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Media Platforms Design TeamThe first thing one notices when stepping up to Arizona’s SEED [pod] House (the SEED stands for Solar Energy-Efficient Dwelling) is the curved rib of steel displayed on the deck. Part industrial, part sculptural, it looks like a clever bit of landscaping, but it’s actually there to show visitors the structural system that supports the roof and south wall assembly of the house. Solar radiation is strongest at certain angles depending on latitude, so the angle of the ribs can be pivoted on a hinge system to maximize the efficiency of solar panels where one lives....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Tesla Model X will storm the crossover market when it arrives in 2015, demolishing the luxe SUVs offered by the unsuspecting big car companies in a wave of EV awesomeness. This prediction comes to you not from Elon Musk fanboys or Tesla devotees, but from the buttoned-down folks at the financial giant Morgan Stanley.The firm’s analysts, trying to predict the future of the automotive market, are about as high on Tesla Motors as you can be....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team style=“background-color:#4d4d4e;">Bosch Max LitheON PS30-2ACraftsman Nextec 11812BEST VALUEMedia Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team style=“background-color:#4d4d4e;">Hitachi DS10DFLMakita DF330DWRELATED STORIES• PLUS: PM Tests Larger, 18-Volt Cordless Drills• AS-SEEN-ON-TV: Do the Drill-Out and GRABIT Work?• VIDEO: Power Sander Abusive Lab Test• FOLLOW US: Popular Mechanics is Now on Twitter!• FRIEND US: Find PM on FacebookPM editor Harry Sawyers and two other testers bored 622 holes and drove 1657 screws to test cordless drills....

MORE BRAND-NEW SPACE COVERAGE TODAY* Q&A: Buzz Aldrin on the Future of Mars & a Space Tourism Lottery* FIRST LOOK: Inside NASA’s Plan to Bomb the Moon and Find WaterDuring a summer movie season dominated by big-budget effects, gadgets, car chases and a certain Gotham City savior, Ben Stassen is jumping on Hollywood’s big new bandwagon–the one you need funny glasses to ride.Since the release of Chicken Little in 2005, 3D films have been slowly breaking into the mainstream film market....

Sand castles just got a bit more boring.By pairing up a physical sandbox with virtual topography, UCLA’s Modeling and Educational Demonstrations Laboratory has created an Augmented Reality Sandbox, based on a design and research by UC Davis. As the sand moves, the topography changes, and any water on the map shifts around accordingly. Users can even make it rain, virtually.View full post on YoutubeThe project uses Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect sensor to read and determine the depth of the sand, which a projection then color codes the contours using some open-source software originally developed for the UC Davis version....

Media Platforms Design TeamMixed SignalsAn End to Gas GuzzlingUnder CoverLight-FootService TipsHighlights From Tech Service BulletinsPower folding mirrors on your 2002-06 Escalade, H2 or other full-size GM SUV or pickup folding themselves back at highway speeds? According to Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 03-08-64-010B, the motor may have gotten out of sync with the mirror drive hub. Don’t replace the mirrors. They can be resynced by electrically folding and then unfolding them three times....

Economics frequently drives technological advances. In December 1979, coal was the buzzword when PM covered “fuel for the future.” Scientists in Germany had developed the Bergius method in 1913 to create a synthetic gasoline from brown coal. More than 60 years later, market forces made the process appealing. “It is expected that by the late 1980s and early 1990s … the price of imported oil will have risen enough to make synthetics fully competitive–perhaps even make them attractive,” PM wrote....

Today, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos announced his intention to make Cape Caneveral the company’s base of operations, including production facilities, bringing numerous jobs to the “Space Coast.” It will take over Launch Complex 36. “We’re not just launching from here, we’re building here,” Bezos said, announcing that the company will be building reusable rockets and launch vehicles at the park. “You’ll hear us before you’ll see us, because our BE-4 engine, our American made vehicle … will be acceptance tested here....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn saturday morning in Fallon, Nevada, the casinos that populate the town’s main drag offer eggs over easy and slot machines, depending on one’s preference. But by late afternoon, the draw shifts to a dusty knob of earth just east of town, and the intersections fill with a steady procession of Dodge Rams and Ford F-150s hauling trailers. They’re all wending their way to a quarter-mile banked dirt track called Rattlesnake Raceway, where the spray of mud and the thrill of competition far eclipse the $100 purse....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhat caused you to revisit the topic of electric vehicles, and so soon? Who Killed the Electric Car? came out in 2006, and you couldnt have expected to turn around and make another movie right away.I did not expect to do that at all. It certainly shocked me how fast the car companies turned around on this issue and started developing these programs. We started talking about it right after the first film came out because Bob Lutz announced that GM might start working on the Volt....

LAS VEGAS–Stand back from the TVs folks, because 3D is comin’ atcha. Hollywood has scored big over the past year with 3D movies, and now both Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry want to put 3D in your living room. The bandwagon has close to universal industry ridership, almost every major manufacturer is launching 3D sets at CES this week, the Blu-ray format will support 3D and many gaming consoles should soon follow suit....

It sounds crazy, but privacy experts are warning Samsung TV buyers not to talk about private subjects in front of their television sets. Someone could be using the voice activation technology to eavesdrop. Originally found by The Daily Beast, there’s a little clause in you television’s privacy policy that states what you say isn’t just between you and your TV. It’s between you, your TV, Samsung, and its third party vendors....

Media Platforms Design Team You might be asking, what the heck is a sports activity coupe? Well, it’s a new segment of crossover vehicle created by BMW to describe the 2009 X6, which makes its official debut in Detroit on Sunday. While it’s not the best segment name we’ve ever heard, it still beats the ubiquitous “crossover.” Isn’t just about everything a crossover these days? The X6 is basically an X5, but in a much sleeker package....

Media Platforms Design TeamDETROIT - General Motors has been a little late to the hybrid party. Toyota and Honda have eaten GM’s lunch when it comes to gas-electric hybrids. So what does the world’s largest automaker do? Go beyond conventional hybrid technology.To show that it’s thinking well past the plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue that it announced in L.A., General Motors revealed its first E-Flex system vehicle here today, the Chevrolet Volt....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe construction team down at the Circuit of the Americas is putting the finishing touches on the brand-spanking-new racetrack near Austin, Texas. Workers began applying fresh coats of bright red paint to the edges of the 3.4-mile course this week, giving the circuit a pretty stunning look. The track’s run-off areas will feature red white and blue stripes “to commemorate the American heritage of the circuit.“Designed by famous F1 course designer Hermann Tilke, whose courses tend to draw equal parts praise and criticism, the track incorporates features from some famous international venues....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Fast CrowdReader: Parish Hill High School Technology Education ClassMaterials: $900Time: Five monthsResult: Low-friction driving – and, next up, plans to build a hovercraft PM featured in 1971.* See the Hovercraft Runners-Up* Submit Your Own DIY ProjectWill hovercrafting be the next varsity sport? High school students in Chaplin, Conn., hope so. Every year, students in James Benini’s technology education class at Parish Hill High School build a hovercraft....

The EPA’s Role in Fuel EconomyOne confounding issue is that the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards that the EPA has been tasked with enforcing are based on driving cycles codified in 1978. These CAFE mileages are not the same as the EPA city, highway and combined economy ratings you see on the window sticker when you’re shopping for a new car. The EPA has revised those mileages upward twice since 1978, in an attempt to make the numbers reflect a figure reasonably close to what one might actually see in the real world....

Media Platforms Design TeamI have a 1997 VW Passat with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder and a five-speed manual. That manual works just fine most of the year, but as the temperatures drop in late fall and into winter, it gets really hard to shift into first and second. When the car warms up, it gets better. I love my car and am hoping this doesn’t mean bad news is on the horizon....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt all began with a single question: And Popular Mechanics was off, tumbling down the rabbit hole (or was it a wormhole?) that was exploring the science and technology behind .Is it possible to detonate dynamite by shooting it?LostIt was an interesting time to start our coverage. The show had just announced that it would wrap up in 2010, giving the writers a clear number of episodes in which to execute the plan they’d had in their heads since the series began....

Apple just dropped the iPhone 6S and iPad Pro, and today it was Google’s turn to announce some new stuff. Usually the search giant reveals its new toys in a flurry of press releases, but this year they’re getting a whole event. Here are the highlights. Two new phonesUnlike years previous where there has only been one Nexus phone, this year Google broke out two. Like Apple’s iPhones, one is bigger and one is smaller, but Google’s two new Nexii are more different than just that, offering different processors, on-board storage options, and designs....