Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamMexican free-tailed bat. Credit: Nickolay HristovBats aren’t just amazing—they’re competitive. The winged mammals can jam the sonar of rival bats to keep them from catching prey, a new study in Science finds.To pinpoint their targets, bats give off ultrasonic calls and listen to returning echoes. This talent for echolocation lets them hunt in complete darkness. Past research had shown that bats will change the frequencies of their ultrasonic calls to avoid interfering with their compatriots....

The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery will continue tomorrow, after an inspection of the area of the external tank (ET) from which foam broke off last night led shuttle managers to conclude that there was no additional danger from falling foam. “NASA is go to continue the countdown,” associate administrator for space operations Bill Gerstenmeier said in a press conference tonight. Initially, there was concern among NASA officials that this latest foam loss might require a hands-on inspection to determine the extent of the damage, particularly on the top portion of the bracket that shed the foam....

Philip FriedmanIs there really any benefit or downside to using heavier-weight oils in summer months and lighter-weight oils in winter? Some of my older friends swear it’s essential to proper maintenance.Oil is subjected to more misinformation, controversy, out-of-date knowledge, and myth than just about any other aspect of car maintenance. Using the right oil is an essential part of keeping your engine healthy, but what does that mean? Let’s tackle the specifics of your question first....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn an effort to save real cash, Ecuador plans to start making virtual money.The debt-ridden country (it has a $4.5 billion budget gap this year) plans to institute a state-backed digital currency this October. Ecuador could use the digital money to pay workers, bills, and other expenses instead of using U.S. dollars. The American dollar is the official currency, but Ecuador’s dollars are mostly tied up in debt, or gold and oil, which have been mostly depleted....

The electric car revolution seems poised to take a dramatic step forward. Recently, a pair of announcements by the mayors of Portland and San Francisco has created a friendly rivalry between the two cities—each one investing to be the leader in electric vehicle infrastructure. They both intend to make their respective cites the most electric-friendly commuting center in the country. San Francisco recently installed three electric charging stations in front of City Hall....

Media Platforms Design TeamLOS ANGELES — Try as Microsoft might to steal some of Sony’s thunder, the big news at E3 is undoubtedly the PlayStation 3. Recent stumbles at Sony—including the delay of the PS3 launch date and the collapse of both the Universal Mini-Disc format and the —led insiders to wonder whether the company might just show up to the biggest videogame conference in the world with nothing to show....

Helicopters have always had a hard time going fast. The forward motion of the chopper adds airspeed to advancing blades, while simultaneously reducing the speed of retreating blades. So, at high speeds one blade risks going supersonic as it gains lift, while a blade on the other side teeters on the edge of a stall. Hoping to overcome that problem, Sikorsky Aircraft is testing a helicopter that uses two sets of blades that spin in opposite directions, balancing out the loss of lift experienced by the retreating blades on each side....

Media Platforms Design TeamLOS ANGELES — The all-new Honda FCX zero-emission, hydrogen–powered fuel-cell vehicle has gone from prototype to production model almost overnight for its North American debut. The second-generation FCX, called the Clarity, is a slick looking, low-slung, short-nose sedan. It features an all-new, compact V-Flow fuel cell (FC) platform that’s reportedly 20-percent smaller and 30-percent lighter than the current FCX model. Even more impressive, Honda claims it’ll deliver 30 percent more power and 30 percent more range (up to 270 miles) than the current model....

Media Platforms Design TeamEnjoying a draft beer generally requires that you take a trip to the local pub or throw a keg party and invite the neighborhood. But sometimes, a man just wants a frosty draft brew in the peace and comfort of his own home, without a lot of muss and fuss. To that end, Krups and Heineken have teamed up to bring us the BeerTender ($280), a countertop kegerator (its footprint is no larger than that of a microwave) that keeps tapped kegs cool and fresh for up to 30 days....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen the Voyager mission launched more than 35 years ago, scientists couldn’t have predicted that the twin spacecraft would end up traveling billions of miles to the edge of the heliopause—the edge of the bubble of charged particles surrounding our solar system called the heliosphere, where plasma from the Sun pushes against the cold, dark abyss of interstellar space. At the time, scientists weren’t certain where that boundary was, or what conditions would be like there....

Media Platforms Design TeamBulbs are inexpensive, easy to grow, and are some of the first bursts of spring color in your garden—always a welcome sight after months of winter grayness. To ensure your garden’s glorious bloom in the springtime, get started now. Tom Weaver, curator of bulb gardens at Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Ill., where thousands of bulbs bloom each spring, offers some tips on how to plant a bulb garden that will flower into a riot of color....

Media Platforms Design TeamOne month ago, a high-powered rocket carrying a high-tech satellite went kablooey, turning some 930,000 lbs. of fuel into a launch-pad fireball for the ages (or at leasta couple days on YouTubetech DIY expertthe initial aftermath at the Sea Launch spaceport). When Joel Johnson, PM’s resident , investigated , he surmised that “the only casualty from the explosion may be the platform itself.“But over at Joel’s blog, an anonymous source has tipped him off to a handful of updated photos of the Sea Launch pad, which, somewhat shockingly, survived pretty well (as opposed to some other ocean rigs)....

Media Platforms Design TeamFour-time space shuttle astronaut (and PM contributor) Tom Jones has written a memoir of his years in NASA’s astronaut corps. InSky Walking The Right StuffBen Chertoff, (Smithsonian Books/Collins, $26.95; on sale Wednesday), Jones chronicles his long climb into orbit, from his first days of being an Ascan (astronaut candidate) to the culmination of his career in space: 6-hour-long EVAs that helped build the International Space Station. In the tradition of, Jones brings the reader into the exclusive fraternity of NASA astronauts as he reflects on the tight bonds between crews, the challenges of balancing a family with harsh training regimens, and the good-natured pranks of a highly skilled group of people tasked with one of the hardest jobs in the world....

They were going to sabotage the Nazi atomic bomb. But only Capt. Leif Tronstad, Sr. knew it.A week before Christmas, 1942, Tronstad gathered the six men he was about to send behind German lines as they prepared to ship out. Like him, the commandos of Operation Gunnerside were all Norwegians, exiled to the U.K. after the Nazis conquered their country two years before. Their target was a key part of the German nuclear program, but it was nowhere near the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute outside of Berlin, where a Nobel prize-winning physicist was trying to build a uranium reactor....

This week Godzilla is back in theaters for Godzilla: King of Monsters, and one thing is certain—Godzilla will be big. Since his first awakening, the radioactive, fire-spewing kaiju has grown 200 feet and put on more than 150,000 tons. Godzilla is now 30 stories tall and weighs as much as a cruise ship. No actual animal could take the pressure of being so massive: It would overheat, its organs would implode, and it would need to mainline butter to get enough calories....

Media Platforms Design TeamFuture of the International Space StationMedia Platforms Design Team* NASA Outsources to the ISS* The Uncertain Future of the International Space Station: Analysis* Podcast: What’s Next for the Shuttle, the ISS and Discovery’s Crew* NASA Renegades Pitch Obama Team New Post-Shuttle Plan* Vaccines in Space: Taking Biotech to Microgravity Labs* Use the ISS, Mr. President: Analysis from Resident Astronaut, Tom Jones* Scientists Think ISS a Waste of Money (2002)* Space Shuttle Delivers Solar Array To International Space Station (2000)The Shuttle Replacement: Constellation (Ares and Orion) and Jupiter AresMedia Platforms Design Team* Why Ares I Is Important: Analysis* On Ares’ Continued Technical Problems and Money Troubles: Guest Analysis* Launch System Skepticism Grows at Space 2009: Guest Analysis* Critics and Proponents Wait Out NASA’s Ares 1-X Rocket Delay* NASA Will Tinker With Open-Source Rocket for Return to Moon (2007)Orion* Mission to the Moon: How We’ll Go Back–and Stay This Time* Buzz Aldrin: Advice on the Orion MissionsJupiter* Frustrated Engineers Battle With NASA Over the Future of Space* NASA Renegades Pitch Obama Team New Post-Shuttle PlanFuture of Space Flight: The Augustine Commission ReportMedia Platforms Design Team* Guest Analysis: Risk Aversion and NASA Don’t Mix* 8 Experts Weigh in on the Future of Human Spaceflight* 5 Surprising Passages From the Future of Space Flight Report* 5 Ways the Augustine Commission Report States the Obvious* Buzz Aldrin: U....

Imagine a material that wicks sound across its surface like water droplets sliding over a windowpane. For submarines, such a coating would mean an entirely new way to slip past sonar without detection as sound waves pass harmlessly around the vessel. Physicist Baile Zhang and his colleagues at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore think they may have found a way to design such a coating, which could work for any 3D shape—sharp corners included....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Martin Ruegner/Getty Images)Dandelions may be weeds here in the United States, but it turns out their cousins in Kazakhstan are a rich source of natural latex. So much so, in fact, that one company wants to make dandelion tires.Mitas, a Czech-based outfit that sells agricultural machine tires in North America, is testing a tire made almost entirely from dandelion rubber. Ohio State University is also working on breeding a more efficient version of the plant to cultivate in the United States, whereas today’s rubber industry relies on expensive imports from Southeast Asia....

NEW YORK — Last year, there was only one flavor of Dodge Challenger available­—the raucous SRT8 version packing 425 hp from a 6.1-liter Hemi V8 and five-speed automatic transmission. It was quick, loaded with equipment and expensive—since Dodge built only 6400 cars. For the 2009 Dodge Challenger, we have three flavors and five powertrains to choose from, including the fuel-sipping SE model, the R/T with the “small” 5.7-liter Hemi engine, and, of course, the aforementioned SRT8, which returns with the option of a six-speed manual....

Q: I heard from a mechanical engineer years ago that the best way to adjust your car AC to maximize fuel economy is to turn the temperature up and leave the fan on high. The logic is that the fan takes a lot less energy to run than the compressor, and by turning the temp up, the compressor doesn’t have to work as hard. But we’re thinking that maybe all happens when you turn the temp up is that hot air from the engine gets mixed in with the cold air from the AC....