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Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sale Date: Fall 2012Price: $33,900 to $42,090Competitors: Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-ClassPowertrains: (example) 2.5-liter I-4, 202 hp, 191 lb-ft; 2.0-liter I-4 turbo, 272 hp, 260 lb-ft; 3.6-liter V-6, 321 hp, 275 lb-ft; six-speed manual, six-speed automatic, RWD or AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 19–22/28–32 (est.)What’s New: The ATS represents another step in Cadillac’s campaign to match the performance and catch up to the sales numbers of the premium German sports sedans, in particular the long dominant BMW 3 Series....

Marc UrbanoCar sales in Europe are at their lowest point in recent history. And while analysts predict a rebound, many question whether or not the European market is permanently shrinking. Nevertheless, the mood at Frankfurt show was optimistic, with companies showing off their best and brightest models with a positive outlook on the future of driving. Here are three trends we gleaned from the show floor.View full post on YoutubeThe Self-Driving Car is ComingPart of the Mercedes-Benz press conference in Frankfurt was the announcement that a prototype S-class recently drove itself 103 km through both city and rural roads in Germany....

A district court in Northern California has ruled that cops must obtain a warrant before accessing location data from your cell phone. Specifically, the court found warrantless searches to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure. Judge Susan Illston said in her ruling that the ubiquity of cell phones means “the exposure of the cell site location information can convert what would otherwise be a private event into a public one....

Crashes grounded a handful of American Airlines across the U.S. last night. No, it wasn’t planes that crashed, and no one was hurt. It’s just that the pilots’ iPads “went blank.” American Airlines confirmed the issue to passengers on Twitter, citing problems with the pilots’ flight apps.View full post on TwitterMany commercial airlines started replacing their pilots’ ungainly 40-pound paper flight manual with iPads starting around 2011. American took the digital plunge in 2013, and so far the transition has been relatively seamless....

A friend was driving me around last week and complained that the windows were taking too long to clear. So, I just pushed the button on his dash to use fresh air instead of recirculated air. He said that didn’t make any sense because the defroster uses the air conditioning to dry out the air blowing onto the dash. And he maintained it would do a better job in Recirculate mode, rather than letting in lots of fresh, ultrahumid air from the rainstorm we were driving through....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis is a good time to be a gearhead with a DIY bent. The words “kit car” once evoked VW-powered Mercedes SSK knockoffs and disillusioned shade-tree mechanics with half-built projects in their garages. These days, a car customer inclined to pick up a wrench has more and better options than that sad figure from 20 years ago, the one coated in fiberglass dust and becoming familiar with a Mustang II’s front suspension....

Move over, Velociraptor and T. rex. Here comes another top-tier dinosaur for the history books.Today an international team of paleontologists unveiled the newest Mesozoic badass: Dreadnoughtus schrani. Weighing in at an astonishing 65 tons, standing two stories high at the shoulder, and measuring 85 feet long, this titan is the heaviest dinosaur we’ve ever (accurately) measured. And its discovery represents the most fossil mass ever found for a single organism—a paleontologist’s dream....

Media Platforms Design TeamBERLIN, Oct. 22 – It’s been a hectic couple of days. Saturday morning, our epic trek for the Mercedes E-Class Experience from Paris to Beijing began… with the compulsory group photo. Apparently the photographer had never corralled 72 journalists from 20-plus countries (and speaking a dozen different languages, most of them not English) into one place at one time. Consequently, we were a little late leaving the Eiffel Tower....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe last Toyota Corolla rolled off the line at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif., on April 1, a week after the last Toyota Tacoma pickup made at the plant received its final welds, buff and polish. The Pontiac Vibe, which was made at the joint-venture Toyota, General Motors plant rolled off the line a few months ago. The plant that has long been studied in business schools for the way it transformed a workforce is closed for the second time in 28 years....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe oil slick that’s oozing over the Gulf of Mexico, the result of a rig explosion two weeks ago, recently claimed its first known avian victim, a northern gannet that’s currently recovering. Images of birds blanketed in sheens of black oil could motivate an army of wildlife lovers to storm the beaches, but before getting out gloves and a HAZMAT suit, volunteers must get proper certification. Rushing out to help birds without it may actually do more harm, experts warn....

Media Platforms Design TeamWe’re in the front seat of a helicopter, thumping along 1500 feet above the foam-flecked waves of the Gulf of Mexico, when pilot Chuck Aaron does something you’re never supposed to do. He pulls back on the controls and just keeps pulling. When the helo’s nose rears up, I feel my body sinking into the seat as my heart crawls up my esophagus. We keep going until all I see is blue sky, then the line that separates it from the greener blue of the gulf....

Sadly, we’re not yet living in an age of ubiquitous high-speed Wi-Fi access—there are still internet black spots hiding in distant basement corners and the edges of the yard where it can be difficult to get on Facebook let alone Netflix.Take heart though, because solutions are available. If there’s a problem with weak Wi-Fi somewhere on your property, here are three fixes you can try depending on your budget, DIY know-how and needs....

Less than a week after the reveal $100 ASUS Chromebit, Google’s computer on a stick, Intel is officially getting in the game, too.The Intel Compute Stick is an HDMI-connected computer that runs a full version of Windows and features a quad-core 1.33 GHz Intel Atom processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of solid-state storage. In other words, it’s a full computer that can plug right into your TV. Right now it’s retailing for $180, though you can totally get a Linux version for $130....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sunday, SpaceX leapt toward its dream of affordable orbital flight through reusable launch vehicles. The company’s Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast carrying the Canadian CASSIOPE scientific satellite, as well as a trio of small, university-built satellites. But the big success for Elon Musk’s space venture came when some of the rockets succeeded in refiring their engines, a major step toward a reusable Falcon 9....

Last week Google introduced a radical new mail app, built on top of Gmail, that promises to cut through the pain of managing your inbox. Countless apps and extensions have promised to relieve the suffering of email, and I’m always open to trying another one. I spent the past few days using Inbox as my primary email app, and here’s how it works.Inbox’s approach is focused on giving you access to the most important information first, eliminating the need to dig through emails for essentials such as attachments, photos, and travel details....

Media Platforms Design TeamAt this year’s New York International Auto Show, Nissan will take the wraps off its first production Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) vehicle. If the original 350Z’s sleek styling and precise handling are good, then Nissan figures adding high-performance NISMO parts will make it that much better. The package includes an aggressive front fascia with chin spoiler, a pair of asphalt-tickling side skirts and a functional rear air diffuser with rear wing....

Media Platforms Design TeamSad news from NASA today: Astronaut Wally Schirra, one of the magnificent Mercury Seven and the third American to orbit Earth, has died at age 84. If it’s any consolation—though it probably isn’t—the space agency has turned out some terrific new views of Jupiter (above right), and researchers might have found even more evidence of water on Mars.Last year, Popular Mechanics’ Simon Cooper discovered how troubling it was that undercover investigations into Chinese spying were turning up evidence that China has built up its military with secret U....

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe has had a good 11 year run so far, but it’s coming to an end next September, when ESA will bring it to a controlled crash into Comet 67P / Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It’s being called a “gentle” crash landing, one that could leave the craft intact on landing. Conceived in the early 1990s and launched in 2004, the craft spent 10 years making its way roughly out to Jupiter’s orbit to catch up with Comet 67P....

Popular Mechanics contributing editor Jeff Wise, a private pilot and long-time aviation writer, takes on his biggest challenge yet: Flying without an engine. Follow along as Jeff learns that no matter how experienced the pilot, getting a glider license is no easy sail.There’s something particularly agonizing about waking up on a Monday morning and seeing blue skies and puffy clouds, especially after yet another weekend of bad gliding weather. Since Nutmeg usually only soars on Saturdays and Sundays, good weather during the week is worse than useless—it’s a cruel taunt....

Media Platforms Design TeamBuilding a warship is no small task. Fortunately, BAE Systems has is down to a fine science, and they made a four-and-a-half minute video that takes us inside their Scottish shipbuilding plants. The British defense contractor recently earned a $530 million contract to build three offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Navy. Step one? Cut massive steel sheets for the hull. To do this, BAE uses a computer-guided plasma torch after mapping out the size and shape of the cut....