December 1997
Volume 3, Number 4

Features

Life after silicon: Ultrascale computing
Despite the promise of a new road map for silicon-based integrated circuits, there is some "high risk-high payoff" research being conducted on alternative computing technologies, including cellular engineering, cultured neural networks, and quantum computing – Nancy Forbes

Industrial ecology at the crossroads
The next step toward global sustainability will require major advances: new materials, new processes, and new attitudes on the part of industrial researchers and developers – Tom Graedel

News

Materials competition for flat-panel displays
Although liquid crystal displays account for as much as 99% of all flat-panel displays shipped, there are at least three other technologies that are competing for a share in the market that could hit $30 billion by 2002 – Jennifer Ouellette

Briefs
Cold plasma thin films; flywheel technology; "smart" highways; radiation detector; megasonic cleaning – David Pope

Departments

Editorial
Vision, technology, and motivation – Charles Harris

Letters

Technology
Ultrahigh-speed electronic imaging – David Bowley, Joseph Honour, and Brian Speyer

Hidden Physicists
Not lost in the crowd

Forum
In salute of excellence – Pat Young

New Products