Nanotechnology marches on with the introduction of nanonukes, microscopic nuclear reactors that can supply all the energy needs of an entire city block or rural town. Scientists are also developing nanocannisters to safely store radioactive nanowaste without attracting the attention of squirrels. The last person standing in a group of competitors gets his or her project funded. Senior researchers designate the burliest postdocs they can find to slog it out in a mud pit set up across the street from the White House. Linguists use a computer model to reconstruct the way people spoke 20,000 years ago and get a surprising mouthful.
Medical researchers concoct a drug that cures the common cold.
Unfortunately, it has side effects that would put a case of prune juice to shame. Discoverers of the spherical chemical structures known as buckyballs, or buckminsterfullerenes, in honor of Buckminster Fuller identify carbon atoms that form pairs of resilient, branching columns. The scientists christen these antlerlike arrays bullwinklenes. Genetic engineers delight mothers everywhere by designing a strain of broccoli that tastes like French fries and a type of Brussels sprouts flavored like chocolate bon-bons. The gene tweakers also create a DNA recipe for cucumber patties, crunchy green disks with a smoky hamburger flavor.