Sugar-Powered Cars

Ultracapacitors: the future of electric cars or the 'cold fusion' of autovation?

ZENN Motors says its electric car will cruise for 250 miles on a single five-minute charge. Skeptics cry shenanigans.

The Archimedes Codex unpeeled by modern technological sleuthing

Deciphering latent script on ancient parchment makes curator Will Noel's job an Indiana Jones-style adventure

$10 million quest for a practical 100-mpg car

Small innovators rule so far in the entries for the Progressive Automotive X Prize for the most fuel-efficient car.

How to reengineer an engineering major at a women's college

A Smith College professor's program may provide a pattern for how to attract and keep women engineers.

Power harnessed one step at a time

Engineers call it 'crowd farming.' If it works, you could help power city lights just by taking a stroll.

Municipal Wi-Fi thrives – on a small scale

Big-city wireless Internet plans took a hit this summer, but places like Owensboro, Ky., and Rio Rancho, N.M., put networks in place.

A new step toward synthetic life

A genome firm says it changed one bacterium species into another by transferring DNA 'software.'

Backstory: Saving the planet, one car at a time

Switching an old convertible to run on plug-in power is tricky, expecially in front of an expectant crowd. Part 2 of two.

Backstory: From gas-powered to electric auto in 36 hours flat

We ride along as entrepreneur Greg Abbott turns a 1978 Triumph Spitfire into a completely clean, zero-emissions electric vehicle. Part 1 of two.