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Here at PM, we’re pretty fond of saying that we don’t mind getting our hands dirty–that, in fact, we kind of like it. And we’re happy to report that when it comes time to put the money where our mouths are, we don’t disappoint.With less than eight hours to go before the main event, set up for tonight’s second annual Breakthrough Awards is well underway. And that means some of PM’s finest are downstairs in the lobby of the Hearst Tower–where we’ll hold our reception and ceremony–unpacking, lifting and admiring the (awfully heavy) innovations that are about to make their mark on the world....

Media Platforms Design TeamA close-up of a porcupine quill shows the difference in texture between the tip and the base. Credit: PNASIf you’re walking through the woods and you see what looks like a small dog clinging to a high branch, don’t investigate. That’s probably a North American porcupine up to 3 feet long weighing 35 pounds, covered in 30,000 sharp spines. And he won’t hesitate to stick you if you’re acting suspicious....

Media Platforms Design Team Interior of the crew-carrying SpaceX Dragon V2. NASA Administrator and former astronaut Charles Bolden left no doubt as to his goal for the space agency’s Commercial Crew program. “I don’t ever want to have to write another check to Roscosmos after 2017,” he told a gathering of reporters and NASA astronauts at a press conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. American Spacecraft Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has been the only means for NASA to send its astronauts to the International Space Station....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn January, a federal appeals court ruled against net neutrality in Verizon v. Federal Communications Commission, saying the FCC can’t force Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. In February came some of the first fallout, as Netflix agreed to pay Comcast, the biggest cable and internet provider in the country, for better access to its customers. But now, in March, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is changing his tune....

Even as NASA says it can’t afford to track near-Earth asteroids, scientists continue to refine our understanding of how they move through space. Two papers published this week in the journal Science report the first direct observation of the YORP Effect—a theory proposing that sunlight alone can alter asteroids’ spin state. When sunlight hits an asteroid, solar energy is absorbed by the rock’s surface and reradiated as heat into space. This causes a recoil effect, not unlike a thruster moving a spaceship or satellite....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe U.S. Navy flexed some muscle today, sending two aircraft carriers with over 17,000 troops—unannounced—into the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Iran. As the Pentagon continues to rethink its priorities—high-tech and otherwise—the future of our innovative (and expensive) weapons and vehicle arsenal continues to take shape. At least the Army’s going hybrid….Anticipating the summer vacation rush—and just before Memorial Day weekend (though you might be hitting the road)—the FAA today expanded its Airspace Flow Program, intended to minimize weather-related delays....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe world’s first emoji-only social network hit the App Store last weekend, and so far, it’s Media Platforms Design Team.Emojli calls itself the the “emoji-only social network” and the “emoji-only network,” and, most recently, in the subtitle of the app itself, the “emoji-only messenger.” That was a smart revision, since the app is really just a messaging service, not, as I had hoped, some glorious world of emoji profiles and emoji status updates....

Magnetic-tipped screwdrivers are extremely handy and make many tasks much easier. Thing of working with screws for small electronics or trying to place screws in hard-to-reach locations. It’s much easier when they stick to your screwdriver.Instead of buying new sets of magnetic tipped screwdrivers, you can magnetize your existing screwdriver using a rare earth magnet or any other large magnet. Simply brush the end of your screwdriver across the magnet a few times, and voila, you’ve magnetized it!...

UPDATE: 2:42 p.m. According to the AP, Jamaican officials are saying the plane crashed on the island.UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. FlightAware is no longer receiving data from the plane.UPDATE, 2:25 p.m.: FlightAware is tracking Flight N900KN’s position, speed, and altitude in real-time. The plane is losing speed quickly.UPDATE: There are reportedly two pilots on the plane, believed to be unconscious.An aircraft flying toward Cuba is not communicating with the ground, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is saying....

Media Platforms Design Team"Breakthroughs come from nontraditional places," X Prize Foundation chairman and chief executive Peter Diamandis said, a way of explaining why Rainn Wilson of NBC’s was sitting in a room with Microsoft’s Paul Allen.The OfficeAllen and Wilson were among the 120 CEOs, scientists, philanthropists, and innovators who sat around a film studio in Los Angeles recently, brainstorming solutions to the world’s most vexing problems. They weren’t actually tasked with developing any solutions themselves; the weekend brainstorm was intended to hatch ideas for the next X Prize....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn the fall of 2009, University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and colleagues published an article in Science detailing the discovery of Raptorex kriegsteini, a new species of dinosaur that has characteristics remarkably similar to Tyrannosaurus rex, but is about 90 times smaller and roughly 60 million years older than its gigantic counterpart. The tiny Tyrannosauridae, like T. rex, has puny forearms, enhanced jaw muscles and olfactory bulbs, and other biological tools needed to be a voracious carnivore....

MATERIALS LIST–BEDKeyNo.Size and description (use)A22-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 31-1/4" mahogany (post)B22-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 21-1/4" mahogany (post)C43/4 x 2-1/2 x 2-1/2" wenge (foot)D21-1/8 x 3 x 60-7/8" mahogany (top rail)E111-1/8 x 6 x 60-7/8" mahogany (bottom rail)E211-1/8 x 6-3/4 x 60-7/8" mahogany (bottom rail)F11-1/8 x 6-3/4 x 60-7/8" mahogany (mattress rail)G141-1/8 x 3-1/8 x 6-1/2" mahogany (end stile)G2101-1/8 x 3-1/8 x 6-1/2" mahogany (stile)H121/2 x 5-3/4 x 7" plywoodIas reqd....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Mercedes-Benz R-Class always seemed to have a bit of an identity crisis, torn between the worlds of the SUV and the minivan. The 2011 R-Class debuting at the New York Auto Show tackles that issue by taking on a more deliberate look, with sharpened styling that recalls a kinship to stablemates like the GL and the E-Class.The 2011 R-Class is available as the R350 4Matic or the R350 BlueTEC 4Matic; the former is powered by a 3....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: June 2013Base Price: $35,000 to $45,000 (est.)Competitors: Acura RLX, Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Azera, Lexus ES, Lincoln MKZ, Toyota Avalon Powertrains: 3.3-liter V-6, 293 hp, 255 lb-ft; 6-speed automatic, FWD EPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 19/28 What’s New: Fresh to the Kia lineup in the United States, the Cadenza is the biggest and most lavishly appointed passenger car in the brand’s North American history....

If you’re planning to attend this year’s Boston Marathon, make sure to leave the drone at home. Event organizers announced Monday that the flying robots will not be allowed to hover over the 26.2-mile route.“We’re just trying to encourage people—look, don’t create problems by flying these things,” said Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben said at a press conference, per CBS Boston.Today’s announcement outlined the race’s beefed-up security measures in response to the deadly bombing attack in 2013....

A Maryland crabber hoping to nab a few crustaceans ended up with something much, much bigger in his boat: a submergible drone run by Northrop Grumman.The Remus 100 AUV, built by Konsberg-Gruppun, is typically used in coastal areas for defense or research purposes. In this case, Grumman, which has an office in Annapolis, Maryland, was using the bay as a test site for the drones, which weigh around 80 pounds and are five feet long....

Media Platforms Design Team
Audi is nothing if not blunt. Company officials openly stated the Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept is a hint at the pending Audi TT. Except for the cracking 408 hp hybrid drivetrain, and of course the two-door sports car wagon profile, this is the styling inside and out you should expect to see on the two-seat roadster.
The electromechanical parts of the Allroad Shooting Brake Concept should not be ignored, though....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photograph by Jeff Westbrook/Studio D) No St. Patrick’s Day party would be complete without a few wet tiles. Whether it’s from spilled beverages (or less savory sources), a wet floor is a virtual given. And this hand vac (vomit vac?) makes clean up a whole lot easier. When most people think of wet/dry vacs, they imagine giant shop tools with massive hoses and tons of extensions (we tested the best of those recently)....

The internet has spent the last several weeks discovering and then delighting in Google’s Deep Dream image tool. We saw it playing with fractals. Others decided to run the entirety of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas through the tool to get the psychedelic effect.But while the results are amazing, the process here can be a bit difficult to comprehend. That’s why Johan Nordberg made this video. Step by step, it shows you how an image of random noise gets processed over and over and over again, until random swirls become a sea of dog eyes and the world starts to make sense again....

How do I install a handrail on the wall along a set of interior stairs?First, lay out the handrail slope at the height required by your local building department. If your town implements the widely used International Residential Code, you’re in luck. Go to the Web site of the Stairway Manufacturers’ Association (stairways.org) and download “Visual Interpretation of the International Residential Code,” found at the Codes & Standards link. It’s an excellent reference....