As the energy debate rages in political and scientific circles, investment in clean energy technologies continues to rise. Clean Energy Trends 2008, published by research firm Clean Edge, estimates that fuel cells, solar PV, wind energy, and biofuels — a combined $77.3 billion market in 2007 — will increase to $254.5 billion (or 229 percent) within a decade. Even ocean energy research, which once ebbed due to its costly nature, has enjoyed a resurgence, attracting $250 million in global capital expenditure since 2004, according to ABS Energy Research. Yet, it remains to be seen which clean energy technologies have the brightest commercial future.

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In the past decade, cell phone use has exploded around the world: more than a billion mobile phones were sold in 2007 alone. Hundreds of new mobile applications have been launched to meet the demand for innovative new services, even as Web browsers have improved content delivery.

Mobile marketing holds great appeal, in large part because it offers the ability to carefully tailor the message and ensure that it reaches the right customer. According to Nielsen Mobile, nearly 77 million U.S. mobile users reported seeing some form of advertising on their phones.

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A number of scientists bared their genetic souls recently as part of the Personal Genome Project, a study at Harvard University Medical School. They were among the first of the eventually 100,000 volunteers who will agree to place their genetic profiles on the Internet.

Genetic profiling can provide information on what diseases may befall us. And knowledge of an individual’s genetic makeup may also help scientists figure out how to treat diseases—part of an emerging field known as personalized medicine.

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The vehicle glides over the rough Afghan terrain, scanning for militants and insurgent troops in training. Thousands of miles away, in the safety of a Nevada office, a soldier helps the plane navigate the chosen course.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) represents one of the latest examples of high-tech equipment increasingly in demand in battle zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The vehicles are also serving both security and civilian purposes here in the United States, such as zooming along the edges of forest fires or hovering in clouds to collect atmospheric activity.

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