TIME'S COOLEST INVENTIONS OF 2002

List Includes General Motors' Hy-wire 'Car of the Future,' The Earth Simulator, and The Tomato Vaccine

New

York, NY - TIME magazine names General Motors' Hy-wire car, the Tomato Vaccine, and the Earth Simulator among the "Coolest Inventions of 2002," in its third-annual special "Inventions" issue (on newsstands Monday, Nov. 11). TIME editors, including TIME's Lev Grossman, Anita Hamilton and Maryanne Buechner, chose inventions in categories from communication to transportation, great gadgets for your home to new medical breakthroughs.

TIME's "Coolest Inventions" issue includes a Web Shopping Guide and Best in Tech roundup. TIME cuts through the clutter of acronym-spewing salesclerks by recommending great gift ideas online, while correspondents scoured the major product categories and selected the best in tech at three price points: inexpensive, moderate and expensive. The package is on TIME.com at www.time.com/time/2002/inventions.

Hy-Wire: Car of the Future: Powered by fuel cells like those used in the orbiting space station, and controlled with the same fly-by-wire technology currently found in aircraft cockpits, the Hy-wire offers a sneak peak at car of the future, according to TIME. Because the fiber-glass body is basically a shell, different models can be swapped like cell-phone covers. So you could in theory drive a sports car on the weekends and change it into a minivan to haul the kids to school, reports TIME's Anita Hamilton.

The Tomato Vaccine: Charles Arntzen, a biologist at Arizona State University, spent five years developing what he likes to call "plant-derived vaccines." Conventional vaccines are costly to make and distribute in Third World countries, so Arntzen and his colleagues began thinking about using plants instead. Arntzen focused on diarrheal diseases because, he says, they "kill at least 2 million people in the world every year, most of them children." And he chose tomatoes because tomato-processing equipment is relatively cheap. Now, four dozen labs around the world are working on their own versions of "plant-derived vaccines" based on tomatoes, bananas and potatoes. "I'll always regret calling these edible vaccines," admits Arntzen, "because that's just the image it conjures up."

The Earth Simulator is designed to create a virtual twin of the entire earth. Commissioned by the Japanese government and located in Yokohama, Japan, It's the size of four tennis courts, costs $350 million and is as powerful as the next twelve fastest supercomputers in the world put together. By plugging rea - life climate data from satellites and ocean buoys into the Earth Simulator, researchers can create a computer model of the entire planet, then scroll forward in time to see where it's all heading. Why? TIME editors muse, "In the hope that digitally cloning our home planet, we might just be able to save it."

TIME's list of 2002's Coolest Inventions includes:

TRANSPORTATION Trikke: Three-wheeled scooter made of aircraft-grade aluminium. Wheelman: Strap your feet to a clown-sized motorcycle and steer with your weight.

COMMUNICATION Dog Translator: Bowlingual, a radio microphone and handheld receiver translates barks into phrases. Phone Tooth: Embedded in a molar, it can receive cell-phone calls. Sign-language translator: Colorado high-school student Ryan Patterson saw a woman signing in Burger King and came up with the idea to create a glove that translates sign language to text. Sputmik Microphone: MIT and Design Continuum designed a wireless microphone for crowds.

HOME Icopod: Wind-resistant, waterproof shelters that can be used for emergency relief. Robot Vacuum: The Roomba is a battery-powered robot vaccum that turns itself off and Dyson DC-07 Vacuum: This vacuum's cylinders spin at 600 mph traps dirt and expels air with no filter to clog - it separates dust and air by centrifugal force. Outlast's Adaptive Comfort Bedding: Thermacules regulate temperature, allowing for climate control under the covers. Foam Chairs: EVA DVA children's foam chairs can be stacked to form sculptures and playhouses.

CLOTHING Spill-proof khakis: Pants sold by Eddie Bauer and Lee. Ski Jacket with Built-in MP3 and Mini-Disc Players: Burton AG Clone MD Jacket made with a Sony Mini-Disc and digital music player sewn in. Water-repellent Cashmere: All-weather cashmere windbreakers, by Lutz and Patmos, are treated with teflon so rain drops run off.

TOYS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAIMENT Hasbro's Power Air Surfer: Radio-controlled toy plane soars to 100ft. and is almost impossible to crash. Cindy Smart: A doll that can do math, read flash cards and answer 70 questions. Smart Skis: Head's new i.C skis contain a computer chip that responds to tension and relaxes or stiffens accordingly. Spyfish: A gadget that plunges 500 ft. and allows you to explore underwater without getting wet.

MEDICAL 3D Ultrasound: e-Touch from Novint Technologies simulates feeling the fetus. Ortho-Evra Birth Control Patch: Small, waterproof and delivers the same amount of estrogen and progesterone as the pill.

SAFETY AND SECURITY Date Rape Drug Detector: Drink coaster that can identify date rape drugs in drinks. Building Safety Chute: AMES-1 evacuation system looks like a waterslide but lets people escape from a 11-story building to safety in 19 seconds.

COMPUTER TECH AND MORE Virtual Keyboard: Canesta and VKB created a laser projection of a keyboard, great for PDA's. Aerogel: The lightest solid in the world used by NASA to trap and analyze particles. Mars Rovers: NASA is testing solar-powered, robotic vehicles to send to Mars. Solar Tower: A 20,000-acre greenhouse surrounds a 1-km tower and generates enough green electricity to power 200,000 Australian homes.

TIME Technology writers Anita Hamilton, Lev Grossman and Maryanne Buechner are available to discuss and demonstrate these inventions.

# # #