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Media Platforms Design Team
The rabble will argue endlessly about the true top-of-the-line version of the all-new and buttery smooth Mercedes S-Class we’ve raved about so far. The S65 AMG does generate 621 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque, but such flashy displays are so… gauche. Enter the more gentile 2015 Mercedes Benz S600. The car’s new 6.0-liter V-12 generates a stately 523 hp and 612 lb-ft of torque and drives a 7-speed automatic transmission, which is more than enough for adequate acceleration around town and off to the country home....

Media Platforms Design Team LOS ANGELES —­ At a reception last night, Microsoft showed off Gears of War 2, the sequel to last year’s hit Xbox 360 exclusive. There were surprises, like the fact that the voice actor who plays the burly Cole Train is pretty bad at playing the game, but looks almost exactly like his virtual counterpart. And there were non-surprises, like the fact that the gameplay and in-game graphics are nearly identical to the first title’s....

Media Platforms Design TeamWith a new imaging technique, Duke University researchers may have brought us one step closer to affordable , cheaper and more accurate airport scanners, and improved medical imaging.self-driving carsTaking an ordinary picture is simple: A lens focuses light onto a detector ray, which contains millions of individual silicon detectors, one for each pixel in the final photograph. But when you venture beyond the visible spectrum and begin imaging in regions with longer wavelengths, such as microwaves or millimeter waves, things get more difficult and you need larger, more sensitive, and more expensive detectors that are capable of detecting the phase of light as well as its intensity....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn Daybreakers, a bat bites a man and infects him with a disease that turns him into a bloodsucker. Within 10 years, only 5 percent of the human population is left. The remaining 95 percent of the people on earth now take their coffee with a healthy dose of human blood.At least that’s what we think happened–Daybreakers, out Jan. 8, never explicitly states how the disease spread, saying only that “it started with a single bat....

Since 1946, good Samaritans have given more than 676 million hours of their time working with the Department of Veteran Affairs. The department helps find volunteers to assist former GIs in hospitals, nursing homes and in the community. If you want to help, there are numerous volunteer organizations across the country that assist veterans in exploring the outdoors, offer free rides in airplanes and buy veterans bicycles—and ride alongside them. Here are 10 ways to pay tribute to war veterans this summer....

A lot of finger pointing has been directed lately at one of the most enduring symbols of environmental friendliness: leafy green vegetation. In recent studies, scientists have found that northern forests can actually contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing more sunlight than surrounding areas, and that terrestrial plants may produce the powerful greenhouse gas methane under normal aerobic conditions (as opposed to in oxygen-free environments, such as swamps). After extended media coverage misinterpreted the latter study, the Max-Planck Institute, which generated the research, released a clarification....

Speculate all you want about the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs–a discussion topic as crass and inevitable as much of the blogosphere itself–but the company’s announcement that it is withdrawing from Macworld after this year marked a historic ending. Apple will survive, and maybe Macworld, too. But for the cult of Mac, this is it.Then again, cults are designed to die. The lifespan of radical sects is always the same: A charismatic leader peels off a small group of devotees from mainstream faith....

Media Platforms Design Team Samsung continues to push the green envelope with its third generation of LCD TVs with LED backlights, claming 40 percent energy savings over the same-size LCD HDTVs and bringing in the first wave of Energy Star 3.0 bragging rights. Samsung’s latest LED LCDs have comparable refresh rates to other LCD TVs (120 Hz for the 6000 and 7000 series), solid contrast ratios and are about an inch thick including the built-in ATSC tuner....

The GoodTransferJet, or what Sony is calling Near Field Technology, which isn’t a product yet, but seems promising. Compatible devices placed on (or near, within 1.25-in.) the receiver can transfer data to a PC at up to 560 megabytes per second. Sony demonstrated the technology with prototypes, showing how a camera places on the TransferJet device automatically uploaded 45 photos to the attached computer. Similar to Microsoft’s Surface demo, this kind of hassle-free wireless transfer has huge potential....

Media Platforms Design TeamOver the weekend, the Wall Street Journal published a report that SpaceX plans to launch a fleet of micro-satellites to orbit the Earth and provide satellite internet access at just about any point on the planet. Last night CEO Elon Musk confirmed the basic gist of the story.View full post on TwitterMusk also tweeted that the Journal wasn’t correct about some of the details in its report, but failed to specify which details, so it sounds like we’ll have to wait a couple of months to see how the plan takes shape....

Media Platforms Design TeamDeer Island, in Beaufort, S.C., is classic low country. Spanish moss drapes the gnarled limbs of live oaks. A woodpecker hammers at a tall pine. At the end of a curving drive, where woods meet salt marsh, an inviting cottage complements the scene. Its wide front porch and gabled roof capture the essence of low-country architecture. Is this a vintage home impeccably maintained or a new residence made to look old?...

The madness and mayhem of Mad Max: Fury Road translates pretty well to the limited palette of an 8-bit video game. There’s even clear moments for button-mashing prompts!View full post on YoutubeThat’s why the good folks at CineFix gave the movie the 8-bit cinema treatment, though they readily admit there’s at least some 16-bit shenanigans going on. The difference between 8-bit and 16-bit is mostly complexity. The expansive color palette and music seem a bit too complex for 8-bit....

Media Platforms Design TeamCranes! Very useful, especially when building massive objects like skyscrapers or just about any major piece of infrastructure. The problem, of course, is that they need to shift exactly how tall are as a building continues to grow. So do they do that?You can see timelapse of this process taking place below:View full post on YoutubeHere’s a better CGI demo of the whole process taking place (though, a warning: unless you enjoy up-tempo Euro techno, you may want to mute before hitting play):View full post on YoutubeSo the answer turns out to be both obviously simply and yet quite the feat of engineering: cranes get larger simply by building themselves up, piece by piece....

Star-JetBally, 1963Media Platforms Design TeamWhile the 80s and 90s saw tons of sci-fi-themed pinball machines, game designers in the 60s seemed more concerned with mod culture and the Wild West. This game—whose art seems to take cues from both The Jetsons and early Space Ghost cartoons—was an exception.Space MissionWilliams, 1976According to the Internet Pinball Database (ipdb.org), pinball designer Steve Kordek derived the machine’s back-glass art from a NASA picture.Centigrade 37Gottleib, 1977Despite art that leaves the impression that somebody is going to be cryogenically frozen, the game’s titular temperature actually translates into 98....

Last year, automakers recalled nearly four times as many vehicles as they sold, for a record 63.5 million cars and light-duty trucks in 350 separate recall campaigns. Previously, the worst year for do-overs was 1981, when upward of 30 million vehicles were recalled. But 2014 made that look paltry.Ignition switches susceptible to heavy key rings and airbags that could explode and blast shrapnel into occupants’ faces dominated the public conversation. After seeing General Motors and Honda sacrificed at the government altar with criminal probes, congressional investigations, and tens of millions in fines, the industry started “finding” lots of defects....

On this chilly morning in late March there’s something different in the Rocky Mountain air of Jackson, Wyo. It’s the faint whiff of high-octane exhaust from dozens of revved-up four-stroke engines–rum-rum-rummmmm–and it’s coming from the base of 7808-ft. Snow King ski mountain, a few blocks south of the town square. There, fans spread out on bleachers and camp chairs around a JumboTron watch Vincent Clark goose his 800cc Ski-Doo–rummmmm–as he glides to the starting line....

For a century, scientists have known that a trickle of electricity could be harvested from the metabolic reactions of bacteria living in soil. To most scientists, it was a parlor trick–a lot of effort to generate a tiny current. Now, a team at Harvard called Lebone has used the idea to design an inexpensive battery for use in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 500 million people live without power. The microbial fuel cell, or MFC, can produce enough current to power LED lights and charge cellphone batteries....

If you’ve been itching to tour some of the most popular destinations in the world—and even off planet—but are stuck in COVID-19 quarantine, Google Street View has compiled a directory with close-up access to magical and historical locations. Here are some of our favorites plus a few bonus spots.Diagon AlleyCARL COURT//Getty ImagesTourIf you want a fantastical reprieve from COVID-19 and happen to be a Potterhead, Google Street View can transport you to Diagon Alley—if you remember, this is where audiences took their first steps within the magic-filled world of Harry Potter in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone....

Media Platforms Design TeamMILFORD, Mich. – Chevrolet’s iconic Corvette has always defined the American sports car. Enter the 2009 Corvette ZR1, a blisteringly fast, stunningly capable reaffirmation of exactly that. Say what you will about such classics as the Viper, Mustang, Camaro and Charger. The ZR1 is a supercar and represents a benchmark for American muscle.You’ve seen this legend in the making on the proving grounds and on the stand, but now watch this street beast’s moves as a civilized track machine on PopMech TV, with exclusive under-the-skin specs....

On Sale Date: Late August 2011Price: $22,045–$33,570Competitors: Toyota FJ Cruiser, Nissan Xterra, Land Rover LR4Powertrain: 3.6-liter V6, 285 hp; 260 lb-ft; six-speed manual or five-speed automatic; four-wheel driveEPA Fuel Economy (city/highway): 17/21 mpgWhat’s New: A year with our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon unearthed two major complaints with the vehicle: its cheap, hard plastic interior and a powertrain that made the Wrangler nearly as slow as a Smart car. No amount of legendary off-road capability could make up for that lack of potency....