A FEW WEEKS AGO, in between segments about a robot that helps dig through rubble and a mosquito-zapper made by a high schooler at a science fair, CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield had this tidbit to offer: “An Australian inventor has come up with a gun that fires a million rounds per minute. It’s called Metal Storm and it uses electronics to control the blast of projectiles, which can shred a target or throw up a defensive wall against an incoming missile.”

That tantalizing tease was pretty much the extent of CNN’s reporting on Metal Storm, and who can blame them? There’s so much else in the news. Like the Laci Peterson case.