Active Denial Technology: Directed Energy Weapons
Active Denial Technology disables enemy soldiers or crowds with a painful beam of electromagnetic energy that inflicts a disabling, burning pain over the body by triggering heat receptors in the skin. (re: William Gibson)

Nanowire Memory Cells: Compact Data Storage
Is it possible to achieve data storage rates of 40 Gigabits per square centimeter? Scientists at USC and the NASA Ames Research Center think so - with nanowire. (re: Frank Herbert)

Phraselator P2: Speech Recognition And Translation
VoxTec is now taking orders for the Phraselator P2, an improved version of its original product. The new device is a complete redesign, with longer battery life, higher-fidelity audio, better speech recognition and improved ergonomics. (re: William Gibson)

Liquid Armor In Two Flavors: Shear Thickening and Magnetorheological
Liquid armor using shear thickening fluid and magnetorheological fluid is being developed to protect soldiers and law enforcement personnel. (re: Greg Bear)

EyeBall: Omni-Directional Smart Eye Sensor Update
O.D.F. Optronics has created a small spherical sensor called the EyeBall that can transmit a 360 degree "omni-directional" image and can hear everything within a twenty-five meter area. (re: Robert Silverberg)

Road Stud Traffic Camera Reads License Plates
A traffic surveillance camera concealed in a road stud can read your license plate as you drive by; it can even see if your tires are bald at 150 miles per hour. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Sony LIBRIe E-Ink Electronic Book Update
The Sony LIBRie electronic book solves the most serious problems of past e-book hardware. And, in the near future, it may be able to replace parchment copies of The Daily Prophet, the wizard newspaper from Harry Potter. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Yoda - The World's Oldest Mouse Update
Yoda, the world's oldest mouse, lives at the UM Medical School. Not the best place for a mouse to attain longevity - but Yoda was born into a geriatrics lab. (re: Larry Niven)

Baja Beach Club Implants VeriChip In Customers
The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain is the first business to use the VeriChip System to grant customers access to VIP areas and provide an easy payment option. (re: Neal Stephenson)

RAFFE Helps Remote Mobile Investigator Gather Fingerprints
The Pedsco RMI robot, used for remote handling of explosive devices and other hazardous materials, now has the ability to gather fingerprints. Good news for the humans who might otherwise perform this task. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Church of Fools: The Coming Of The Avatar?
The Church of Fools, an experiment in online, interactive worship, will open its virtual doors this coming May 11th. The service will be lead by real priests or pastors who appear as "avatars." (re: Neal Stephenson)

SPHERES - Mini Satellites Fly In Formation
Rather than bet all the marbles on one large satellite, MIT undergraduates are trying a different strategy. The SPHERES project imagines lots of small volleyball-sized satellites flying together in formation, working in concert. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Roomba's Brother PackBot
iRobot's Roomba cleans up around the house - their PackBot helps soldiers clean up on the battlefield, doing duty as HAZMAT assistant, targeting aid, and bomb discovery droid. (re: Karel Capek)

ULTra - driverless automatic taxi
The ULTra, an automated, driverless taxi system, offers a small private car (up to four passengers) that goes straight to the destination set by the user. (re: Larry Niven)

COTS Scout: Team Building Robot
The COTS Scout robot is learning to play well with others - and to work as part of a search and rescue team. (re: Neal Stephenson)

AirScooter II Ultralight: Heinlein's Copter Harness?
In 1954, Robert Heinlein described a "copter harness" - you will soon be able to buy the AirScooter II, an easy-to-fly ultralight aircraft that comes pretty close. (re: Robert Heinlein)