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Media Platforms Design TeamWhat’s a good reason to take your car to the dealer for routine maintenance, rather than to the guy with two bays and a private shop?Let’s use Ford as an example. If you own a Ford vehicle, the Ford dealership will have Ford-trained technicians who work on Ford vehicles 95 to 100 percent of the time. During that time they will use Ford resources and Ford training to repair your vehicle correctly, and (ideally) they take Ford classes and attend Ford schools to keep up on their knowledge....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe vehicle circles Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, skating near the cloud level. It opens a hatch and deploys a series of rods connected by cables, with a mission payload of scientific instruments in the middle, which descend toward the surface. Prior to impact, the rods and cables form up into a kind of tight, protective cage around the payload that will not only absorb the shock of landing, but also take on the extreme terrain of this bizarre place, allowing scientists to explore vast swaths of the surface of ....

Media Platforms Design TeamSeveral years ago, I created a Facebook profile for my friend’s cat. The same friend created a profile for a bizarro evil version of me.College kids putting inside jokes on the Internet—no surprise there. And you’ve probably heard of or come across fake Facebook profiles based on fictional characters or historical figures. But what’s funny to Facebook users could turn out to be a headache for Facebook. The Social Network announced today that 8....

Light moves like both a particle and a wave, and how we see it depends on our point of view. So says the conventional (if you want to call it that) logic of quantum mechanics. However, scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have managed to catch a photon acting as both a wave and a particle. The researchers fired a series of laser pulses in opposite directions along ultra-thin nanowires....

In the bright disk in the center of our galaxy lie a handful of about 70 white dwarf stars almost as old as the galaxy itself – at about 12 billion years, they formed just 1 billion years after the Milky Way. The region in the center – called the “bulge” – contains the oldest population of stars in our galaxy, and was one of the first structures formed in the galaxy before it radiated outward into the formation of the second and third generation of stars....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: Late April 2014Base Price: $38,950 to $52,450Competitors: Mercedes E-Class, Lexus GS, Cadillac CTSPowertrains: 3.8-liter V-6, 311 hp, 293 lb-ft; 8-speed automatic; RWD or AWD; 5.0-liter V-8, 420 hp, 383 lb-ft; 8-speed automatic; RWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 18/29 (V-6 RWD); 16/25 (V-6 AWD); 15/23 (V-8 RWD)Underpinned with a new, stiffer body structure, the 2015 Genesis enjoys a few tweaks compared with its predecessor. The wheelbase is almost 3 inches longer to provide more usable space, particularly for rear-seat passengers....

BAGHDAD, July 4 — At about 1800, we leave the horrors of the hospital and head to the embassy compound to sample some of the day’s festivities. Next to a huge, weirdly shaped lap pool, a classic-rock band is warming up. There’s a dunk tank, with good-natured soldiers taking the plunge, and lots of tables and booths set up. Around one of them, a group of black, white and Hispanic men of all sizes and ages push the caramel and candy apples....

Media Platforms Design TeamRecently I bought a Dodge Coronet two-door station wagon. Although we were never a wagon family when I was a kid–there were just four of us–my friend’s parents had a ‘54 Plymouth Belvedere wagon with a flat-head Six. So when I saw this Dodge, it brought back those fond memories. The Coronet weighs 3400 pounds, about the same as the ZR1 Corvette with all its carbon fiber. The Dodge has a 150-hp 241-cu....

Oculus Rift, the heavily anticipated virtual reality headset, finally has a release-ish date: This morning the companyannounced its VR headset will finally be available to consumers in 2016.What your seeing above is the first commercial model, rather than the developer kit headset that’s been out. Engadget, who broke the news, says Oculus has a big news or demonstration coming up in June’s Electronics Entertainment Expo. Previous hints have place the suggested retail price between $200 and $400, with the developer kit currently selling for $350....

While there are many reasons to look forward to winter—sledding, building snowmen, and sipping hot cocoa in front of a roaring fire—shoveling snow is not one of them. Related StoriesHow It Works: Snow ThrowerMost Serious Snow Blowers Powered By Jet EnginesUnfortunately it’s an unavoidable part of winter. Even if you use a snow thrower or hire a snowplow driver to clear your driveway, there are still areas that need shoveling, including paths, steps, sidewalks, entry decks, patios and porches....

Media Platforms Design Team This morning at CES, Sony announced its first digital camera with a built-in Web browser. The 10.1-megapixel, 4x-zoom Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 matches built-in Wi-Fi with an in-camera Web browser. When you log on to a network (it allows you to log in to any password-protected hotspot, including those, like the ones often found in airports, that require you to log in through a browser), the camera automatically brings you to a portal page with links to a number of popular photo and video-sharing Web sites, such as Shutterfly and YouTube....

With Mother Nature on their side, insects don’t need parachutes to maneuver in the air— just instinct and some cool body parts. Two recent studies give engineers a lesson in how to create appendages perfectly adapted to aviation.Ever watch a fly defy gravity and walk on the ceiling without falling off? Using optical sensors to measure the force applied by each leg of the fly, scientists at Germany’s Max Planck Institute discovered that the best attachment force occurs when at least one leg from each side of the fly’s body is in contact with the surface....

MIAMI—You probably would not notice the cream-colored boxes stuck to the ceilings, posts, and walls around Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, unless somebody pointed them out to you. Even then, the little rectangles could pass for smoke alarms. In fact, they are Gimbal beacons built by Qualcomm, and each one beams out a particular message via Bluetooth to your iPhone, one that can be tailored to reach only people at a specific location....

Media Platforms Design TeamUPDATE: This week the Army officially chose Operation Camouflage Pattern as its new camo, starting next year. It’s been a long time coming. Here, in an article originally published on October 25, 2012, we outline the Pentagon’s camouflage debacle. The Pentagon is used to being accused of wasting time and money on ineffective weapons, but this time its clothes that are catching flack. The Army announced earlier this year that it was ditching plans for a universal battle dress uniform, despite the fact that it sunk years and billions of dollars into developing a single uniform for all Army personnel....

Drunk driving is bad. So is drunk biking. A new bike lock uses police technology to prevent you from biking while bombed. The $250 device is called the Alcoho-lock, and it makes you blow the legal limit before it will unlock (though the site doesn’t indicate what levels, exactly, will let you use your bike again). The lock works for about 40 breathalyzer tests before it needs to be recharged. Given where you need to bend over to lock up your bike, you may even faceplant before you actually use it if you’ve been drinking heavily enough (which, perhaps, is enough of a sign you should avoid two-wheeled transportation that night)....

Media Platforms Design TeamT+8.5 minutes: Nominal MECO, tank separated, and Discovery is in position for recording imagery of the tank. Mission control and launch control officers shake hands after this, the first Independence Day launch of the space shuttle.Foam is no longer an issue at this altitude, even though the shuttle is traveling at almost 15,000 mph. T+7.5 minutes: We have liftoff. All systems are go at t-60 seconds, taking a break from updates until after launch....

Media Platforms Design TeamAnswer the question, and your answer may be selected for inclusion in a future issue of Popular Mechanics. We’re collecting DIY advice, life lessons, and other wisdom passed down from fathers to their children, and pulling it all together for feature story. We’re particularly interested in DIY advice. For instance, renowned aircraft designer Burt Rutan tells us that when he was a kid, his father taught him how to catch blue jays using a four-bar trip mechanism and a box....

Yesterday it was an exciting day for fans of heavy haulers. Ford, GM and Dodge all broke big news about their heavy-duty pickup trucks, a segment that grows despite a dip in the light-duty pickup sales and recent high gas prices. Diesels make up the meat of that market. And today’s diesels are not only much cleaner than before, they crank out massive amounts of torque, with GM currently taking top honors with the new Duramax cranking out 660 lb....

Whether you blame corporate buffoonery or the success of Apple and Android, over the last five years BlackBerry has become essentially irrelevant to the smartphone market. Its newest phone, the coaster-size Passport, successfully doubles down on the company’s mission of serving workaholics, but it’s too niche to win back any major market share. The other four new devices it’s releasing this year likely won’t move the needle either. But none of that might matter, because what BlackBerry does have is a burgeoning software and security business and three important letters: Q-N-X....

Scheyern, Germany—The BMW Coupe has been one of the most charismatic oddball cars of the last decade. It was a tiny, wagon-like version of the BMW Z3 and Z4 convertibles that never failed to make us smile. While it passed in 2008, it’s about to return. We don’t have many specifics— engine specs, and certified power figures won’t be revealed until the Detroit auto show—but we can offer our impressions after spending an exciting hour behind the wheel of an M Coupe prototype in the countryside 34 miles north of BWM’s hometown, Munich....