Iced!: The 2007 Journal of Nick Fitzmorgan (17 page)

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to officially summit Everest. However, some people believe that Englishman George Mallory was the first climber to make it to the top of the world’s tallest mountain. In 1924, Mallory was making his third attempt to climb Everest. While it is certain that Mallory died on the mountain, no one knows exactly when. Did he die before or after he had reached the summit? If Mallory died after he reached the top, he would have beaten Hillary by almost 30 years.

Many experts believe that the answer to the mystery lies inside a camera that Mallory was carrying when he died. If he took a picture of himself at the top, the film inside the camera would show that photo. It would be the proof Howard is looking for to show that Mallory made it to the summit first. But, to this day, no one has been able to find Mallory’s camera.

“Still,” Howard says, “I’m not going to give up. This mystery is just too important to be left unsolved.”

A camera like Mallory’s

Giving a Face to the Dead

IRON CITY, MI: Three campers recently discovered a human skull in the woods near Iron City. Scientists determined that the skull was from a male adult and that it had been in the woods for 25 to 35 years. But in that 10-year time, there were reports of 134 missing men in Michigan. So to whom did the skull belong?

To answer that question, local officials called in Keith Colwin, a forensics expert with degrees in art history and computer science. He uses these areas of his education to reconstruct the faces of unidentified skulls. If a face looks enough like the person did when alive, someone may be able to make an ID.

Colwin warns that the skull found in the Michigan woods might never be identified. “Facial reconstruction isn’t as easy as they make it look on TV,” he says. “It isn’t an exact science.”

Colwin points out that a skull doesn’t give many clues as to what soft-tissue features, like a nose and a mouth, might have looked like. And it won’t give any information about hair color, facial hair, scars, or tattoos, or whether a person might have worn glasses. “The person doing the reconstruction must be experienced enough to make well-educated guesses,” Colwin says.

While some facial reconstruction experts use computer programs to rebuild faces, Colwin prefers to work with his own two hands. He uses clay to slowly build the layers of a face on the skull. “I’m not convinced the software is up to the task yet,” says Colwin. “That might change in the next year or two, thanks to new technology.”

Colwin is nearly finished rebuilding the face on the Michigan skull. When he’s done, the police will run a photo of it in newspapers. “If I’ve done my job well,” Colwin says, “someone may recognize the face as a missing family member or friend.”

Entertainment

Stay in Control

REDMOND, WA: Nintendo has a way to make sure that you don’t starve while gaming. Their one-handed controller means you’ll have one hand free to munch on popcorn and other game-time snacks. The device has motion and position sensors. If you’re playing a tennis game, you can just swing or flick the controller, and the racquet on the screen will mirror every movement you make!

Transportation

D
REAM
T
AKES
W
ING

SEATTLE, WA: The Wright brothers would be floored! The new 787 Dreamliner is probably unlike anything they ever imagined. This airplane carries up to 296 passengers but uses 20 percent less fuel and produces 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized aircraft. Inside, the passengers say they’re more comfortable than they are on other airplanes. Wireless Internet connections provide entertainment, and added humidity in the cabin air reduces the number of headaches and cases of airsickness as well. Plus—the views! Windows on the Dreamliner are as much as 70 percent bigger than those on other planes.

Technology

READY TO BE A CYBORG?

More than 2,000 people around the world have had computer microchips implanted in their body. The chips contain information that could save their lives. Equipped with a radio transmitter about the size of a grain of rice, the chip holds a 16-digit personal ID number. In an emergency, doctors can scan the chip, get the ID number, and find out information about the patient from a computer database. This works especially well if the patient is too sick to talk and cannot tell doctors about his or her medical history. But it’s not all for medical reasons. The same technology is being used to help owners find lost pets that have the implanted chips.

“I
S
T
HERE AN
A
NTEATER ON
M
Y
H
EAD
?”

ARMONK, NY: Thanks to IBM’s brand-new Multiligual Automatic Speech-to-Speech Translator (MASTOR), questions like these won’t be a problem—even if you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language. Imagine you’re in Peru and want to know where to find a zoo to drop off your anteater. All you have to do is speak into the device in English and press a button. MASTOR will translate what you say and repeat it in Spanish, Quechua, or Aymara to whoever is within earshot. And when someone responds by speaking into the device—MASTOR will change his or her words from Spanish to English automatically.

Sports

On the Ball

CHICAGO, IL: She’s the two-time Yugoslav national table tennis champ. And now Biljana Golic is looking to conquer the world and make table tennis as popular as tennis played on a court! Even when male fans wave signs proposing marriage to her during matches, this champion stays focused on her game. Go, Golic!

She’s Bat Drive

WILBRAHAM, MA: Watch out, Danica! Wilbraham’s own Erin Crocker is looking to be the next big NASCAR star. She’s been racing since she was seven years old and was the first woman to win the World of Outlaws sprint-car race. Crocker not only has guts—she’s also got brains. She graduated with an industrial and management engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Travel

Mickey Mouse on Everest?

ORLANDO, FL: The Walt Disney World Resort is betting on the public’s endless fascination with Mount Everest. They have created a new ride called Expedition Everest. Passengers climb aboard a roller coaster that looks like an old mountain railway. The train travels through bamboo forests, past splashing waterfalls, along sparkling glacier fields, and climbs up to snowcapped peaks. But passengers will be shocked when the track suddenly ends! In a flash, the railway cars are tossed forward and backward through mountain caverns and icy canyons—and finally, race passengers to a showdown with the mysterious abominable snowman!

Dear Dr. Noitall,

Where can I grab hot trends in fashion without blowing tons of cash?

Confused About Clothes

Dear Confused,

Try your attic! That’s right. Clothes that your parents might have boxed up years ago could be your key to catwalk cool. Normally about 20 years pass from the time a clothing trend goes out of style to when it comes back full force. Retro could be your future! Look for those oversized, “ugly” sweaters from the late 80s—they could be making comeback any day now!