After a decade of hype, microscopic mechanical systems are poised to make major changes in the size of our cell phones, the reliability of our communications systems -- even the way ?Star Wars? is shown.

Ivan Amato surveys the growing influence and presence of both government and private surveillance technology and considers some of the social and political pros and cons.

High-resolution satellite images are about to flood the marketplace. They could be good for business, but what will they do for terrorists?

Ivan Amato surveys the advances in digital image manipulation and warns that "as live electronic manipulation becomes practical, the credibility of all video will become just as suspect as Soviet Cold War photos. The problem stems from the nature of modern video. Live or not, it is made of pixels, and as Livingston says, pixels can be changed."

A collective effort to gather more information about the health and environmental risks from nanotechnology is now under way among corporate, academic, and government researchers.