Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s rare for a functional car technology like a new transmission to get as much attention as a rumbling, powerful engine. But in the case of the new system that Ford rolled out in a recent tech briefing here in Dearborn, Mi., the in-house designed and manufactured cog-swapper is worth a close look—it could deliver better performance and fuel economy for Ford’s small cars of the future.To accompany its new 1....

Chasing insects in airplanes is just part of Martin Wikelski’s job description as director of migration research at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. In an attempt to discover migration strategies shared by various flying creatures, the German researcher glued 0.3-gram radio transmitters onto the thoraxes of 14 dragonflies and followed them in a single-engine Cessna. The bugs’ survival techniques became clear as he observed individual insects day after day: They refuse to fly when conditions are too windy; they schedule rest days and travel only during warm daylight hours....

RIVER HYDROKINETICSMedia Platforms Design TeamVerdant Power Free Flow Turbine being deployed in New York City’s East River. (Photograph by Kris Unger/Verdant Power, Inc)How it Works /// Traditional hydropower harvests the potential energy of falling water. Hydrokinetic technologies reap energy from water as it moves laterally, either in the flow of a river or in the change of tides. So far, the designs are as diverse as water bodies themselves. GCK Technology in San Antonio has developed a helical turbine; Free Flow Power Corporation, based in Gloucester, Mass, introduced a turbine that is wheel-shaped....

Media Platforms Design TeamI know people are already excited about this gametheres Minecraft tributes and the game even has its own clothing linewhat do you think has people so interested in Watch Dogs before theyve even had a chance to play it?I think what we realized is that were touching a subject that really, really seems to resonate with people. Often in games, you dont have a chance to strike the timing with whats going on in the news and whats going on with our day-to-day lives....

Michael GriffinNASA AdministratorOn the moon, we’re going to have opportunities for numerous scientific advancements, everything from large radio telescopes to cosmic ray detectors. But we’re also going to learn how to live and work on the surface of another planet before going to Mars. We need to do that. The first time you go to Mars, you’re going to be away from home for three years at a time. We should walk before we run....

Media Platforms Design TeamI put a 64 GB memory card in my camera, and when my camera tried to format it, I got an error message. When I went back to my old 32 GB card, it was fine. Is my 64 GB card bad, or is there a problem with my camera?Neither, I’d guess. Your camera probably isn’t equipped to read cards larger than 32 gigabytes. The larger cards fall ­under the SDXC standard, while cards between 4 and 32 GB follow the older SDHC standard....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn so many ways, Bluetooth seems like a natural feature for an MP3 player. Properly configured, it could allow you to quickly sync your playlists, share songs with buddies (and, unlike the Zune, where this feature is plagued by the player’s own rarity, it could potentially work across makes) and wirelessly feed your songs to speaker docks. And that’s not even getting into the cord-cutting power of wireless headphones....

Brain implants are going wireless. A newly developed implant announced in a new study today acts like “Neuro-WiFi,” broadcasting signals from brain cells continuously for more than 48 hours on a single rechargeable AA battery, and at high data rates, the researchers say. Such a device could help people control robotic limbs, advanced exoskeletons, or even remote devices with their minds, and without the need for wires.The implant is just 2 inches wide and weighs slightly less than a candy bar....

Media Platforms Design TeamWASHINGTON—There was no question that Woodstock Soapstone, an established manufacturer with more than 25 years of experience building catalytic stoves, took the Wood Stove Decathlon seriously. The company designed a stove from scratch specifically to win points in each of the decathlon’s categories. The strategy paid off: Its Ideal Steel Hybrid ranked in the top three of four categories, including market appeal, affordability, carbon monoxide emissions, and particulate emissions....

Media Platforms Design Team LOS ANGELES — What weighs 409 pounds, costs more than an Audi R8 and boasts a host of handmade components? If you guessed the MV Agusta F4CC, you’d be spot on. This $120,000 (yes, you read that correctly) carbon-fiber-intensive superbike hides some serious engineering. The life of this extraordinary bike began as MV Agusta CEO Claudio Castiglioni’s one-off personal bike. But it has now become a limited-production halo product for the company....

Media Platforms Design TeamBamboo-flooring sales have grown exponentially over the past few years, and it’s easy to see why. Bamboo is attractive, affordable, durable, available in dozens of colors, and it’s grown and harvested in an environmentally responsible manner.Bamboo looks like wood, feels like wood, and cuts like wood. It even smells like wood. And it’s much denser than most hardwoods, including maple and oak, so it’s ideal for flooring. But bamboo isn’t wood at all—it’s grass....

This is the Sea Slice, a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), and the coolest craft a civilian can buy. No one else in Monaco, or even Lake Havasu will have one. For a craft that cost $15 million in the late 90s, it’s a steal. When Lockheed Martin (of SR-71 Blackbird fame) finished designing and building, the US Navy launched the Sea Slice in 1996, built to dart around lakes and near-shore water bodies....

The Air Car caused a huge stir when we reported last year that Tata Motors would begin producing it in India. Now the little gas-free ride that could is headed Stateside in a big-time way.Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) confirmed to PopularMechanics.com on Thursday that it expects to produce the world’s first air-powered car for the United States by late 2009 or early 2010. As the U.S. licensee for Luxembourg-based MDI, which developed the Air Car as a compression-based alternative to the internal combustion engine, ZPM has attained rights to build the first of several modular plants, which are likely to begin manufacturing in the Northeast and grow for regional production around the country, at a clip of up to 10,000 Air Cars per year....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Orbital Science Antares rocket exploded just six seconds after lifting off at 6:22 from NASA’s Wallops Island spacepad in Virginia. NASA reports that all personnel in the area have been accounted for, and there were no injuries due to the explosion. An official on the NASA TV broadcast noted, “We do have significant property damage and significant vehicle damage.” On the cause of the explosion, Orbital Science’s Frank Culbertson said it’s far too early to now the details of what happened....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s nowhere near as big as the dinosaur-killing rock that crashed into Earth 65 million years ago, but the 50-meter (164-foot) diameter asteroid known as 2012 DA14 is big enough to take out a good-size city. Fortunately, astronomers say, it harmlessly will fly by Earth when it draws near our planet next Friday.“Something of this sort would fit pretty nicely, if you put one into Central Park,” John Lewis, professor emeritus of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona, tells PM....

Media Platforms Design TeamUnlike the Mini E, the ActiveE uses a rear-wheel-drive platform with a low center of gravity, which the manufacturer says has “an axle load distribution that is typical of a BMW.” But at least on paper, the ActiveE doesn’t have quite the snap of the Mini E; its curb weight is approximately 3900 pounds, 700 pounds porkier than the Mini E, while horsepower slides from 204 to 170....

Media Platforms Design TeamGenomics pioneer J. Craig Venter admits he was a late bloomer. A halfhearted student (his 8th-grade report card shows multiple C’s and D’s), he spent his 1950s childhood jumping freight cars in the rail yards of Millbrae, Calif. He dug backyard tunnels and waged make-believe battles, igniting model planes and melting toy soldiers with lighter fluid and matches. As a teenager, Venter surprised his father by successfully building a hydroplane using plans clipped from , a project he describes today as “my earliest foray into some type of science....

Media Platforms Design TeamAfter years of languishing as the Sebring, and then enduring a name change and a valiant but hapless refresh, the Chrysler 200 is finally getting a proper redesign. The 2015 Chrysler 200 debuts the company’s brand new CUS-wide platform, and though it measures within an inch of the old car in all dimensions, pretty much everything else is new.New engine choices include a Tigershark 2.4-liter inline four making 184 hp and 173 lb-ft of torque and a Pentastar V6 with 295 hp and 262 lb-ft of twist....

Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist and leader of the pioneering metal band Van Halen, passed away on October 6, 2020 at age 65, after battling cancer. Widely considered to be the greatest guitarist of his generation—and maybe of all time—it isn’t a stretch to say the rock god influenced every modern player who came after him. Van Halen’s wildly inventive innovations, including tapping, or the act of playing the guitar using both left and right hands on the neck, redefined what musicians could do with the instrument—and what rock and roll music could sound like....

Update: Ford completed the Mustang stunt this week as the New York International Auto Show opened in Manhattan. View full post on YoutubeMedia Platforms Design TeamIn the fall of 1965, a team of eight Ford engineers measured up the hallways and elevators of the Empire State Building. Then they worked out a way to dissect a Mustang, stuff it into the freight elevator, and re-assemble it on the building’s observation deck....