Fast acting powder from a pressurized cylinder made of nanostructured crystals of magnesium oxide and titanium oxide can quickly neutralize mustard gas, VX nerve gas and other toxic threats by absorbing it and leaving behind a harmless solid to be swept up. FAST-ACT

Semi-conducting liquid polymers can be painted on flexible thin plastic films to create cheaper, lighter, and more simply manufactured photoelectric cloth that can be used in tents, awnings, roofs and even clothing for running small electronic devices or lighting. KONARKA.

Silicon arrays the size of a baby aspirin that turns brainwaves into electronic computer commands for quadriplegics and even the fully paralyzed. CYBERKINETICS NEUROTECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS

New Mexico is building a $200 million spaceport in the desert in partnership with Richard Branson. Virgin Galactic expects to have commercial flights available by 2008 and will be just west of the present White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces. At present, the fares are calculated at $200,000 per person for a 2.5-hour flight and at least 150 people have put down 10% deposits on the first flight. WALL STREET JOURNAL

There may be a time, when "eat your vegetables" will no longer be a loving remark by parents to children. Recent trend data from the Center for Disease Control says that produce now accounts for 1/6th of all food-borne illnesses, up from just 1% a few decades back. At fault is the enormous increase in popularity of fresh or raw vegetables in weight-loss and vegetarian diets. Especially at risk are: Tomatoes, Cantaloupes, Lettuce, Sprouts and Green Onions, while Salmonella and e-coli are the greatest offenders. Because of the increasing number of stages in the modern food supply chain, this problem will continue to grow, unless consumers can be educated about more rigorous cleaning and storage of fresh produce. PARTNERSHIP FOR FOOD SAFETY EDUCATION

One exciting new trend in the datasphere is the growth of MashUps, which combine online digital maps with almost any data set, for any purpose imaginable...for example, to locate all the public bathrooms along the course of a weekend marathon. Based on a whole new generation of mapping tools, this technology can allow such luxury activities as looking at available real estate offerings through satellite cameras without leaving your home or pinpoints all the fast food locations in a city or checks for tie-ups at traffic cameras throughout a city. GOOGLE

Another intriguing area matching maps and data is the increasingly interactive 511 system (named for the US government program expected to reach 50% of the nation by 2007) which monitors urban conditions, such as traffic, weather. The growing network of urban cameras (metro Atlanta will soon have 1,800) that survey and report is being tied to private sector providers who send data to handheld computers and cell phones. Accident details, traffic speeds and even predictions (congestion increasing or decreasing) will soon be available in animated graphic format in most US cities. While the US still lags behind the UK in number of public cameras, they are quickly catching up. TRAFFIC.COM

Looking at Brazil, as a bellwether for the future is often tempting, especially in areas such as open source software development. Lately, however, Brazil has become the international leader in development of petroleum alternatives, especially ethanol. Not every country has the resources or history to convert their sugar cane industry to new purposes, but the development of flex fuel automobiles (now 70% of Brazilian new car sales) can be copied anywhere. Brazil can now produce ethanol 50% cheaper than gasoline, and alcohol fuels now account for 20% of fuels used in that country (versus 1% worldwide). Finally, its present exports to countries like Japan and Sweden will double by 2010 to $1.3 billion, eventually lowering carbon dioxide emissions in both countries. WALL STREET JOURNAL

Robots being developed at MIT which will assist victims of stroke-related disabilities to retrain paralyzed limbs and stimulate new brain activity. This would replace the human physical therapist by using interactive video gaming to stimulate the range of motion activity on a progressively more challenging schedule. This never-tiring therapist can keep assisting patients month after month, and research is showing decrease in chronic pain and incremental improvement over as much as a three-year period. This is much different to previous procedures, which assumed that most if not all of the improvement from physical therapy occurred in the first month aster the stroke. MIT DEPT OF BRAIN AND COGNATIVE SCIENCE

The Aeroscraft, a heavier than aircraft similar to a dirigible, is already in the design stages to call. Longer than two football fields (200 yards) it is aerodynamic and prop driven (with six fanjets for takeoff and landing). While its helium tanks will compensate for two-thirds of craft and cargo weight, and range could be as great as 6,000 miles, its top speed will be less than 200 miles per hour. Its relatively low weight to size ratio will also allow water and even snow landings and its cargo space will be unmatched, but passenger capacity would be around 250 in roomy surroundings. WORLDWIDE AEROS CORP.