Esquire articles from December 2006

Esquire archives from December 2006

Brad Pitt's baby's diaper-rash problem: readers weigh in.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "Haven't death sentences been issued for less? And will I have to be killed for repeating it? Will you have to be killed for printing it?" October marked the debut of the Esquire 100, a list of people (Cory Booker), places (Los Notros),...

Making a difference ...(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... In his October article ("My List: Fifteen Things I Think Everyone Should Know"). Brad Pitt pledged that he and Angelina Jolie "will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able." Jolie...

Making no sense ...(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... You make no sense. It clearly states in the Bible that marriage is between a man and a woman. Keep up the charity. Pitt is handsome and a good actor, but his personal opinions are not necessary. KIM VAN HEUVELN Oberlin, Ohio Have...

Or just making an excuse.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... That is the thinnest excuse I have ever heard. I'd be dumping him. DIANNA GRAY Houston, Tex.

And another thing.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Pitt also asserted that anyone who wanted to use drugs had the right to do so, with a few restrictions. Prohibition of drugs, just like that of alcohol during the era of Al Capone, is doomed to failure. What consenting adults consume,...

Never forgotten.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... More than two years after disappearing, Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin remains the only soldier missing in Iraq. Fellow soldier and writer Brian Mockenhaupt profiled Maupin, the few known details of his disappearance, and those waiting for him to...

Good dresser, great guy.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)
December 1, 2006... If you missed the Today show on September 12, you might not be aware that Anthony Rogers, a police officer from Hempstead, New York, won this year's Best Dressed Real Man in America contest. Along with the prestigious title, Rogers was awarded...

The Best Bar in America.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... I was astonished to read Chris Jones's story on Nye's Polonaise ("The Best Bar in America," October). Not only is he dead-on (Nye's is the best bar God ever blessed us with), but the amount of detail he included about its history and staff...

Book report: The Koran.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... In October, Tom Junod gave the Koran a book review ("The Koran"). The Koran was revealed not to be a work of literature but to teach the followers of Islam how to live a righteous life. We Muslims believe that it was revealed in Arabic...

The Esquire fashion department on: really cheap suits.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... I'm planning on stealing Best Dressed Real Man nominee Clifton Wilson's idea of buying a thrift-store suit and having it recut by a tailor ("The Best Dressed Real Men in America," September). Finding a suit won't be a problem, but I admit I...

At least we didn't call him a terrible bore.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Curtis Pesmen took a pretty unpopular stance in the October issue. He impugned the techniques of Cesar Millan, animal trainer and host of the National Geographic Channel's Dog Whisperer ("The Dog Whisperer Should Just Shut Up"). Millan gives...

Editor's letter.(This Way In)(Editorial)
December 1, 2006... Best & Brightest issue. Each year, we search for reasons to be optimistic in a world that gets more complicated and less secure all the time. You'll see a few updates on B&B alumni scattered throughout the issue; one of the joys of this project...

Sounds like you owe us a little more than that.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Contributing editor Ken Kurson recently suggested buying stock in GFI Group (The Portfolio, September). GFIG stock went up more than 7 percent today while the market went down. The options I bought on a thousand shares three days ago have...

Yeah, but only if you run it real slow and get right up on the TV.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... We tracked down five women, actresses uniquely unfamiliar with public exposure, in an attempt to crown Miss Unsullied 2006 ("The Unsullied Actress," October). To qualify, the women couldn't have appeared nude in film or had a private body part...

Okay, but no one tell fall out boy.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... In on October article, Chuck Klosterman questioned the number of members necessary for the ideal rock band ("How Many Swingers Does It Take to Make an Orgy?"). He thought four; his friend, five. The answer is five, and the reason is late...

Our world, only fatter.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... October's issue included a series of cortograms--disproportionote maps that treat countries like balloons, such that the higher the occurrence of a particular variable (such as extinct species, malaria deaths, net immigration, or tog exports)...

Elsewhere in the bin.(This Way In: THE SOUND AND THE FURY)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... While I was reading "Esquire's 2006 World Records for Men" (September), I couldn't help but notice the record set by Mike Larson of Macon, Georgia. He supposedly wore a suit unnecessarily for 23,457 consecutive days. This would mean that he...

Catchiest aphorisms.(CONTRIBUTOR AWARDS)
December 1, 2006... "The news: It's okay the first time you watch it... but when you watch it two times in a row, you want to throw up." "It would be pretty if it really snowed those big exaggerated and delicate snowflakes. But all we see are little white...

Zaniest o-line.(CONTRIBUTOR AWARDS)
December 1, 2006... "Brady brought the team up to the line of scrimmage, only to discover that tackle Matt Light and center Dan Koppen had fastened the goat photo to the backs of their jerseys." --A practical joke played on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after...

Chris Jones.(Those Responsible)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Writer: "It's More Fun to Be the Painter Than the Paint," page 166 FOR THIS MONTH'S cover story, Chris Jones was to fly to Los Angeles from his home in Ottawa, check in at his Hollywood hotel, lounge by the pool, and then meet up with...

John Ridley.(Those Responsible)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Author: "The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger," page 108 WRITER-DIRECTOR-PRODUCER John Ridley is well aware that his opinions on African-Americans are going to spark some intense debate. "I've done enough commentaries...

Funny * joke from a beautiful woman.(MAN AT HIS BEST: The Front)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... As told by PATTON, PAULA How many actors does it take to change lightbulb? Five. One to climb up the ladder and crew it in, and four to say, "That should have been me." ABOUT THE JOKESTER: After graduating from the USC film...

The leisure meter: how to allocate your free time this month.(MAN AT HIS BEST: THE FRONT)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Celebrating the season while listening to Home for Christmas, the new holiday album from Hall & Oates. 1 hour Apologizing to Jesus, who hasn't enjoyed anything in their catalog since "Maneater." 2 minutes Tuning in to the first three...

That guy: you love David Koechner. You just don't know who the hell he is.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... I'M IN A BAR, drinking a beer that costs more than my haircut, and behind me is one of those douche bags who can speak only in frat-pack movie lines. "I miss your scent. I miss your musk," he barks. "I think you and me should get an apartment...

Gifts for men: new DVDs worth owning.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The Conformist, extended edition. Paramount Home Entertainment (in stores December S): Bernardo Bertolucci went from an obscure Italian director to an international auteur with this explosive look at the corrosive effects of fascism. Lesbian...

Better in theory.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)
December 1, 2006... Shark Week on the Discovery Channel The edible bread bowl served with your soup A "Sundance favorite" Wilford Brimley's integrity as a spokesman Telling off your boss because it was "long overdue" Any prepackaged baked good labeled "chewy"...

A writer returns: Breaking & Entering is a film that only Anthony Minghella could possibly have made. That in and of itself is cause for celebration.(Movie review)
December 1, 2006... AN ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHT, Anthony Minghella made his feature-film debut in 1991 with a tiny, charming, and thoroughly English romance, Truly, Madly, Deeply, in which Alan Rickman plays a ghost whose mission on earth is to remind his grieving...

Q&A: Eugene Levy.(THE FRONT: THE SCREEN)(Interview)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... THIS MONTH, he bumbles through Christopher Guest's latest send-up, For Your Consideration, as an incompetent talent agent dealing with awards-season absurdities. Per usual for Guest films, Eugene Levy cowrote the screenplay (actually a 27-page...

How to tell a woman you don't like Grey's Anatomy.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... 1. Be honest. "I'm really more of a House guy" is ultimately easier for her to swallow than a series of "My TiVois full" excuses. 2. Listen to her rebuttals patiently: She loves talking about the show as much as actually watching it. 3. Be...

The state of the music is good: our critic assesses the past year (and responds to some whining), with some notes on a few key forces in music.
December 1, 2006... ATO Records and Anti-Records ATO RECORDS' OFFICIAL MOTTO is "By Music Lovers, for Music Lovers," while Anti uses "Real Artists Creating Great Recordings on Their Own Terms." ("Losing Money for Art's Sake" didn't have the same ring.) Labels...

The 6 best songs you didn't hear in 2006.
December 1, 2006... (1) Look Up," New Orleans Social Club On what's certainly the best of the post-Katrina tributes, Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball lead an all-star Big Easy collective through a funky sing-along. (2) "Up to the Mountain," Solomon Burke (with Patty...

Americana (done three ways).(THE FRONT: BOOKS)(High After the Flood)(Medium Baseball)(Low the Pop-Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... HIGH After the Flood, by Robert Polidori (Steidl, $590) Nearly 600 images of a devastated New Orleans in the weeks immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Polidori's pictures are straightforward and almost clinical, a somber reminder. ...

Big important book of the year: James who?(THE FRONT: BOOKS)(James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights )(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... JAMES MADISON has been cheated. Here we are, our best-seller lists occasionally looking like a catalog for the Founder of the Month Club, with three books on Alexander Hamilton and even that miserable old blatherskite John Adams getting the...

The all-meat gift guide: because nothing says happy holidays like a big box of meat. Here, five ways to show a carnivore you care.(GIVING)
December 1, 2006... THE BEST STEAK IN AMERICA With the center bone still intact. Lobel's dry-aged 16-ounce American Wagyu porterhouse (Wagyu being the subspecies of cattle from which the Japanese make Kobe) combines a portion of creamy filet with the slightly...

Biscuits 'n' gravy.(NONTRADITIONAL HOLIDAY MEAL OF THE MONTH)(Recipe)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... But not just any gravy. The Best Gravy Ever--and a Thanksgiving alternative from Brian Bistrong, chef at the Harrison in New York. It's a salty, smoky, slightly sweet South-meets-North crossbreed with a gravy that tastes like chowder. You're...

Aspen, Colorado.(WHAT'S GOOD IN...)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Dining out in Aspen has become a serious winter sport, with more good restaurants than cities far larger than its three and a half square miles. In the space formerly occupied by the beloved Mogador, the casual American eatery DISHASPEN (430...

Mister Mustard.(THE ENDORSEMENT)
December 1, 2006... I have savored a long love affair with condiments, and I have dallied on the dark side. Many years ago, when the Me Hotta Me Betta catalog was still etched on rock in hieroglyphs, I even attended condiment orgies, long sweaty evenings when...

Straight from the barrel: these four cask-strength bottles are unfiltered, unwatered, and unbelievably good.(THE GUIDE: DRINKING)
December 1, 2006... Just about everything in this vale of tears is a trade-off. Good mileage? No pickup. Be your own boss? Buy your own health insurance. Et cetera. Booze is no different. Time was, the distillers would ship it in the barrels it was aged in, and it...

The new badge.
December 1, 2006... In the modern business-formal climate, the French cuff and its attendant cuff link are the new markers of professionalism. A well-chosen link will say as much about you across a conference room as a watch. Or a pocket square. Or a furtive wink....

A hierarchy of cuff links: use this handy guide to sort your cuff links into convenient piles.(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... The Silk Knot Often free with shirts, they don't last long, but they add color. Not for evening. Silk-knot cuff links ($15) by Turnbull & Asser. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Bar and Rocker The most common form of cuff links and...

The Oliver Spencer jacket.(OBSESSION OF THE MONTH)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... LONDON-BASED Oliver Spencer specializes in revisiting traditional cloths (tweed and corduroy) and garments (uniforms, classic overcoats) and remixing them for a modern clientele. Witness his classic short overcoat in a Victorian tweed...

Paul Smith.(THE ADDRESS)
December 1, 2006... British men's wear's greatest fashion export, Sir Paul Smith, has taken classic British style and reinvigorated it. It is latest U.S. venture is a suitably massive new flagship store in New York's SoHo, an emporium big enough to stock Smith's...

Bamford & Sons.(UNLIKELY STYLE ICON OF THE MONTH)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... AN OBSCURE KIND OF LOGIC snakes its way from the Bamford family, the name behind JCB, one of Britain's biggest manufacturers of earth-moving equipment, to Bamford & Sons, a new brand of luxury men's clothing. Unlike other heavy-duty work-wear...

Collar up.(THE VISUAL ARGUMENT)
December 1, 2006... Windsor, D.o. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Welles, O. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Newman, P. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Merciless, M.t. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Globe-Trotter suitcase.(TRAVEL)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... GLOBE-TROTTER has been making suitcases just outside London for more than 100 years using its secret weapon, vulcanized fiberboard. Which is something like cardboard: 14 layers of paper that, when made into a case, are as light as aluminum but...

Timothy Everest.
December 1, 2006... Everest is a craftsman in the best London tradition, trained by Savile Row's first maverick, the late Tommy Nutter. Now firmly established in London's West End, Everest makes his retail foray in New York with hair salon Bumble and Bumble. This...

Prada by Prada.(A FRAGRANCE FOR MEN)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... PRADA LAUNCHES its first men's fragrance for fall with a surprisingly classic flavor. The complex smell combines clean and fresh notes with leathery, woody ingredients--four principal fragrance groups that smell good and masculine together, in...

The haircut rules.(THE GUIDE: STYLE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... OUR GROOMING EXPERT, RODNEY CUTLER, ON HOW NOT TO LOOK LIKE A JERK AT THE SALON * Tip your stylist at least 10 percent; 20 percent or more around the holidays will get you special consideration the rest of the year for things like free...

Three phones for your suit.(mobile phones)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... THAT AREN'T THE OLD RAZR) The paragon of cell-phone lightness and slenderness used to be the Razr. These three phones are either lighter or smaller or both. SAMSUNG BLACK CARBON (SLIDER) $499; samsungwireless.com Dimensions:...

Record sleeves.(Zegna Sport's Microtene iJacket)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... FROM THE CROWD of bandwagon-jumping additions to iPod culture comes something that actually makes sense: the iJacket, a new high-tech outdoor piece in Ermenegildo Zegna's breathable trademark Microtene fabric, which is perfect for skiing. Your...

Stainless steel.(MATERIAL OF THE MONTH)(8801 cell )
December 1, 2006... STONE ISLAND, an Italian brand known for its technical-clothing design, has created a limited-edition stainless-steel jacket (which is made of a polyester-based material sprayed with stainless steel in a vacuum) to coincide with the launch of...

Technology is not a fashion accessory.(THE VISUAL ARGUMENT)
December 1, 2006... Now that you've removed your cell-phone belt clip, avoid these as well iPod lanyard [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bluetooth headset [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bluetooth headphones [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Marquee belt buckle...

7 things that will make her like you more: we asked gals who know something about this gift-giving stuff--editors at women's magazines, personal shoppers, our own fashionistas--to help us help you shop for the woman in your life.(THE GUIDE: GIFTS FOR WOMEN)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The J.Crew shearling-lined plaid Trapper: For a bad hair day... just don't tell her that. $125;jcrew. com. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lancome's Mille et Une Roses: It smells like Mena Suvari in American Beauty, which is to say, pleasant....

Sex.(THE GUIDE)
December 1, 2006... I'm a grown man. I shouldn't be getting erections in public anymore. But for some reason when I'm on a plane, I always do. Is it the pressure? The vibrations? All right, don't rub it in. We're all awed by your irrepressible brawn. Now,...

Under pressure: Terrell isn't depressed. Why would he be? He's got a magical healing machine.(Terrell Owens)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Athletes have forever been scheming up innovative ways to get ahead--going back to the Greeks lifting heavy rocks and extending over time to dumbbells, Nike Air, steroids, the cream, and the clear. Add this to the list: portable hyperbaric...

Ask Dr. Oz: free advice from a medical professional.(Mehmet Oz)
December 1, 2006... How can I make myself less susceptible to colds? Don't bother with echinacea; studies show that it doesn't work. You're better off focusing on what you eat. The best foods during cold-and-flu season are vitamin-B6-rich ones like oatmeal,...

Will work for food.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... WILL WORK FOR FOOD THIS THANKSGIVING, before you smack Nana's hand away from the last piece of pie, at least know what you're committing to. Serving 14 ounces turkey, 1112 cups mashed 1 cup stuffing potatoes,...

Flossing, how to be an actor & why boobs & sports don't mix: Esquire's answer Fella believes that there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions, fearing they'll look stupid. So ask Answer Fella anything. If he doesn't know the answer, he'll find out who does or who has a guess that sounds right.
December 1, 2006... Why do so many female athletes have small breastesses? Answer Fella dreams of a new dawn that brings us true gender equality and not mere lip service, and a world where any gal in any sport can get so sweat-slick that each molecule of her...

Surfing with the alien: at least until Google ruins it, YouTube is bringing back rock virtuosity. Welcome home, Yngwie Malmsteen.
December 1, 2006... AT SOME POINT during the past year, I assume you have consumed a news story regarding YouTube.com. This assumption is based on the fact that there have been 16,578,000 stories about YouTube.com written in 2006, roughly 20 percent of which were...

12 things you don't know about women.
December 1, 2006... 1. A private plane will not make up for the fact that you have bad breath. 2. You know that one time you let your gay friend blow you? Tell your shrink, not us. 3. Text messaging is for children and people who are having affairs....

The manifesto of ascendancy for the modern American nigger: for eleven days in 2001, two blacks ran our country. It's their example and their achievement--and not the culture of failure fomented by the leftovers of the Movement--that must set a new agenda for black Americans.(THE ESSAY)(Essay)
December 1, 2006... LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT NIGGERS, the oppressed minority within our minority. Always down. Always out. Always complaining that they can't catch a break. Notoriously poor about doing for themselves. Constantly in need of a leader but...

Fwoomp. Loop. Zoom. (Splat.): it sounds more like one of Wile E. Coyote's bright ideas than a winter pastime: strap on a board and a giant kite and go careening across the snow.
December 1, 2006... It could be the opening scene of An American Werewolf in Utah. After a white-knuckle drive across the high desert in a blizzard, I see a glowing VACANCY sign and pull into a motel next to a big yellow school bus that, though driverless, seems...

A Christmas story: Ralphie just wanted that BB gun. And Esquire gadget guru Barry Sonnenfeld just wants a new camera. And maybe a couple bottles of good tequila and a new projector. Oh, and there's that yacht....(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Well, it's Christmas-time, which for me means eight Hanukkah gifts on top of a lot of Christmas presents. This year I'm trying to make things easier for the wife, so I'm bunching things into categories. (One piece of advice, Sweetie: Just...

The Sexiest Woman Alive: hall of heroes.(Scarlett Johansson)
December 1, 2006... At the turn of another year, we take a moment to look back. Following the enshrinement last month of Scarlett Johansson as Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive 2006, we have decided to offer this collector's edition of three years' worth of...

The genius test 2006: are you smart enough for this issue?
December 1, 2006... WHAT WOULD OUR ANNUAL Best & Brightest issue be without a mind-stretching test of your own intelligence? In an issue full of quests, here's one you can take. Stumble through the winding paths of your own fact-ridden brain to solve four...

It's more fun to be the painter than the paint: if George Clooney can't save the world, at least he may be able to save the movies.(Cover story)
December 1, 2006... Yesterday, George Clooney was at work filming Ocean's Thirteen, which is his penance for wasting studio money on smaller, smarter films that not as many people will pay to see, The day before, he, was at a crowded, elaborate photo snoot where...

Best and brightest 2006.(B&B)
December 1, 2006... We embarked on five quests. We found forty-two people (and their friends) who are making us see things we've never seen before--in the galaxy; in the atom; in our own heads and deep in our DNA; in our data networks; in the fog of our disasters;...

The future of driving: after years of stagnation, get ready for some real change. Say hello to cars--and roads--with minds of their own.
December 1, 2006... (1) LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AT MY CAR Consider the classic illustration of evolution. You start on the left with the fish, then there's the fish with legs, then, I don't know, the squirrel or something, and on to the monkeys, each one a bit...

Y.H. Percival Zhang: crazy idea of the year: "sugar cars".
December 1, 2006... PERCIVAL ZHANG, a modest professor, drives a safe, fuel-efficient black Hyundai Elantra. It gets him to and from his biochemical-engineering lab at Virginia Tech, where he is quietly working on some rather unspectacular solvents and enzymes...

Mark Cuban: agitator, 48, Dallas.
December 1, 2006... THE FIRST TIME WE WROTE about Mark Cuban ("Yeaaaahhhhhhh, Baaaaaaaa-byyyyy!," April 2000), he and his partner had just sold their first Internet venture--Broadcast.com--to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion. As we finished reporting that story, Cuban...

Paul Hebert: bar-coding life.
December 1, 2006... WHEN HE WAS six years old, Paul Hebert gathered butterflies and moths in his backyard, curating his collection the way taxonomists had since the eighteenth century. Color, shape, behavior--these were our only means to distinguish one species...

Translation goggles.(Alex Waibel)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... IT USED TO BE THAT DISTANCE divided mankind; now it's language. There are McDonald's restaurants in Pakistan, but not many of us can say "Hold the mayo" in Urdu. That will soon change. Alex Waibel, a professor of computer science at Carnegie...

Hugh Herr: at MIT, making "biohybrids," or prostheses that blur the line between human and device.(B&B)
December 1, 2006... YOU CAN BARELY hear him over the hum of the machines, a low thrumming that is general throughout the halls and laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You have to lean forward a little when Hugh Herr talks about the arms and...

Spray-on concrete.(INVENTIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... HOW DO YOU BUILD a house in two days? Spray-on concrete has been around for years, but a new material takes the technique to another level. Grancrete, a mix of fibers and inorganic materials, is actually a type of ceramic. It's stronger and...

The theory of everything: for a hundred years, physicists have been scraping away at the strange and complicated phenomena obscuring the true face of our universe. Finally, a few brilliant young thinkers may be on the verge of getting the first real glimpse.(QUEST)
December 1, 2006... EIGHTEEN MONTHS TO GO. And now some nights Nima Arkani-Hamed can't sleep. Because in eighteen months someone will flip a switch in something called the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. And when that switch is flipped, billions of protons...

Letter from an Alum: Eric Loewen: Class of '05.(ALUMNI)
December 1, 2006... LAST YEAR, Loewen, a nuclear engineer, showed us his vision for a new generation of"neighborhood friendly" nuclear power plants ("Crazy Idea of the Year"). Recently, he sent us the following note. Dear Esquire, Tempus fugit and so did...

Elizabeth Goldring: the blind inventor off the seeing machine.(B&B)
December 1, 2006... IN A CLUTTERED OFFICE on the third floor of the MIT Museum building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a blue-eyed woman peers intently into a small white box. The box, cobbled together out of foam board, seems a common thing. But inside it,...

Synthetic Gecko feet.(INVENTIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... THE GECKO'S ABILITY to seemingly stick to anything was a mystery until just four years ago, when scientists discovered the reptile's secret: billions of follicles on its toes that bond atomically with the surface. In fact, via intermolecular...

Big freakin' laser beams in space: by shining a light on atmospheric turbulence, the Air Force's Starfire Optical Range has taken the twinkle out of stars--and dramatically improved our vision of all that is above us.(B+B)
December 1, 2006... HEREON PLANET EARTH, the obfuscation is relentless. We squint by day as the firmament pours down on us in blinding waves, veiling the mysteries of space. By night the stars twinkle, twinkle, hiding in plain sight behind that pulsing mirage. We...

Claire Gmachl: tiny li'l laser beams in the palm of your hand.(B&B)
December 1, 2006... I ONCE MET a guy who said he painted portraits of people's souls on a grain of rice, seriously, on the boardwalk at Santa Monica. That's all right, but there's a woman at Princeton who makes lasers that size that can paint a portrait of the...

The institute of weird ideas: Josef Penninger: Class of '02.(ALUMNI)
December 1, 2006... FOUR YEARS AGO, the immunologist Josef Penninger wrote about his work with a gene called DREAM and its role in controlling pain. In 2003, he left the University of Toronto to head up the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna. Back...

The age of resilience: or, how I learned to stop worrying and love global threats. Welcome to the Institute for Advanced Technologies in Global Resilience.(QUEST: B+B)
December 1, 2006... We tend to believe what we see on television. So when we watch government agents racing to thwart a terrorist plot, playing maestro on the computer, tapping into every sort of real-time video feed or voice recording, and cross-referencing that...

Stuart Bowen: the man charged with auditing the Iraq reconstruction finds he's fighting his own kind of war.(B+B)
December 1, 2006... BAGHDAD IS particularly gloomy this September. People are being tortured with electric drills, the government is falling apart, attacks are up in the Green Zone--you used to get a dud around nine and now they hit at six in the morning and go...

The ultrasonic tourniquet.(INVENTIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "DEEP BLEEDERS"--internal hemorrhaging from blast and fragmentation injuries--are the number one cause of preventable U.S. deaths on the battlefield. Researchers are developing a portable cuff that will use sound waves to locate those wounds...