I'm still standing A SENSOR-stuffed insole is helping people suffering from balance disorders stay on their feet. By accurately profiling someone's gait, the insole lets physiotherapists home in on the right treatment—which could be anything from complete "gait re-education" to a gentle course of t'ai chi. Balance disorders are a serious problem. Millions of people are thought to … 51¶¯Âþ
Westminster diary DROWNED cities and sunken ships may seem the preserve of a few obsessed divers, but in fact all these are now classed as part of our underwater cultural heritage. What's more, the UN is very keen to protect it, although two important international high-level meetings of experts have passed virtually unnoticed. "Underwater cultural heritage" includes … Opinion
Flawed beauty IT WAS 2 August 1999, a particularly hot day in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The Luker family had just finished lunch and were on their way into the Bishops Walk shopping centre. "We'd just walked in the main door when I heard this tremendous bang," recalls Lynne Luker. "I looked up and saw a huge shower of … Features
Big ideas Great Projects by James Tobin, The Free Press, $40, ISBN 0743210646 THIS is the story of America's engineers, the people who built the Hoover Dam, the George Washington Bridge and tried to tame the mighty Mississippi. It's the tale of Thomas Edison, who had the vision of lighting homes with electricity—and of Samuel Insull, who … Books & Arts
Feedback WHAT IF we built a quantum computer and used it to run Stephen Wolfram's cellular-automaton-like model of the Universe (25 August, p 44), asks reader Timothy Grange. "The entire multiverse could be simulated at a blinding pace . . . we could interact with perfect simulations of whatever strange life has evolved in other universes … Regulars