February 2012 issue
COVER STORY
A Perfect Storm of Planetary Proportions
The approach of the solar maximum is an urgent reminder that power grids everywhere are more vulnerable than ever to geomagnetic effects
By John Kappenman

FEATURES

Dream Jobs 2012: Bridging Brazil’s Digital Divide
Brazilian engineer José Edimilson Canaes teaches people to turn the power of computers onto social problems
By Erico Guizzo

Dream Jobs 2012: Building Ocean Explorers
Ocean engineer Kevin Hardy’s creations plumb the depths of the Mariana Trench
By Eliza Strickland

Dream Jobs 2012: Building a Hybrid-Electric, Unmanned Heliplane
The leader of Aerovel’s avionics design team, John Stafford, gravitates to small, informal companies
By David Schneider

Dream Jobs 2012: Designing Automation for Acrobats
Phillip Toussaint‘s computer code moves the scenery, props, and other gear that make magic for Cirque du Soleil and other extravaganzas
By Alaina G. Levine

Dream Jobs 2012: Lego Queen
Nicole Richard uses Lego kits to educate budding engineers
By Rachel Courtland

Dream Jobs 2012: P2P Politics
Ever since the Obama campaign, former AOL executive Jascha Franklin-Hodge has been using the Web to improve political campaigning
By Marisa Plumb

Dream Jobs 2012: Quick-Draw Animator
Software creator Kevin Wang’s tools turn news stories into viral videos
By Eliza Strickland

Dream Jobs 2012: Rube Goldberg 2.0
Brent Bushnell is a jack-of-all-tech-trades with a whimsical take on real-world engineering
By Tekla S. Perry

Dream Jobs 2012: Sports Geek
Athlete/engineer Antoine Ravisé finds his calling developing next-generation sports gear
By Rachel Courtland

Dream Jobs 2012: Web Guru for the Blind
IBM researcher Chieko Asakawa can’t see your website, but she can make it better
By Eliza Strickland

Graphene: The Ultimate Switch
Graphene could replace the transistor with switches that steer electrons just like beams of light
By Chun-Yung Sung, Ji Ung Lee

Special Report: Dream Jobs 2012
There's nothing textbook about the careers of the 10 engineers profiled in our annual Dream Jobs roundup

Using Lasers to Find Land Mines and IEDs
A laser could ionize a distant puff of air and thus safely detect the fumes from buried explosives
By Richard B. Miles, Arthur Dogariu, and James B. Michael

UPDATE

LightSquared’s GPS-Interference Controversy Comes to a Boil
Cellular wannabe can’t reach a deal with GPS community
By David Schneider

Nanostructures Catch the Light
Razor-thin solar cells could be cheap but need a little help holding light in
By Neil Savage

Self-Assembly Takes Shape
Researchers exploit new ways to make ICs and hard disks pull themselves together
By Rachel Courtland

Undersea Observatory Survives Setback
Neptune Canada recovers from an outage and its U.S. counterpart finally gets started
By Peter Fairley

OPINION

Spain Declares War on Online Pirates
A controversial anti-Internet-piracy law passes in Spain
By Morgen E. Peck

Tufte-isms
The proponents of information design, present—and talk about—data efficiently
By Paul McFedries

DEPARTMENTS

A Soft Touch
Telikin’s new touch-screen desktop computer targets seniors—and runs Linux
By Harry Teasley

Engineers: What’s in a Name?
The words we use for engineering disciplines have changed dramatically
By Ada Brunstein

IR Eye
A cheap infrared scanner can replace an expensive thermal-imaging camera
By David Schneider

Passport to Engineering
A new ID card will establish an engineer’s credentials throughout the EU
By John Blau

Review: MathStudio
A new smartphone and tablet app runs 300 math functions and your own scripts as well
By Kenneth R. Foster