December 1, 2013
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmWorld Changing Ideas 2013
10 ways science may jazz up our gadgets, help to solve our most intractable problems and save lives
By The Editors
Scientific advances can be smart, tantalizing, bizarre— and still never make it out of the lab. To change the world, a new idea must have a path from drawing board to practical products and manufacturing processes: in the parlance of Silicon Valley, it must “scale.” Nobody can predict the future, but each of the 10 breakthroughs on the following pages has the potential to make it big. We begin with a full-length article on a new way to design materials atom by atom, using supercomputers and the equations of quantum mechanics, which could take much of the perspiration out of innovation. We continue with a fast-paced look at “metamaterials” that promise cell phones as thin as credit cards; genomic therapies that turn ordinary gut microbes into weapons against disease; planes and bridges made of ultralight pieces that snap together like Legos; an antiseptic that could prevent 500,000 infant deaths a year; and other good ideas. Look for them in the years ahead.
How Supercomputers Will Yield a Golden Age of Materials Science
A Vault for Carbon Dioxide
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Snap-Together Planes and Bridges
Soft Robots that Deform as They Move
Smart Phones as Thin as Credit Cards
Genetic Cures for the Gut
Protecting Your Data on The Cloud
The End of Bad Meds
Antiseptic Saves Newborn Lives
Plastic-Wrap iPads
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