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To learn more on why you should bring softshell crabs to your Labor Day barbecue, a breathing tracker, and more, download this week’s episode of The Most Useful Podcast ever here, and be sure to subscribe and comment on iTunes!You know how, when you show up to a barbecue, the first thing everyone looks at is what’s in your hand? It’s usually a sixer of some summer-friendly brew, a package of brats, a bag of kettle-cooked potato chips....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn Wednesday’s decision in Riley v. California, the Supreme Court has unanimously decided that the right of people to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects that is protected under the Fourth Amendment extends to cellphones and smartphones. In doing so, the Court settled a question of growing importance, and gave some hints of how it views search-and-seizure in the digital age.Traditionally, when police arrest someone they’re free to go through his pockets, looking for weapons and contraband....

While Google and Uber and who knows who else are all working on bringing self-driving cars to public streets, there’s also different robo-car plan in the works. Why not just build a giant robot highway for 18-wheelers from Mexico to Canada? It actually could happen. The project is currently being considered by members of the Central North American Trade Corridor Association (CNATCA), and would consist of a robot-only corridor running along Route 83 through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and on into Manitoba....

Media reports are claiming there’s a Chinese building that looks just like the USS Enterprise. The structure is even officially licensed by Paramount to NetDragon Websoft, a Chinese software giant run by trekker Liu DeJian, who wanted to build the world’s only starship Enterprise office complex. There is just one problem. That’s not quite the Enterprise. It’s more like the under-loved starship Voyager.Yes, there are some similarities between the NetDragon building and the Enterprise-E featured in TNG movies like First Contact and Insurrection....

Ustwo has a new idea to reinvent the instrument cluster in cars, one that creates a beautiful and more immediately readable presentation. It works like a minimal home screen display, showing the approximate gas mileage, speed as both a numeral and increasing bar, and other features. It will also likely never happen. As The Verge points out, instrument clusters are a part of a car’s branding. But there’s something so simple and sensible about Ustwo’s proposal that you wish these guys (who are the creators of the hit mobile game “Monument Valley”) could bring their vision to every dashboard....

Build Cardboard FurnitureMedia Platforms Design TeamTake corrugated recycling to the next level by turning boxes into surprisingly sturdy cardboard furniture.Paracord BraceletMedia Platforms Design TeamParacord is great to have nearby whether you are a survivalists or a DIYer–it is rumored that this cord even helped astronauts fix the Hubble. Keep 10 feet of high-tension paracord on hand–or, at least, around your wrist.Five-Cent Wedding BandMedia Platforms Design TeamUse rotary tools to make rings out of coins....

Media Platforms Design Team MILFORD, Mich.—We’ve been waiting for this moment ever since GM unveiled its new Camaro concept in 2006. Our time behind the seat of a prototype 2010 Camaro last summer was successful, but the real test is the production car. GM has already presold 14,000 units of the Camaro, a good omen in a year of disastrous sales figures. But is the new car worth the wait? After a day of driving and a test session at GM’s Milford proving grounds, we have an answer....

Media Platforms Design Team1) The two-war strategy is not an actual strategy. It’s an exercise in budgeting. The central questions at play here are logistical ones: How many troops does the United States need, and what equipment do they need to use? The so-called “two-war strategy” was developed by Gen. Colin Powell, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after the Cold War ended. It means that the U....

Media Platforms Design TeamPopMech’s home and survival experts have provided some helpful tips after major flooding incidents in the past. Here’s what you need to know if you find your town inundated.1. Do Not Underestimate the Power of WaterIt happens during most major flooding episodes: Someone tries to ford the waters in their car, only to see the car whisked away. For one thing, it’s hard to judge how deep the water is from afar....

When it comes to headphones, people are incredibly partisan. And when headphones pass the $50 mark, barreling into $100, $200 and even $350 territory, opinionated consumers break off into warring clans, with Shure devotees railing against Ultimate Ear-lovers, and as many people excited about the new In-Ear Headphones ($100) from Bose as there are people instantly writing them off.In other words, headphones are an almost completely subjective genre of gadgetry, and every headphone review is a barroom brawl waiting to happen....

Last month the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, and Customs and Border Patrol teamed up for a raid on a DIY submarine that was discovered to be carrying 16 tons of cocaine on board. Now the Coast Guard has released video of the raid which gives us a closer look at the impressive DIY submersible.Not a true submarine, the craft had an entrance that floated just slightly above the water, making it more of a very covert, low-riding boat, but all of the crew and cargo was hiding out below the waterline....

Click here to post this video on your blog or website.Click here to post a photo of this winner on your blog or website.“The human arm is a tall order,” says Stuart Harshbarger of Johns Hopkins University. “It can move at remarkable speeds. It’s silent and it heals itself.” Proto 2, the prosthetic arm being developed by Harshbarger and a team of 30 public and private partners, may not be as good as the real thing, but it’s narrowing the gap....

I don’t want to pay a plumber $200 to change the anode in my water heater. Can I do it myself?Media Platforms Design TeamYou can replace the anode, but it’s not easy. Most tanks are located somewhere without enough headroom to easily remove the old rod or insert a new one. To begin the process, turn off the electricity (or gas) to the heater, shut its water supply, and open a hot-water faucet to relieve pressure inside the appliance....

Media Platforms Design Team From the abacus to the TI-85, the adding machine has a storied history. And even though there’s a lot of standard arithmetic being performed on phones and computers these days, some backyard inventors are discovering the aesthetic wonder of calculators infused with archaic design. Take Andy Aaron, who spends his spare time at the kitchen table, tinkering away on shoebox-size homemade calculators that he sells online on his Web site....

We’ve already seen a lot of Star Wars memorabilia hit stores and online auctions this year, but the craze is far from over. Now boutique toy maker and avid Star Wars toy collector Falcon Toys has made Pop Tarts shaped like a slab of Han Solo frozen in carbonite, though if you had your heart set on one, you’re probably already out of luck by now. Falcon made just 15 units at $30 apiece, and as you can imagine, they quickly sold out....

What are the implications of learning how air moves across the sunroof of a car? Much more than you might think.A Princeton engineer studied the effects on the open sunroof of a speeding car using a complex sequence of computer simulations and subsonic wind tunnels. The results revealed ways of eliminating the significant noise produced when air passes over the open sunroof. But the practical benefits extend upward from the road and into the air....

Old radios look awesome. There’s no denying that the stark look of a lot of old transistors easily trumps the rubberized bluetooth speakers we’re drowning in today. You can have the best of both worlds though, as Redditor billyjole illustrated in a post on the subreddit r/DIY; you just have to turn an old radio into a Bluetooth speaker. In a post on Imgur, billyjole goes into the nitty gritty which basically involves gutting the whole speaker and building a new one inside it....

The pipes are noisy only after hot water usage.The fact that you hear the noise only when hot water is used in the shower is a clue to the source of the problem. Copper pipes expand when hot water flows through them. It’s likely that the noise you hear later is the hot-water pipe rubbing against a stud, joist or support bracket as it contracts.In all but the most severe cases, the condition will not cause a leak....

The odds of storm waters overflowing Manhattan’s seawall are now at least 20 times greater than they were 170 years ago, placing New York at risk of worse flooding than ever. Researchers using computer simulations of storms say they might have the best solution to help the city avoid future floodwaters. And contrary to what one might think, their answer doesn’t focus on giant barriers to keep the sea out.What’s ComingTo see how New York’s risk of flooding has changed over time, physical oceanographer Stefan Talke at Portland State University led a team that photographed hundreds of pages of handwritten notes on the daily and hourly tides, some dating back to 1844....

Media Platforms Design TeamTom Herring teaches the Modern Navigation course at MIT, showing students how to use modern GPS systems not just for finding direction but also for conducting scientific research. To make accurate maps of areas with lots of seismic activity, such as California’s San Andreas fault, Herring uses laser altimetry: Satellites can fire lasers to specific points on Earth and measure how long it takes for the light to bounce back....