Scientific American Magazine

With growing wealth, people everywhere travel farther and faster. That trend inevitably brings a shift in the dominant transportation technologies

They will reduce pollution and conserve petroleum. But will people buy them, even if the vehicles have astounding fuel efficiency?

A rapidly spinning flywheel combines with a gas-turbine engine to power a novel hybrid electric vehicle

Cars that drive themselves in tight formation might alleviate the congestion now plaguing urban freeways

Insights gleaned from realistic simulations are already moving from computer screens to asphalt

In Europe and Japan, train manufacturers are gearing up to achieve ultrafast speeds routinely, without relying on levitation

The reasons are more political than technological

Tiltrotors, which take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, will soon make their military debut. Can civilian applications be far behind?

With new designs and materials, human-powered fliers challenge the distance record

Technological advances may allow rockets of the next century to operate much as aircraft do today. That change might cut the cost of reaching orbit by 10-fold

New designs for oceangoing freighter may soon double their speeds

Small, maneuverable, self-contained--these tiny submersibles may someday take a human to the bottom of the sea

Elevator technology is taking off in new directions, including sideways