February’s story is now available; Chris Nakashima-Brown spins us a near-future post-mediapocalyptic mind-bender about celebrity, freedom, America and meaning in “R.P.M.”.
R.P.M.
by Chris Nakashima-Brown
The 1994 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS hurtles south down Cahuenga after midnight, jury-rigged engine exhaling the throaty rasp of an emphysemic Olympian. Urban interceptor, an abandoned rental reclaimed as instrument of revolution.
Or at least that’s what 0z0 said the night before as he drilled holes in the muffler to amplify the effect.
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a technique for creating transparent transistors, which would enable electronic displays that double as windows and the like. [wired]
Narrow areas like the throat are very hard for a surgeon to operate in, so researchers at Johns Hopkins University are developing snake-like robots to hold the tools. The robots can practically tie themselves in knots, controlled by a surgeon in a separate workstation. [engadget]
One company has developed a method for turning trash into ethanol without the pollution that is a side effect of trash incinerators. Assuming ethanol becomes a viable alternative to gasoline, this could be one of those benefits all around kind of ventures.
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