The "Popular Science" kiss of death
I've heard it said more than once that having your project appear in "Popular Science" was the kiss of death. There seems to be a jinx associated with "Popular Science" that any project featured by it will be cancelled before completion.
When I was doing scramjet work, "Popular Science" did a feature on the NASP and I remember thinking to myself "We're doomed!". I had a similar feeling when my branch was doing TPS work for X-33 and "Popular Science" did a feature on it.
Gary