Having access to the internet in the field has changed they way scientest in San Diego county work. The High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network or HPWREN has made research easier and made new research possible. Environmental sensors can now provide real time continuous monitoring, data can be shared across the whole world, and an old telescope is given new life. Because of their high speed connection to the Internet, the telescopes in the Palomar Observatory now provide rapid response viewing for gamma ray bursts within 2 minutes of being detected by satellites. This is in contrast to regular telescopes where the data aren't available for weeks or months after the observations.

The best tech toys of 2007 will help you work, play, relax, and explore. There's a robotic lawn mower that mulches, recharges itself, and is quiet enough to run at night. The iFLY VAMP remote helicopter flies for hours and flaps its wings like a giant, demented moth. You can now take Internet radio with you using the new SoundBridge Radio from Roku. Finally, for a cool $130,000, you can buy your own submarine that can dive to 150' deep and is as easy to drive as a car.

This program was originally broadcast on IEEE Spectrum Radio.