Using a bottom-up approach to his research, as opposed to Mr McCullough's top-down method of looking at the project through a geopolitical prism, Mr Parker has written the Panama story for a new generation.

ECONOMIST: The Panama Canal

With this project she will develop a new label-free biomolecular detection method, based on a technique called Plasmon Resonance Energy Transfer (PRET), to monitor biochemical pathways involved in the differentiation of stem cells.

UNESCO: 2010 UK and Ireland Winners

Another spinoff from Lucasfilm was a project using powerful workstations to edit film on computers, thus relieving Lucas of the old cut-and-splice method.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The project started with attempts to charge by simply flying near power lines, but when that method yielded only micro-watts of juice, focus shifted to actually landing on the lines.

ENGADGET: Air Force developing UAVs that can recharge on power lines

Amble says that Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) is keenly interested in the project, and he sees telemedicine becoming far more than a method for providing health care to villages in developing countries that can't afford a doctor.

FORBES: Remote Retirement