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Engine size is defined by displacement, the combined volume of the cylinders expressed in either cubic inches (350 cubic inches) or the metric equivalent (5.7 liters). For years, carmakers satisfied market demands for more power simply by making larger-displacement—and thirstier—engines. But thanks to the first major tightening of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations in decades and customer preference for higher efficiency, the trend now is for smaller, not bigger, engines....

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console–the willing victim of a media feeding frenzy over the potential mainstreaming of videogames–has arrived . . . in a hotel room at the posh Le Parker Meridien in midtown Manhattan. Eyes glued to a razor-sharp, widescreen, high-definition monitor and nestled in the rolling aftershock of satellite surround-sound speakers, I was treated to a taste of this so-called next generation of gaming–via Gun, a western-theme action game from Activision....

Media Platforms Design TeamOld school motorcyclists will happily remind you that the beginner bikes of yore never had engines much bigger than 175cc, and they would never dare learn how to ride on anything bigger. That was, of course, an era when bikes across the board were smaller, humbler, and ridden only by “the nicest people”; monstruous 1,200cc adventure bikes and 1,800cc cruisers were virtually unheard of, and launching your riding career on anything gruntier than a thimble-sized starter bike would have been considered nothing short of socially irresponsible....

Media Platforms Design TeamNASA RESEARCH PILOT Craig Bomben was flying at 20,000 ft. under a clear, blue desert sky this past March when a sudden lurch rocked his highly modified F-15 Eagle fighter jet. The plane’s nose jerked sickeningly upward, a sign that the aircraft had suffered one of the worst possible malfunctions: Part of the stabilator, the combination horizontal stabilizer/elevator that controls up-and-down motion, had jammed. “It’s not something a pilot ever wants to feel,” Bomben recalled later....

Media Platforms Design TeamThey call it the successor to Hubble. But the James Webb Space Telescope is something more than the next great observatory to provide breathtaking views of nebulae and new insights to our place in the cosmos. It is also nearly all of NASA’s eggs in one basket, one that appears to be perpetually near the brink of disaster. But things are looking up. Relatively speaking.The good news is that JWST is on course to meet its 2018 launch date....

Lockheed-Martin has been working on air-fired lasers for some time, hoping to guard military aircraft from incoming missiles. But they’ve always had a problem: aerodynamic principles prevented them from firing at objects straight ahead unless they were traveling at or near supersonic speeds. So Lockheed just took turbulence out of the equation, delivering to DARPA and the Air Force an omni-directional laser. Through a series of mirrors, the light signal is stronger, and doesn’t suffer from signal degradation in weather systems or other atmospheric events, meaning that aircraft of all speeds can use the laser....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Nicholas Guarracino/Twitter)No… I am your lawsuit.Empire Brewing Company, of Syracuse, N.Y., makes some damned fine beers. Recently, the company filed for a trademark on the name of its newest concoction, a lager called Strikes Bock. Empire Strikes Bock—get it?Well, Lucasfilm certainly did. The now Disney-owned company has sued the brewery, saying the name is too reminiscent of “The Empire Strikes Back.“Empire’s owner, David Katleski, says his outfit has been brewing the bock for years....

Media Platforms Design TeamAlleged international arms merchant Viktor Bout had a bad year in 2010, and 2011 is likely to be even worse. Last year, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents won a court battle to extradite him from Thailand to New York City. Today, his pretrial hearings began in a New York courtroom is set to begin. (The trial is scheduled to start in mid-September.) Charged with terrorism for his alleged attempt to sell weapons to narco-guerillas in Colombia, he could face 25 years to life in prison....

Defense contractor Raytheon has a blog post showing off their line of four “kill vehicles.” Each vehicle is a little different, but the overall goal remains the same: the vehicles would be launched to space, where they would monitor for missile activity. They’d then go after Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and destroy them at high altitudes.If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Reagan administration wanted to do something very similar under the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars....

Media Platforms Design Team When you look at the sales numbers, the Saab brand doesn’t sell cars at the same voracious pace as the other divisions of GM. In fact, Saab sells about as many cars in the United States as Chevy sells Corvettes. And that used to mean the small Swedish automaker got far less attention—fewer new models and fewer concepts. But recently, that appears to be changing. Saab has had quite a slew of interesting concepts in the past two years, and the General has rediscovered an untapped nameplate to serve as one of its key leaders in green technology....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs PM reported yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week voted unanimously to recommend a nationwide ban on the use of cellphones while driving, citing a multivehicle wreck that left two people dead last year in which the drivers at fault were allegedly distracted.It’s true that drivers not focused on the task at hand are a risk to everyone on the road. But the real problem isn’t our gadgets....

How do you build a GIF that takes 1,000 years to loop? Use 48,140,288 frames that tick forward on a 10-minute interval. That’s what artists Juha van Ingen and Janne Särkelä have done. And none of us will ever get to see the end.“AS Long As Possible” is an art project that features nearly 50 million frames with white numbers centered in the frame on a black background. Each number, of course, corresponds with the frame’s number....

Ford Thunder FliteMedia Platforms Design TeamAt first glance we thought this was a concept car from the 1960s. But it’s not. This Ford concept was built this year by talented craftsman Dean Arnold. His goal was to create a vision of what Ford could have built back in 1962 as a Thunderbird of the future. Very neat, indeed.>CLICK FOR MORE12 Coolest Cars at SEMA 2008 –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –>RELATED STORIES* AUTO EXCELLENCE AWARDS: PM Picks its Favorite Cars for 2009* JAY LENO: Why SSC Ultimate Aero is the All-American Supercar* GALLERY: 10 Hot Cars From Bonneville Speed Week 2008* PLUS: PM’s Complete Coverage of SEMA 20082....

Media Platforms Design TeamMost UAVs burn gasoline in engines adapted from lawn mowers, chain saws and weed trimmers. Because they can’t use the military’s stock of heavy fuels, gasoline must be found locally just for the UAVs. In Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, gasoline is often of dubious quality and is delivered in soda bottles. Furthermore, these adapted engines need a lot of labor-intensive maintenance to perform in more extreme conditions of flight, not to mention the harsh environment of Middle East war zones....

The goal of nanofabrication is to make tiny machines build themselves using molecules they grab from their surroundings. It’s easy to dismiss the concept as science fiction – or hype. Until you hear what’s been going on in the lab of MIT materials scientist Angela Belcher, a star in nanotechnology circles.Working with colleagues Paula Hammond and Yet-Ming Chiang, Belcher genetically altered a virus, the M-13 bacteriophage, inducing it to grab a pair of conductive metals – cobalt oxide and gold – from a solution....

Media Platforms Design Team This week the Israeli Air Force (IAF) held a ceremony spotlighting the “operational acceptance” of its biggest unmanned aerial vehicle, the 4.5-ton Heron TP, or “Eitan.” The far-flying UAV, with a wingspan almost as long as a 737 airliner, appeared on the runway with a comparatively diminutive F-15 alongside it. The IAF already rushed this UAV into action during the 2008–‘09 war in Gaza, so the ceremony really served as a reminder to Iran that its drone fleets can reach the nation....

Media Platforms Design TeamNeil Young’s $399 triangular high-quality audio player is here, nearly a year after its Kickstarter campaign. The legendary singer appeared at CES to promote the Pono, and told press that the digital music player will be available for sale at 80 locations, including a number of Fry’s stores, starting Monday.The Pono music store is already online, and if you pay a visit, you might experience a little sticker shock....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Space Shuttle Endeavor blasted off last night in a textbook example of a perfect launch. And while mission astronauts may be the stars of every successful liftoff, they certainly don’t make it happen alone. One of the key roles on the ground—and one of the last lines of defense—belongs to astronaut support persons (ASPs). They make sure the inside of the Shuttle is fit for astronauts prior to launch, help them get situated and send them that final wave goodbye from Earth....

Media Platforms Design Team NEW YORK — Earlier, we reported that the 2009 TSX may get the turbocharged four-cylinder from the RDX or even a diesel option. Boy, were we off-base. In a surprising move, Acura’s entry-level sedan will retain the same normally aspirated 2.4-liter four-cylinder, now tuned to produce 201 hp, and will be paired with a manual or an automatic. Though Acura has said the turbo motor is a no-go, we still think a diesel could be coming next year....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: Now Price: $200,500 to $211,430Competitors: Rolls Royce Ghost, Maserati Quattroporte, Aston Martin Rapide, Jaguar XJ, Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Powertrains: twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W-12, 616 hp, 590 lb-ft; eight-speed automatic, AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 12/20 What’s New: The four-door luxury sedan formerly known as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur will now officially be known as just the Bentley Flying Spur. We’ll give you a second to let that sink in....