Sick Capital

Why it matters that VCs won't do their jobs.
By Jason Pontin

Letters from our readers

Inventing across Borders

Mapping international collaboration in R&D.
By Matt Mahoney

Publicly Funding Entrepreneurship

We need to take politics out of government efforts to spur innovation.
By Josh Lerner

The Pace of Innovation Never Falters

Innovation and entrepreneurship are thriving.
By Steve Jurvetson

Transforming Energy

How a government funding agency aims to solve the energy problem.
By Arun Majumdar

Bill Gross

Can a veteran dot-com investor make solar power as cheap as coal?
By Jason Pontin

Personalized Medicine on the Spot

A new device can rapidly test biological samples for genetic variations that could cause dangerous reactions to some drugs.
By Erica Naone

Information Technology

Materials

Biomedicine

Year of the Laser

The laser, a device used in everything from astrophysics to biology, was invented 50 years ago.
By Kristina Grifantini

Personalized Medicine

We look at how cheap, fast genomic sequencing is beginning to yield medicines tailored to your genes.

What's Wrong with Venture Capital?

The old mechanism for funding the commercialization of new technologies is in trouble.
By James Surowiecki

A Rose by Another Name

A food critic explores the synthesis of the scents in modern fragrances.
By Corby Kummer

Reinventing the Commercial Jet

The long-delayed Boeing 787 is a lesson in the limits of outsourcing. It is also a preview of the future of air travel.
By David Talbot

A Composite Commercial Jet Takes Wing

Scaling Up Solar Power

Applied Materials makes the equipment needed to produce the biggest solar panels in the world.
By Katherine Bourzac

Making the Biggest Solar Panels in the World