Media Platforms Design TeamHow can a concept car have a model year name? We’re not exactly sure, but it’s probably because the car you see here doesn’t have an interior — it’s merely the exterior styling of the 2015 TLX that will go on sale in the middle of 2014. The new model will be offered in three versions: a front-wheel-drive 2.4-liter four-cylinder, a front-drive 3.5-liter V-6, and an all-wheel-drive V-6....
Media Platforms Design TeamI had a flat tire a while ago, so I mounted the space-saver spare. I’ll admit I left it on for way longer than the owner’s manual suggests. Eventually, I replaced it with a full-size tire, but I’ve always wondered why manufacturers say you shouldn’t use the spare for longer than necessary.Since the spare tire is used so infrequently, carmakers have switched to narrow, compact spares to save space and weight....
Media Platforms Design TeamRegardless of what you think about Newt Gingrich, he does have one thing going for him: more than 1.3 million Twitter followers (a fact he ). But this may not be as impressive as it sounds. On Monday, an anonymous source who claimed to be a Gingrich ex-staffer that most of those followers are fake, or “dummy” accounts set up by an agency hired to boost follower numbers....
Media Platforms Design TeamHigh-end furniture projects are great to dream about. But unless you have a well-equipped shop and some serious woodworking experience to draw on, it can be difficult to turn the dream into a reality.Not every piece of furniture needs to be a museum showpiece, though. Often a simple design does the job just as well and the experience gained in completing it goes a long way toward making the next project even better....
From the floor of the New York International Auto Show, contributor Ken Juran files up-to-the-minute reports and photos. NEW YORK — Sales volume is the big indicator for carmakers for many reasons. At auto shows like this one, the big-volume marques are the ones that get the coveted stands upstairs at the Javits Center. Hyundai, for example, was once banished to the basement level with the other also-rans. But this year, the burgeoning Korean manufacturer moved on up to Level 3, while Volkswagen was kindly asked to set up on Level 1....
If we’re looking out at the stars and hoping to find intelligent life that looks like us, then we might be thinking too small. So says Fergus Simpson of the University of Barcelona Institute of Cosmos Science, who published a paper on Arxiv with a few interesting conclusions about the possible hugeness of alien life.Simpson stretches the definition of intelligent life beyond technological life into our cousins in the great ape branch....
Media Platforms Design TeamOne year ago, if you said that one company would be the first to unify desktops, tablets, cellphones and set-top boxes within a single, beautiful, intuitive and spartan design philosophy—using a conglomeration of keyboards, voice, gestures, or whatever it took —it had to be Apple. It was the computer company synonymous with design. It was the company that had just launched the world’s first great tablet using the same interface from its ridiculously successful smartphone....
Two guys from the Bronx team up on a project. Next thing you know, everything is coming up roses. Well, okay, not roses, exactly, but mixed greens, radishes, carrots, edible nasturtium and zucchini are coming up. The Bronx buddy project here is a cold-frame plan featured in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics. This project, built at our home, the Hearst Tower, was created by Tony Maio, Hearst’s special projects manager, and Bobby Lucchesi, the building’s carpenter and an employee of Certified Installation Services....
Media Platforms Design TeamIn this golden age of Hollywood visual effects, exoskeletons are everywhere, from James Cameron’s lumbering through the alien jungles of Pandora in to Tony Stark’s knight in powered armor, which rockets back onto the screen in (out next month). The excuses that kept the mecha exoskeleton out of the 1997 movie adaptation of have been stomped flat by the current intersection of animation and live action.towering AMP suitsAvatarIron Man 2Starship TroopersSo how did a weapon so thrillingly, nakedly badass as the exoskeleton survive, even thrive, in the hoary old days before CGI set up a beachhead in our collective imagination?...
Stephen Hawking has a new hobby in his belt, and this time it’s not making guest spots on “Star Trek” or “The Simpsons.” Instead, he’s turning to astrophotography, using a computer-controlled telescope and camera assembly to capture ground-based pictures of solar system bodies, stellar objects, and cosmic collisions.Hawking is using a consumer grade Celestron telescope, so this is one easy way to be like the man for whom Hawking Radiation is named....
With the return of cold temps, my thoughts return to heating. I’m somewhat vexed by our house, which was not designed for heating efficiency. It’s our fault, since we designed and built it; frankly, when we started this place we were young(er) and (more)foolish, and we just didn’t think much about these matters. A few months ago, we did a blower door test to find the big leaks. As you may know, a blower door test involves filling your doorway with a huge fan that pulls air out of the house....
Media Platforms Design Team Both men and women have the right stuff to succeed as astronauts—that much is for sure. But an exhaustive NASA study has found physiological differences in how space affects each gender, with some cases benefitting women over men and some cases vice versa. For instance, women are less vulnerable to the effects of interstellar radiation, but more vulnerable to space sickness or urinary tract infections in space....
There’s a new black bird on the horizon. This is the Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie, a new five-seat canard-style aircraft for the refined aviating millionaire. The single engine piston airplane will top out at 260 knots (300 miles per hour) thanks to its 350 horsepower, with a range of 1,050 nautical miles (1,200 miles). Cobalt officially unveiled the Valkyrie in San Francisco. In truth, this is the fifth prototype of the plane, and though the engine is installed, it has yet to fly....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe more gadgets we have, the more gadgets we have to lose. If everything were like those cordless phones that came with a “find handset” button, there’d be no problem. That’s the basic idea behind Tile, a tracking device that uses a combination of Bluetooth low energy and the cloud to locate your belongings.With Tile, founders Mike Farley and Nick Evans want to create “the world’s largest lost and found....
The dive ladder bounces up and down in the offshore surge. We’re hanging on tight, fighting the current, nearly deafened by the roar of the boat’s diesel engine. It’s revved high to send powerful jets of water down two curved metal tubes called “mailboxes,” which fit in front of the propellers. Below, on the ocean floor, the redirected prop wash is sweeping away a swath of sand 40 ft. wide.When the noise of the engine dies down, first mate Tony Gil shouts from the deck of the 65-ft....
Media Platforms Design TeamChris Hadfield, the exuberant Canadian astronaut andInternational Space Station commander, is turning out to be quite the YouTuber. If you’re not subscribed to the Canadian Space Agency’s channel, you need to get on that. Need convincing? Here are a few gems:1. The InformativeWhat’s it like to cook in space? Hadfield’s happy to show us in his new cooking show. In his first episode, the astronaut prepared a peanut butter and honey sandwich with one notable substitution....
Media Platforms Design TeamAs cars become more computerized and more connected, how much data is my vehicle collecting about my driving, and who has access to that information?A modern car knows where you are, is constantly tracking your driving habits, and may even be able to call for help if you crash. It’s revolutionary, potentially lifesavingand just a bit creepy. Most of a vehicle’s computers are scattered around the car and carry out mundane tasksoperating the engine and transmission, windows, seats, and the radioand these computers don’t have data-storage capability (see How it Works: The Computer Inside Your Car, for a detailed tour)....
Media Platforms Design Team1. Science and tech need not rely on government funding.“I am massively excited about crowdfunding, which is growing exponentially. I’m also excited about the new generation of “techno-philanthropists” who made their billions in the tech arena and now want to have a massive impact on the world. I would love to have the government do more, but unfortunately, the most interesting work is the riskiest work, and a lot of agencies aren’t funding that risk....
Media Platforms Design TeamSquare-one advice: (1)GET TO KNOW YOUR CAMERA. Spending time with the user’s manual won’t kill you. Some cameras even display tips onscreen while you’re shooting, as pop-ups or in help menus. Use the advice; you’ll be glad that you did.(2) KEEP IT CLEAN. Smudges, specks of dirt, and other schmutz ruin a shot. Stash your camera in a case; buff the lens with a microfiber cloth.Balanced, centered, gaze-into-the-lens portraits are boring....
Media Platforms Design TeamPieter De Waal, vice president of BMW Motorrad USA, says he first noticed something amiss about BMW motorcycle ownership in the States six years ago, while he was working in Germany. The average age of a BMW owner was 47 years, and it was going up by 0.7 years annually. (By that math, the average is now 51.2 years old.)What BMW needed to do, says De Waal, is take a share of another market segment, and find new owners, preferably younger ones....
