Taking Terrorism Offl ine By David Talbot p46
Intel Inside Everything By Wade Roush p31
Nanotech Beats Cancer By Philip Ball p60 How Machines Evolve By Sam Williams p54
Live Forever?
$4.99US $6.99CAN 02 Aubrey de Grey thinks he can defeat death. 0 09281 01308 2 Is he nuts? FEBRUARY 2005 USA $4.99 • CANADA $6.99 By Sherwin Nuland p36 www.technologyreview.com "*! "*! "*! & #""" % ""' !!$
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6 Index Methuselah s People, companies, and organizations mentioned in this issue prophet Aubrey de Grey is a 10 From the Editor Technology is most useful when it is computer scientist at the most human. University of Cambridge who thinks he can 12 Letters reverse aging in humans We received an energetic response to our December story on nuclear waste. by treating it as an engineering problem. He s achieved some fame README for the outlandishness of Read before operating this magazine his views. Sherwin Nuland, 14 Be Sane about Antiaging Science professor of surgery Wild promises of unthinkably long lives at Yale s School of beg serious thought. Medicine, profi led 15 Deprive Terrorists of the Internet de Grey and found him Web hosting companies must start to brilliant—but also nuts. behave more responsibly.
15 Openly Regulate GMOs 36 New Zealand is providing an example of effective regulation. BRIEFCASE FEATURES 16 Time to See the Opportunities Business case studies Vendors must market a viable vision for 36 COVER STORY invisible computing. 28 New Zealand: Green Haven Do You Want to Live Forever? for Biotech? By Sherwin Nuland FORWARD The island may have found a way to Short items of interest calm both sides of the GMO debate. 46 Terror s Server By Stephan Herrera Fraud, gruesome propaganda, terror 18 If Only It Were This Easy planning: the Net enables it all. The The tangled politics of vaccination. 31 Intel s Centrino Solution online industry can help fi x it. Can “platformization” take the place of By David Talbot 21 Cornell s Minister of Technology the old “faster is better” mantra? Meet W. Kent Fuchs. By Wade Roush 54 Unnatural Selection Machines using genetic algorithms are 22 Microsoft Declares War on Spam 33 T wo Sides of Outsourcing better than humans at designing other And it s enlisting the help of allies. Indian outsourcing giants like Infosys machines. are spawning innovators like Ittiam. By Sam Williams 24 Guiding the Evolution of Things By Corie Lok What engineered viruses can do. 60 Dr. Nanotech vs. Cancer James Heath has a better way to fi ght 25 So what are you reading? MEGAPHONE cancer: tiny silicon wires that could Rojo Networks aggregates content. Something worth shouting about sniff out early signs of the disease. By Philip Ball 26 Logging On to Your Lawyer 34 Technology Can Fix U.S. Artifi cial intelligence, real justice? Intelligence The intelligence reform bill evaded real And more... reform. By David Rothkopf Cover photograph by James Day
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW february 2005 3 Contents
DEMO DATA M I N E Technology revealed A story best told with numbers
64 Me, Myself, and Eye 86 Invisible Computing Is Anil Jain at Michigan State University Hard to Miss seeks to improve security by integrating The integration of technology into our various types of biometrics. business and personal lives is upon us. By Robert Buderi By Maryann Jones Thompson
MEGASCOPE TRAILING EDGE A look at the big picture A page from technology s past
64 71 Keeping Tabs 88 Life Vest The history of an Information How two men turned Kevlar into DEMO Age metaphor. lifesaving armor. Keep an eye on this By Ed Tenner By Corie Lok A new approach to the science of identity.
REVIEWS Three controversies explored
72 The Unobservable Mind A leading British philosopher is skeptical that neurobiology can tell us Visit us online at anything about self-consciousness. technologyreview.com By Roger Scruton Our website —the daily destina- 78 How Lucent Lost It tion for smart news about emerging The telecommunications manufacturer technology—has a new look. was a Potemkin village. » Read stories and analysis in By Roger Lowenstein the Notebook 81 81 The End of Oil? » Chec k out our slant on the Worldwide oil production is probably day s news in the Take REVIEWS declining. Best hold on tight. Declining oil production By Mark Williams » Get information straight Where do we go from here? from the nation s leading labs in the Blogs SYNOPSES New publications, experiments, and » See the day s top tech- breakthroughs—and what they mean nology headlines with RSS Feeds 82 Information Technology » Find magazine updates, 83 Biotechnology charts, photographs, and new information with 84 Nanotechnology keyword navigation
About Technology Review Technology Review, the oldest technology magazine in the world, is published by Technology Review, Inc., an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts 88 Institute of Technology. Founded in 1899, Technology Review describes emerging technologies and analyzes their commercial, economic, social, and political impact for an audience of senior executives, TRAILING EDGE researchers, fi nanciers, and policymakers, as well as for the MIT alumni. In addition, Technology Review, How Kevlar became body armor Inc. produces technologyreview.com, a website that offers daily news and opinion on emerging The material was invented by DuPont in 1965—to replace the steel belts in tires. technologies. It also produces live events such as the Emerging Technologies Conference. The views expressed in Technology Review are not necessarily those of MIT.
4 TECHNOLOGY REVIEW february 2005
Index
PEOPLE Alden, Chris ...... 25 Eden, Mooly ...... 31 Hubbert, M. King...... 81 Obasanjoa, Olusegun . . 18 Strelchenko, Nick...... 84 Ames, Bruce ...... 36 Endlich, Lisa...... 78 Huber, Peter...... 19 Osako, Mary ...... 46 Suttie, Jimmy ...... 28 Anandaram, Sanjay . . . . 33 Epstein, Jason...... 10 al-Hussayen, Otellini, Paul ...... 31 Terry, Simon ...... 28 Ballon, Ian ...... 46 Farid, Hany ...... 82 Sami Omar ...... 46 Pearl, Daniel...... 46 Turner, Jeffery...... 28 Bayindir, Mehmet ...... 85 Fink, Yoel ...... 85 Jain, Anil ...... 65 Popescu, Alin...... 82 Vogelstein, Bert ...... 83 Belcher, Angela ...... 24 Finnigan, Peter ...... 54 Katz, Rita ...... 46 Quake, Stephen ...... 60 von Neumann, John. . . . 54 Burt, Ronald S...... 71 Fiorina, Carly ...... 78 Keane, Martin ...... 54 Rajam, Srini ...... 33 Walker, Bas ...... 28 Calabro, Domenico . . . . 26 Fisher, Ronald ...... 54 Klinker, Dan ...... 46 Recce, Michael ...... 54 Wallace, William ...... 46 Carpenter, Adelaide . . . 36 Forsyth, Stuart...... 26 Koch, Christof ...... 72 Ryan, Grant...... 25 Walter, Christian ...... 28 Cerf, Vinton ...... 46 Fuchs, W. Kent . . . . . 10, 21 Koza, John ...... 54 Sabin, Albert...... 18 Webb, George ...... 22 Clarke, Richard ...... 46 Gates, Bill ...... 22 bin Laden, Osama . . . . . 46 Salk, Jonas ...... 18 Weimann, Gabriel...... 46 Codd, Edward ...... 54 Gopalakrishnan, Kris. . . 33 Lieber, Charles . . . . . 60, 85 Salmon, Daniel ...... 18 Whitby, Blay ...... 26 Crick, Francis...... 72 Gorssman, Tovi ...... 82 Lohn, Jason ...... 54 Samudra, Imam...... 46 Wilson, Frederick ...... 84 Cunniff, Carley...... 78 Gunn, James Newton . . 71 McGinn, Rich ...... 78 Schact, Henry ...... 78 al-Zarqawi, Abu Musab. 46 Damasio, Antonio...... 72 Halik, Marcus...... 84 Mendel, Gregor...... 54 Shubin, Lester ...... 88 al-Zawahiri, Ayman . . . . 46 de Grey, Aubrey . . . . 10, 36 Heath, James ...... 60 Mitchell, George ...... 28 Smalley, Richard...... 60 Zeleznikow, John ...... 26 Deffeyes, Kenneth. . . . . 81 Heymann, David ...... 18 Mohammed, Khalid Steinhardt, Bob...... 78 Zelikow, Philip ...... 46 Deshpande, Amol...... 83 Hoeffl inger, Mike ...... 31 Sheikh ...... 46 Sterling, Bruce...... 10 Zhuang, Xiaowei...... 85 Dewey Melvil ...... 71 Holland, John H...... 54 Montanarelli, Nicholas . 88 Stock, Gregory ...... 36 Zittrain, Jonathan ...... 46 Dick, Ronald...... 46 Hollerith, Herman...... 71 Nagel, Thomas ...... 72 Stranieri, Andrew ...... 26 Doran, Michael ...... 46 Hood, Leroy ...... 60 Neumann, Peter ...... 46 Streeter, John ...... 54
COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS Advanced Micro Devices 31 FeedBurner ...... 25 Karolinska Institute . . . . 23 Rennselaer Polytechnic University of California, AgResearch...... 28 First Quadrant ...... 54 Library Bureau ...... 71 Institute ...... 46 San Diego...... 36 Alteon ...... 36 Forest Research...... 28 Lucent Technologies . . 78 Rice University ...... 60 University of California, America Online . . . . . 22, 46 Friendster ...... 25 Michigan State Rojo Networks ...... 25 Santa Barbara ...... 24, 60 American Bar General Electric ...... 54 University ...... 65 Rolls-Royce ...... 54 University of Association...... 26 Goettingen University. . 71 Microsoft...... 22 Rotary International. . . . 18 Cambridge ...... 10, 36 Ascent Technologies . . 54 Google ...... 46 MIT ...... 24, 84, 85 Schlumberger ...... 54 University of Chicago . . 71 AT&T ...... 78 Google ...... 78 Monsanto ...... 28 Searchspace ...... 54 University of Haifa . . . . . 46 Berkshire Hathaway . . . 78 Green Party of Aotearoa NASA ...... 54 Sequoia Fund ...... 78 University of Idaho . . . . . 46 Bloglines ...... 25 New Zealand ...... 28 National Security Shell ...... 81 University of Illinois . 21, 54 Broadcom...... 31 Hamas ...... 46 Agency...... 46 Site Institute...... 46 University of Michigan . 54 Caltech ...... 60 Harrow School ...... 36 New York University . . . 72 SRI International...... 46 University of Stuttgart. . 84 Caltech ...... 72 Harvard Law School . . . 46 New Zealand Environmental Stanford University . 54, 60 University of Sussex . . . 26 Cambrios Technologies 24 Harvard University . . 60, 71 Risk Management State University of University of Toronto. . . 82 Carnegie Mellon Hezbollah ...... 46 Authority ...... 28 New York Upstate Venture Analytics...... 20 University ...... 54 Honda ...... 54 NewsGator...... 25 Medical School ...... 84 Victoria University . . . . . 26 Chromatis ...... 78 IBM ...... 71 Nexia Biotechnologies. 28 Sustainability Council of Whakamaru Farms . . . . 28 Cornell University. . . 10, 21 Imperial College Nutech Solutions ...... 54 New Zealand ...... 28 Wipro Technologies . . . 33 Dartmouth University . . 82 London ...... 26 Organization of the Texas Instruments . . . . . 33 World Health Deere and Company . . . 54 Infi neon ...... 84 Islamic Conference . . . . 18 Trinity Evangelical Organization...... 18 Depomed ...... 20 Infosys Technologies . . 33 Pheedo ...... 25 Divinity School...... 21 Yahoo...... 22, 46 Earthlink ...... 22 Institute of Systems Pluck ...... 25 Tsinghua University. . . . 21 Yale University ...... 84 Econometrics ...... 54 Biology...... 60 Pratt and Whitney...... 54 University of Ballarat. . . 26 Eurekster ...... 25 Intel ...... 31, 83 Princeton University of California, Federal Bureau of Ittiam Systems...... 33 University ...... 36, 46, 81 Berkeley ...... 36 Investigation...... 46 Johns Hopkins al-Qaeda ...... 46 University of California, Federal Communications University ...... 18, 83 Qualcomm ...... 78 Los Angeles...... 60 Commission...... 46 JumpStartUp...... 33
6 TECHNOLOGY REVIEW february 2005 Our proving grounds are actually oceans.
A car is only as good as its engine. Which is why, at GM, we challenge engines in ways normal driving can’t. In fact, some of our most demanding tests of engine durability happen at a place where you can’t drive a car at all.
They happen at sea, where nearly all of the gasoline stern drive and inboard boats in the United States feature a GM-powered marine engine under the hatch. Marine engines are built starting from some of the very same base engines found in our cars and trucks. On the water, where there are no towing services or mechanics, durability is critical. Cutting through pounding waves alone requires up to fifteen times the horsepower needed to power an automobile at the same speed on a level road. It’s the equivalent of driving a truck with a 15,000-pound trailer up a steep 10% grade. It’s a harsh environment for any engine, which is exactly why we do it.
There’s also the GM dock test, where we run an engine full-throttle for 275 hours. Thanks to the variety of durability testing we do, we’re able to design a host of engines that require minimal maintenance — only fluids and filters for the first 100,000 miles. An example of engineering efficiency that leads to long-term durability.
And on land, our engines pass the test in situations where reliability is often a matter of life or death. GM engines in industrial applications run emergency generators and backup systems for FAA air traffic control, critical care nursing facilities and wireless telecommunications towers. When the power goes out, we stay on.
We’re building engines people count on. In cars. In trucks. And in vehicles where miles per hour are measured in knots and the traffic signals flash from lighthouses.
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8 “De Technologia non multum scimus. Scimus autem, quid nobis placeat.” MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW february 2005