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Everybody poops. That includes Mt. Everest climbers, not all of whom brought their droppings back down. You can probably see where this is headed: There’s too much poop on Mt. Everest.It’s not simply an aesthetic problem. Often, waste worms its way into the snow. When seasonal melting happens, that brings the poop down toward the basin, and with it all the pathogens and problems that come with human waste. Sometimes climbers also see poopsicles on the mountainside, calling them “stalactites,” according to PRI....

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, the lake-effect snow can dump a foot at a time, meaning you often have to shovel snow as it’s coming down. Sick of doing so and getting cold and wet in the process, Gary Ellertson, a retired hydraulic engineer, went about fashioning his own heated and enclosed plow truck.He took two rear axles off old Ford Rangers he found at the salvage yard and chopped them down to forty-eight inches (outside wheel to outside wheel) to create the plow’s articulated steering....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe buzz surrounding Samsung’s soon-to-be-released Galaxy S5 has just gotten a lot louder. SamMobile, a tech website obsessed with Samsung, reported today that the upcoming smartphone will come with a bevy of improvements. Although these can best be described as rumors, SamMobile has a reputation for being accurate. Here’s a rundown of what might be coming.The most eye-catching change is Samsung’s purported decision to upgrade the polycarbonate body it used for the previous Galaxy phones....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe response of many readers to PM’s April 2005 feature on Sandhogs—the urban miners excavating New York’s City Water Tunnel #3—was “more!” More photographs, more details, more about the men who have spent the last 36 years plowing through solid bedrock 800 ft. below Manhattan to ensure residents a fresh water supply. Well, for those of you within visiting distance of Grand Central Terminal, your wish has been granted....

It sounds like a sci-fi nightmare: giant sheets of grayish meat grown on factory racks for human consumption. But it’s for real. Using pig stem cells, scientists have been growing lab meat for years, and it could be hitting deli counters sooner than you think.Early attempts produced less-than-enticing results. Then, in 2001, scientists at New York’s Touro College won funding from NASA to improve in vitro farming. Hoping to serve something, well, beefier than kelp on moon bases and Mars colonies, the scientists successfully grew goldfish muscle in a nutrient broth....

Media Platforms Design TeamHoria Dociu’s first job in the late 90s was adding textures to store fronts in video games. He remembers creating entire fronts of buildings with just 32x32 pixels or a train engine with only 22 polygons. “It was this whole weird abstract way of working where the artistry came through in how you cleverly you got around these preposterous limitations,” he says. Dociu doesn’t have that problem anymore....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe killing of Osama bin Laden was a seminal moment for the Central Intelligence Agency. Now, with the successful completion of the mission, there is heightened public debate about the changes within the agency that led to bin Laden’s death. Officials say it took 45 minutes to conduct the raid that killed bin Laden. Actually, his violent demise began the week after 9/11. On Sept. 17, 2001, the White House authorized the CIA to conduct “targeted killings” of al-Qaida personnel, overriding the ban on political assassination first approved in 1976 by President Ford....

In 1735, a team of about 20 French and Spanish scientists and other crew departed on a most unlikely quest: to sail halfway around the world to determine the true shape of the Earth by measuring the vast distances between mountaintops in modern-day Ecuador. It was a trip beset by money problems, extreme weather and leadership woes—such as the original leader spending the team’s money on a diamond for his mistress....

The biggest aircraft in the world has been grounded since 2013. But with a little cash infusion from the British government, it soon could be flying again.This 300-foot behemoth is the Airlander 10. It was built by Hybrid Air Vehicles in the U.K. for the United States Army, which selected the airship to be the aircraft for its Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program, an attempt to bring back blimps for new military uses....

You remember rubber band race cars, the high point of elementary school DIY? Well, this one blows those rinky-dink contraptions off the track. Granted, it was built by college students. With a 3D printer.Related StoryGallery: Cirin the 3D-printed Rubber Band CarCirin is made of a mixture of nylon, carbon fiber, and aluminum, and powered by one 16-foot-long rubber band. A group of students at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA built this mean monster....

C.J. SimonsenPensacola, Fla.Age: 34Years on Job: 1 Navy Lt. C.J. Simonsen used to land jets on ships in the dark, which is why he sees his role as a No. 7 pilot for the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron—the Blue Angels—as a relatively stress-free job. After Simonsen graduated from the Naval Academy in 2002, he spent three and a half years training to fly the F/A-18F Super Hornet. Piloting the aircraft, he claims, beats any carnival ride....

Who needs a flying car? The U.S. military thinks it does. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals for a Humvee that can fly over insurgents, conduct night raids or whisk injured soldiers away from the battlefield. Textron, the defense company, says it has the solution—and they have the sketches to prove it.Sure, the concept looks like a model car you might buy at Toys R’ Us, but the technology is sound, and the engineers think it could be ready to fly relatively soon, according to Steven Reid, vice president of unmanned aircraft systems at AAI, the Textron subsidiary that produced the Shadow UAV....

In two years, this VW subcompact will see production, the question is, what kind of powertrain will it offer? VW has shown the Up! concept at other shows with both a pure electric motor and gas engine drivetrains. At the L.A. Show, we got our first look at the Up! Lite–and its diesel-electric powertrain. This is a full hybrid, with a lithium-ion battery pack and a 13-hp electric motor that can power the car independently from the diesel engine for less than two miles....

Media Platforms Design TeamWith the exception of Harley-Davidson’s V-Rod, which departed from tradition by incorporating a Porsche-designed, liquid-cooled mill, Motor Company bikes have only featured oil and air-cooled engines… until now.Harley’s new Twin-Cooled High Output Twin Cam 103 mill uses two radiators discreetly tucked into the fairings to feed a 50/50 water/coolant mix into the engine’s cylinder heads, enabling a higher compression ratio (10.1:1, versus 9.6:1), not to mention more consistent performance and thermal relief for riders when ambient temperatures rise....

Media Platforms Design TeamEven in the best of times, it’s not easy to keep an eye on Antarctica. And these are not the best of times.The frozen continent got some extra attention last month, when the government shutdown threatened to wipe out the Antarctic research season (the National Science Foundation salvaged some projects at research bases such as McMurdo Station). But less publicized is the fact that NASA doesn’t have an orbiting eye to keep track of the important ways in which climate change is affecting Antarctica’s ice sheets....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe SS United States sits indefinitely at a pier in Philadelphia, but she was designed to move fast: Her knifelike prow could cut through the ocean at 44 knots. Inset: The luxury liner crossing the Atlantic in the 1960s. (Dock photograph by Steven B. Ujifusa)When I remember the great ocean liner, we’re steaming into the wind, east across the Atlantic. I’m at the bow. I let go of a balloon and run aft, trying to keep pace with the floating object....

Media Platforms Design TeamMitsubishi’s full-size Outlander has a new baby sibling, and its name is Outlander Sport. Measuring over a foot shorter than its stablemate and incorporating its same basic structure, the Outlander Sport boasts an impressive estimated highway fuel-economy figure of 31 mpg, thanks to a series of forward-thinking engineering choices.First in its fuel savings arsenal is a curb weight of 3042 pounds (in entry-level trim)—that’s less than the Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Rogue, and Mazda CX7....

Media Platforms Design TeamSeoul, South Korea—Among midsize family cars, the optional engine is normally a large-displacement V6. But the popularity of that option is waning—the vast majority of midsize sedans are sold with the base four cylinders, which is the way . we tested them last yearWith its new Sonata, Hyundai has ditched the V6 option altogether. In its place, the automaker will soon offer a turbocharged four-cylinder that rivals V6 horsepower but returns better fuel economy....

On-Sale Date: Early 2013Price: $20,000 (est.)Competitors: Honda Civic, Chevrolet Cruze, Toyota CorollaPowertrain: 1.0-liter, turbocharged I-3, 123 hp, 125 lb-ft; six-speed manual, FWD EPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 33/45 (est.)What’s New: How small of an engine will the U.S. buyer accept? That question is swirling in the minds of auto executives as they try to meet ever-more-stringent fuel-economy targets. Starting sometime next year, Ford will test the waters with its tiny, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine....

After the year-long mega jet mess with its A380 (which we took for a video test drive earlier this year), Airbus made a big score by securing some major contracts at the Paris Air Show today. US Airways stayed aggressive and will add to its Airways fleet by around 2014 the massive A350 model, which has the seating capacity and fuel economy to directly compete with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. Notably, however, US Airways did not invest in the A350’s bigger cousin, the 900-passenger A380, leaving it mired without a customer in this country (though Qatar bought three A380s, Emirates ordered eight more and additional customers may be announced after the show)....