May 2012 issue
COVER STORY
John L. Hennessy: Risk Taker
Stanford University’s president predicts the death of the lecture hall as university education moves online
By Tekla S. Perry

FEATURES

Light-Field Photography Revolutionizes Imaging
A new generation of cameras promises an imaging revolution
By Mark Harris

The Dawn of Haiku OS
How a volunteer crew brought a crack operating system back
By Ryan Leavengood

The Kilogram, Reinvented
Two difficult experiments are poised to remake one of the world’s most fundamental units
By Rachel Courtland

UPDATE

A New Twist on Radio Waves
Using the angular momentum of light could make one radio channel into two, three, or more. But many wireless experts are skeptical
By Alexander Hellemans

Landauer Limit Demonstrated
Scientists show that a 50-year-old principle limiting future CMOS computing is real: Erasing information gives off heat
By Samuel K. Moore

Snails in a Race for Biological Energy Harvesting
Tinkering could tailor snails to spy for us
By Lucas Laursen

Soft Robots for Hard Problems
Squishy robots may move and manipulate objects in new ways
By Neil Savage

The Battle Between ARM and Intel Gets Real
ARM servers and Intel smartphones are coming soon
By Rachel Courtland

OPINION

100 Years of the Institute of Radio Engineers
Looking back on a century of innovation, looking forward to the next
By Robert W. Lucky

DEPARTMENTS

E-mail Isn’t Killing the Post Office
Revenues at the U.S. Post Office are doing just fine, thank you
By Mark Anderson

Pixels: Size Matters
A camera’s sensor area, not its pixel count, determines the quality of a photograph
By Sally Wiener Grotta, Daniel Grotta

The Poor Man’s Solder Reflow Oven
A cheap controller and a Walmart toaster oven kept the price down
By Tom Burke

This Is Your Brain on fMRI
The science of mind reading is further along than you might think
By Mark Anderson