Most policy think tanks have members or fellows which are very forward thinking in the ideas, concepts, and solutions they provide. They are always looking towards the future, which is fine except for one thing; they don’t know the future, they only suspect it. Since they cannot know the future they are often solving problems that don’t yet exist, and may never exist. Of the most sinister plots to wreak terror and loss of lives in America, Al Qaeda has been responsible for the worst. What other possible plots lurk in these terrorists’ minds - and how can we expose them to save lives and our national security? All the materials used in the field of engineering can be classified to several main classes, which are ceramics, metals, polymers, semiconductors and composites. These classes can be further broken into various sub-groups, each with different applications. Every object we come across belongs to one or combinations of these classes. December of 2012 is quickly becoming a popular topic about the end of the world. Several ancient civilizations have predicted this time frame to be the end of the world. What if they are right? How can we prepare ourselves for the worst disasters seen in the history or man kind? 
