Nearly half the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day. But abject poverty shouldn’t be tolerated as a natural part of the human condition. Noted physicist and futurist Freeman Dyson believes that technology can help raise people out of destitution. He’s chairman of the Solar Electric Light Fund, which brings affordable solar power to rural areas in the developing world.

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Cars of tomorrow will certainly look different from today’s. Gasoline-powered, internal-combustion engines are bulky. Getting rid of them would free up a lot of space, allowing engineers to rethink automotive design. Car interiors may look more like comfortable lounges with customized seating arrangements. And forget steering wheels: Carnegie Mellon University researchers predict that self-driving robotic cars are only a decade away.

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A growing gust of support is giving clean, inexhaustible wind energy a real lift. The U.S. Department of Energy says it’s possible for wind to produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.

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Today’s roller coasters are engineering marvels, taller and faster than ever. Kingda Ka in New Jersey (left) has a 418-foot drop and races to speeds of 128 mph. Its hydraulic launch system catapults riders to maximum velocity in just 3.5 seconds. In 2002, the top speed of the world’s fastest ride was “only” 106.9 mph.

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When Apple’s engineers created the iPhone (right) a few years ago, it was an immediate hit, despite a fat price tag. Not only was it a cell phone but an iPod-like music and video player, too. It could surf the Web, handle e-mails, and receive GPS signals. Plus, it looked great and had touch-screen control.

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