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Media Platforms Design TeamRELATED STORIES• UDPATE: Inside Story of the SWORDS Armed Robot “Pullout” PITTSBURGH — We already knew that iRobot CEO Colin Angle was running the only successful business in the home robotics game, so it was fitting that he closed his keynote at the RoboBusiness Conference here today by asking if there’s really a robot industry in the first place: “Are we sure we’re not just an adjunct to another industry?...

Media Platforms Design TeamToday, most people walk around with a camera of some sort in their possession. Point-and-shoots, DSLRs and tiny video cams–not to mention cellphones–have become ubiquitous. And yet it seems that in many public locations, security officials are touchier than ever about letting people actually use those cameras. Our guardians of public safety often have the idea that shooting pictures in public places might be a precursor to some sort of terrorism....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere are plenty of reasons to ride your bike to work. For one, it’s a great way to save gas and lower your carbon footprint, because most motorcycles get far better fuel economy than most cars. I consistently get 50 mpg or better out of my Triumph, more if I’m by myself instead of riding two-up with my wife. A 250cc bike or a scooter could double that number....

Today at 4:33 PM ET, after SpaceX launches a resupply mission to the ISS, it will attempt to land the Falcon 9 rocket on a drone platform at sea. Here, in a feature from the May 2015 issue of Popular Mechanics, we explain how the wild landing works, step by step.On the video it looks like a rocket launch played on rewind: A slender, fourteen-story aluminum-lithium-alloy tube, engines spouting fire, comes to Earth instead of roaring into space....

President Bush has announced today the temporary suspension of regulations requiring oxygen-bearing additives to gasoline in areas with heavy air pollution. Oxygen-carrying compounds such as ethanol (which has replaced MTBE since the toxic substance started to show up in groundwater) are used to reduce emissions. Mr. Bush seems to have forgotten his recent mandate to use ever-increasing amounts of ethanol and other biofuels to reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum—production isn’t likely to increase if you get rid of the biggest demand....

A refrigerator is an unnatural thing: a box of cold air made up of components that use electricity (hot) to move heat (also hot). If you sit next to one on a quiet day, you can hear the appliance paradoxically working—the whispery trickle of refrigerant boiling in the evaporator coil. Looking at this literal black box, you might be inclined to tear it to pieces looking for answers. But you won’t have to, because repairclinic....

Here’s a trick you definitely should not try at home: Tell Siri “charge my phone 100 percent.” Why? For reasons unknown, Siri will respond by calling emergency services, giving you just five seconds to cancel the call.We confirmed this happens in both iOS 8.4 and the iOS 9 beta, and that you must use the phrase “Charge my phone 100 percent” exactly—“charge my phone to 100 percent” or “charge my battery to 100 percent” doesn’t trigger a call to 911....

In the not-too-distant future, drivers in Washington state could cross the Sinclair Inlet on a bridge made of two or three decommissioned aircraft carriers. It may sound like a wild pipe dream or a portrait of military dystopia, but the idea is under active consideration by the state, which has received federal funds to study its feasibility.No aircraft carrier is available for the project—not yet, at least. Currently, the backers of the project have their eyes on the USS Independence, which was commissioned in the 1960s and could go to the salvage yard later this year, and the USS Kitty Hawk, a carrier that sailed in the Vietnam War after its 1958 commission....

Grass Lawn ChairMedia Platforms Design TeamThis unique lawn furniture is part garden, part recycled junk. The result, however, is an innovative chair that would make a great fit in any backyard-just don’t forget to mow the furniture.2. LED Hula HoopsMedia Platforms Design TeamHula hoops are one of the simplest toys to make-take a hollow plastic tube and seal it in a circle. This hoop mod goes two steps further. Add a switch, a battery, some wire and a number of LEDs-all for under $20-and your hoop will light up a yard....

We already gave you the basic tools you need to survive anything in our August cover story, “Facing Down Disaster.” Now, here are 18 more tips that will equip you to survive sticky situations when you have only moments to spare. TornadoHead to your basement. If your home doesn’t have one, go to a storm shelter or a neighbor’s basement or, at the very least, the lowest floor of your structure....

Media Platforms Design Team LOS ANGELES— Sixteen years may be a lifetime in the motorcycle world, but that’s how long it took for the Ducati Monster to get its first redesign. Considering that over 200,000 Monsters have carried the Bologna-based company through some pretty rough times, you can see why Ducati was cautious about messing around with a megahit like the Monster. So when the entry-level Monster went under the knife for its extreme makeover, the naked bike received a whole lot of improvements: more power, less weight and a restyle that finally brings it into the 21st century....

Media Platforms Design TeamView full post on YoutubeThere are some important differences between America and Australia. While we endure the bitter cold of winter, they bask in the summer sun. While their toilets flush clockwise, ours flush counter clockwise (though not because of the Coriolis Effect.)But there’s one important thing the two nations share, and we’re not talking about the love of a good beer or watching sports played with a spheroid....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhere is Anthony Hopkins when you need him? The actor, who played the eccentric but focused New Zealander, Burt Munro, in The World’s Fastest Indian, must have been away filming on location during early September. Otherwise, there would have been no stopping him from taking over the reins of at least one of Hayes Diversified Technologies’ B20-fueled diesel motorcycles at Bonneville Speedway’s 2007 International Speed Trials. Undeterred, company owner Fred Hayes and chief test rider Byron Schmidt accomplished the deed themselves, despite adverse weather and a limited amount of track time....

If you’ve ever dreamed of extending the comfort of your living room to your deck, patio or yard, our porch chair-and-ottoman combination is a great place to start making that dream a reality. We’ve built the set out of solid red cedar–a wood that’s great for outdoor structures because it’s highly resistant to rot. And, the visual theme is simple and robust, so the pieces are as easy to build as they are to look at....

The Claim: The Hercules Hook overpowers the pipsqueak hollow-wall fasteners found elsewhere. It “has the muscle” to install in drywall with no tools and will hold up to 150 pounds—“just push, set and hang.” The “reinforced steel design” penetrates drywall and braces itself to the reverse side of the wall using a J-shaped leg. Downward pressure on the hook side increases the J-leg’s grip behind the wall. “Heavy or light, big or small, it hooks, hangs and secures them all....

Media Platforms Design TeamJust four years ago the Airborne Laser Test Bed, a funny-looking 747 with a bulbous nose that shoots lethal photons, zapped a ballistic missile out of the sky. But after its impressive metal-melting test demonstration off the coast of California, the multibillion-dollar laser plane funded by the Missile Defense Agency was promptly sent to the boneyard in Tucson, Ariz., where it sits idle to this day. A relic of Cold War military thinking, the beastly laser plane was megapowerful but unwieldy....

View full post on YoutubeGoogle’s ambitious project to take the Internet to the skies is moving forward thanks to a collaboration with Australian telecommunications giant Telstra.Loon is Google’s name for its plan to create worldwide 3G or 4G internet access from a fleet of networked balloons in the stratosphere broadcasting at 2.6 GHz. Flying high above airplanes, the balloons would relay signals from base stations to other surrounding balloons, creating an Internet connection across the sky....

A Dutch inventor has come up with an ingenious way for concrete to repair its own cracks: It’s alive. Okay, Henk Jonkers hasn’t created a new form of life. What he did find is a kind of bacteria that lies dormant until activated by water. Water is exactly what causes many concrete structures to crack further after they’ve suffered an initial abrasion—the water gets in, freezes, and expands. The idea is that the bacteria put a stop to that....

It’s far easier to build a house than to remodel one. Renovation 3 (the 3rd edition) has earned its place on the shelf because it handles its difficult subject so well. It begins with how to inspect a house and identify the cause of problems such as water stains, rotting wood and mineral deposits on pipes. Next come chapters on project planning, tools, materials, roofing, doors, windows, skylights, exteriors, structural and finish carpentry, masonry, foundations, plumbing and electrical, kitchens and baths, painting, wallpapering and flooring....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe last time Bryan Young played a Shadowrun game, the now-classic was Nintendo’s huge hit, and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were both chasing the home run record. “I must have been just out of high school,” says Young, editor of . “Maybe 1998.” For a video-game-loving man who runs a website dedicated to “nerd news and reviews,” that’s an eternity.The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TimeBigShinyRobot.comBut he’ll soon get his chance to revisit the series....