SciAm 50 are truly outstanding. The work of the WTCCC is a particularly impressive highlight - what is so interesting is that a group of consortium of research groups can work together to understand the huge challenge of what causes diseases - a well deserved recognition in the SciAm50. It will be interesting to see how this research impact physicians.

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4. 4. chris12 05:08 PM 1/7/08

   The US government as well as industry should provide greater support for basic research in science and engineering.

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5. 5. Allotta Science 11:31 PM 1/7/08

   Great job this year with the SciAm 50 awards. Congrats to everyone!

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6. 6. Allotta Science 12:04 AM 1/8/08

   An impressive list of achievement.

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