__ Tomorrow Today __ - What's coming.
NOVEMBER 1998
__ Northern Lights __
An experimental space mirror controlled by Mir cosmonauts briefly lights night skies from Kiev to Seattle. The LEO reflector, which can cast a 3-mile-wide beam to any locale on Earth, burns up in orbit after the 24-hour test. By 2003, the Russian Space Regatta Consortium's constellation of 200 such reflectors, each up to 100 times as bright as the Moon, will act as an emergency lighting system in disaster areas or as a remedy for winter blues in polar regions.
WINTER 1999/2000
__ Gene Doctor __
The DNA biochip arrives in doctors' offices, delivering results from AIDS, cancer, and hepatitis tests in minutes rather than days. By mimicking the body's ability to detect DNA sequences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's diagnostic device performs DNA-based blood tests to pinpoint genetic diseases and infections. Turned loose in enclosed spaces such as health clinics, for instance, the same biotool can monitor the air for pathogens that might infect patients.
JANUARY 2000
__ Neighborhood in a Box __
Residents move in to Liberty, a 7,000-home planned community east of Los Angeles that offers digital dream houses to telecommuters. Homebodies are connected to the outside world - and each other - via fiber-optic cables and a community-network terminal installed in each abode. Couch potatoes can reserve seats at the local baseball stadium, vote on trash-collection schedules, or download homework assignments. And when it's time to go physically shopping, citizens don't leave home without a Liberty smartcard.
SUMMER 2000
__ Hitchhiker's Guide to Hollywood __
Having waited almost 20 years for the cinema to catch up with his overactive imagination, Douglas Adams watches the curtain rise on the motion-picture adaptation of his sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Bolstered by Disney's distribution muscle and director Jay Roach (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), Adams promises to add boffo box office to his out-of-this-world successes in print, radio, TV, and computer games.
2000
__ Acoustic Thermometer __
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization flips the switch on its aquatic spy network - underwater acoustic transmitters and receivers deep in the Indian Ocean. But detecting clandestine nuclear testing in the Middle East and South Asia isn't the system's only function. The multipurpose listening devices measure the speed of undersea sound signals, allowing scientists to take accurate water temperature readings and assess global climate changes.
JANUARY 2001
__ Car Tunes __
Japanese motorists tune in to the first commercial broadcasts of multichannel audio and video programming for the networked car. Using the S-band frequency, the US$300 million Toshiba-Toyota-Fujitsu venture beams signals to vehicles equipped with 5-centimeter-wide receiving dishes. Up to 80 channels provide movies, CD-quality music, and navigation info. The device even allows carmakers to remotely check for and fix some problems with vehicle systems.
