Funkify roller-coasters | Trade globally | Tap into the earth's heat | Broadcast to phones | Film 4 cell |
Pipe gas in the arctic | Grow a steak | Hear better on Bluetooth | Get right into the action | Slideshow
Our world is awash in technology. Walk down the street, and chances are you'll run into someone talking loudly and animatedly to himself. In another lifetime, this would be a sure sign of insanity; in this one, you know the person is just fixated on the Bluetooth device permanently screwed into his ear. Catch a bus, and you'll notice a group of teenagers gathered around a tiny screen on a single mobile phone. They'll peer at it intently, then break away to whoop and punch the air. Generations past might mistake this for a youthful tribal ritual, but you, tech-savvy reader, know these kids are making sure they don't miss a minute of their favourite game. Head to a NASCAR rally down south in the next few months, and you'll be able to rent a device that gives you a bird's-eye view of the race — as experienced by the driver. In the more distant future, you may even be able to head home to barbecue steaks that had never known a cow — they'd been “grown” from a serum the night before.
There's no end to the beyond-the-curve ideas and gadgets being dreamed up across North America. What's really interesting is finding out how they actually work. In this issue, Canadian Business has scoured today's tech landscape in search of the cutting edge. We've talked with engineers, tested out devices, poured over diagrams and laid the inner workings of these technologies bare — all to expose the methods behind the mystique. Ever want to know how that TV image gets to that cellphone screen? Or how to shoot shows for such a tiny screen in the first place? Or how to get better audio on Bluetooth, so you don't have to talk quite so loudly? Just turn the page.
