18 May 2012

Unveiling our tech future. (June 2012 issue)

20 April 2012

Welcome to the future. Prepare for some interesting shocks. (May 2012 issue)

In this month’s issue, we offer distinctly useful advice on freeing up computer disc space, comment on music piracy (yes, it remains ethically unsound) and tell you how to digitise your old home movies. Our cover story describes a huge aircraft, developed under a veil of secrecy, that’s destined to launch a... 

16 March 2012

Fire-breathing monsters. Creepy robots. Cool gadgets. A century of DIY tips. Welcome to PM's world (April 2012 issue)

Our cover story this month, “The fast and the curious”, is classic PM material, celebrating the left-field approach to design and construction evident in the annual Kinetic Grand Championship, a three-day event on the northern Californian coast described by writer James Vlahos as “equal parts inventors’... 

17 February 2012

Loud whoops? Tousle-haired teens? Welcome to gadget heaven (March 2012 issue)

In this month’s cover story, “Game over?”, we hasten to assure our audience that we are not adherents of any doomsday cults; neither do we lie awake at night and brood about Mayan prophecies. Instead, we proffer a scientific look at ways in which the world could come to a sticky end. 

19 January 2012

A secret human colony on Mars? We knew it (February 2012)

A few weeks ago, I complained to a friend about the bizarre priorities of our popular media, lamenting the fact that a weird UFO conference late last year (you know, alien abductions, secret human bases on Mars, ET visitations, etc) had attracted more press attention than the 63rd International Astronautical... 

15 December 2011

INVENT 2011 is over. Now will someone please turn off the lights (January 2012)

It was excruciating. The laser equipment was in place, the audience was primed and expectant, and the violinist lurked just off-stage, waiting for her cue. As a machine-generated haze spread through the auditorium, I signalled to the man in the control booth to turn off the lights, then settled back in my chair and... 

18 November 2011

More things in heaven and earth...? Definitely (December 2011)

A couple of months ago, Cape Town was awash with astronomers, aeronautical engineers, astrophysicists, chemists, philosophers and other interesting people, all of them eager to share their knowledge – and in some cases, way-out theories – on everything from space elevators to the existence of extraterrestrial... 

21 October 2011

Of delicious curves and industrial chic (November 2011 issue)

This month’s cover story, “Build your own plane”, celebrates some of the most interesting ideas and innovations in DIY flight... 

16 September 2011

Invent something, score serious cash, become famous. Do it now (October 2011 issue)

Have you invented something? Perhaps a new and improved nose-hair clipper, an astrological chart for sceptics, or a device for the humane disposal of politicians? Or more seriously, something that the world really needs? If so, you could be in the running for large cash prizes (R130 000 in total) plus the... 

16 August 2011

It‘s our ‘green’ issue. So what? (September 2011 issue)

Okay, so what have you done to help save our planet? Is your contribution mainly in the form of moral support for campaigners and a vague conviction that “somebody should do something”, or have you actually stuck your neck out when it counts?