GADGETS GALORE

When you ask fans why the James Bond films attract them, some say it's the adventure and humor. Many point to the actors who have played Bond. But almost all mention the gadgets. Many of the spy gadgets developed by the mysterious Q for James Bond seemed futuristic and improbable when they appeared in films 30 or 40 years ago. But today, many are reality or becoming reality. Here's a look at a handful:

FAKE FINGERPRINTS: In "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), Bond uses a fake fingerprint slipped over his thumb. In 2002, Japanese researchers made fingerprints with gelatin, which fooled fingerprint readers about 80 percent of the time.

CELL PHONE-CONTROLLED CARS: In "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), Bond steers his BMW using his cell phone. Austrian researchers recently developed a way to control a toy car via cell phone. No word yet on full-size cars.

VOICE CHANGER: Also in "Diamonds Are Forever," there was a gadget that allowed Bond to make his voice sound like someone else's. Today, there is computer software readily available that allows you to change your voice, even offering ways to make it sound like a woman if you're a man, and vice versa.

SKI LIFE JACKET: In "The World is Not Enough" (1999), a ski jacket inflates on impact to create a life-saving protective sphere around the wearer. A company called Black Diamond has created a harness that skiers wear in case of an avalanche. It has a device that works like a lung, pulling in air from the snow and directing it by tube to the skier's mouth.

MINI-CAMERAS: Mini-cameras turn up in several Bond films, such as one embedded in his ring in "A View to a Kill" in 1985. Turns out real spies had these all along, it's just that most of us didn't know. A 1970s-era button-hole camera from the Soviet KGB is part of the collection at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

Sources: MSNBC; New Scientist