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A while back, I reviewed the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, concluding that it was “a generation or two away from being what it really wants to be. Give it a slide-out keyboard, more stable software, a slightly bigger screen and WWAN capability and you’d have a go-anywhere Web device that would let me leave my laptop behind.“Nearly a year later, Apple may be ready to blow out the field with its new tablet, but we’re getting closer to having a truly pocket PC....

Starting next month, consumers trading in their older gas hogs will cash in, thanks to the soon-to-be-enacted Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, otherwise known as Cash for Clunkers. Under this program, car buyers can receive up to $4500 by scrapping a gas-guzzler and purchasing a more fuel-efficient new car or truck.Pundits have applauded the fleet-modernization measure, but, as always, somebody has to lose. This time, it’s the homegrown mechanic with a love for 1980s metal who may have to take the fall....

Whats keeping us from modeling a human brain, neuron by neuron, on a computer?There are a lot of projects that are trying to do just this, but you have to realize, the brain is by far the most complex system scientists have ever tried to understand. A human brain is composed of roughly 100 billion neurons, and those form a very intricate but also incredibly dynamic network. One issue is that modeling these neurons requires very computationally expensive math....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe loss of IndyCar star Dan Wheldon during the series’ season finale at Las Vegas brought up plenty of questions about the safety of open-wheel racing. What’s especially tragic is that over the past year Wheldon has played an integral role in developing a new and safer Indy Car that will debut next year. Wheldon, who test-drove the new car during its development, estimated that the new 2012 IndyCar chassis, built by Italy’s Dallara and code-named IR12, is at least 30 percent safer than the 2003 to 2011 Dallara IR07 chassis it replaces....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere’s something unforgettable about stars winking over a beach blaze and the sound of oyster nectar sizzling in the fire. “It’s a rite of passage in the South,” says Chris Hastings, chef/owner of Birmingham, Ala.’s Hot and Hot Fish Club, who was named best chef in the South in 2012 by the James Beard Foundation. “When I was a kid it was my job to collect the oysters, build the fire, and pull them off the grate as soon as they popped....

Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet performed yesterday at a Russian air show, and the results will leave you scrambling to pick your jaw up off the ground. The famously maneuverable fighter displayed stunts that seem designed by someone with no knowledge of aerodynamic rules at all, but the fighter pulled them off anyways.View full post on YoutubeThe fighter, performing high over Zhukovsky, Russia, at times falls freely through the air, twisting as it falls, like a giant, 30-ton flower petal....

Media Platforms Design TeamElmo was in danger. In the video Bryan Dussault posted on YouTube in February 2010, the favorite is strapped into a child-safety seat. Dussault tightens the five-point harness and then abruptly yanks the unit’s shoulder straps, which are supposed to be snug against the infant passenger. The harness straps loosen. Dussault pulls the shaggy toy away as if it were being tossed, unprotected, in a high-speed collision. To anyone viewing the clip, but perhaps especially to anyone who travels in a car with a child, the scenario is startling and scary....

Media Platforms Design TeamDriving screws by hand is hard work–especially if you have a bunch of them. It’s no wonder that before cordless drill/drivers hit the scene, everything from decks to doghouses was simply nailed together. Screws were reserved for finer work, where parts might need to be disassembled, or for attaching hardware. Today, the humble screwdriver remains the tool of choice for these jobs. Sure, you’ll have to work a little harder to drive a screw by hand–but think of the forearm muscles you’ll develop....

Media Platforms Design Team ROSAMOND, CA—Mustang mavens will easily spot a 2010 Mustang in a herd of ponycars by its new sheetmetal. But for the rest of us, the driver’s seat is the best place to appreciate just what separates the latest edition of Ford’s icon from its predecessor. Rather than reinvent its sporty muscle car (as Dodge did with the 2009 Challenger and Chevrolet with the 2010 Camaro), Ford employed a strategy successfully used in the evolution of another automotive icon—the Porsche 911—that, like Mustang, has also been around for 45 years....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee is nearing the end of its role in spaceflogjht history. The committee, which is commonly referred to as the Augustine Commission after its leader Norman Augustine, concluded that even NASA’s current plans to return to the Moon would require significantly more funds, some $3 billion more per year, bringing the agency’s annual budget to more than $20 billion. One of the most talked-about aspects of the report is its so-called Flexible Option, which provides an increase in funding to NASA, without constructing an ironclad schedule or set of destinations....

Media Platforms Design TeamKitchen workers and medical staff share a common foe: bacteria. While both are often required to wear gloves, there’s no telling when a pair of disposable latex gloves have been rendered unsanitary.But as a new article in Advanced Materials outlines, all of that could soon change: Tufts University researchers have created a proof-of-concept glove that uses a new kind of silk compound to warn the wearer of bacterial contamination....

Media Platforms Design TeamAmtrak will freely admit it has used a patchwork of locomotives to pull its trains over the last three or four decades, and those locomotives have racked up nearly four million hard-earned miles. Starting tomorrow, though, it hopes that one new workhorse will haul American trains in the future.No less a locomotive enthusiast than Vice President Joe Biden traveled to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia this morning for the inauguration of the ACS-64....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamNEW YORK — A crane collapsed at a construction site on East 91st Street here today, killing at least two construction workers and causing major damage to a 23-story residential building across the street. This is the second major crane collapse in Manhattan in two months; both occurred on the Upper East Side. The first, on March 15, killed seven. A city investigation revealed that the building under construction violated several zoning regulations; the city’s Buildings Commissioner, Patricia J Lancaster, resigned under heavy criticism....

The House of Representatives passed the bailout with a 231-170 vote. The plan still faces stiff opposition by Republican Senators and it’s unclear what a sort of compromise might emerge. Some Senators have suggested that the government guarantee new-vehicle warranties so that the companies could restructure under bankruptcy. At issue is GM’s already heavy debt load and some lawmakers say that for the bailout, “delaying the inevitable.” Meanwhile, other organizations are stepping in to help....

Burt FosterBristol, VAAge: 37Years on Job: 8Burt Foster has made knives that can chop through a 2 x 4, shave hair off an arm and bend 90 degrees. Spurred by a childhood fascination with the outdoors and knives, he decided at 29 to turn a longtime hobby into a profession. Only 114 people in the world–including Foster–hold the title of Master Bladesmith, which is bestowed on those who have at least four years of experience and can forge knives that withstand the American Bladesmith Society?...

Media Platforms Design TeamThe ClaimAsking a persistently vegetative patient a question while his head is in a brain-scan machine, doctors can interpret his answer from the results of the scan. This would be the first time a patient with lack of consciousness would be able to give doctors feedback on his care and pain levels. The question-and-answer technique first appeared to have success in 2010.The StudyA person is in a vegetative state (VS) when he is “awake” but not aware, as opposed to being in a coma, in which the patient is asleep and not aware....

Media Platforms Design TeamA poll earlier this month found that only 7 percent of Americans would purchase food enhanced with nanotechnology, but a new study makes one thing clear: You can feed carbon nanotubes to fruit flies, and they still grow up big and strong.Scientists at Rice University in Houston raised their fruit flies on a diet of yeast-and-nanotube paste, and then used an infrared camera to watch the progress of the tubes as they passed through the flies’ digestive systems, and in some cases were absorbed into the flies’ organs....

The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate was first established in 1975 and until this past April 1 has changed little since. It’s been years of debate, but finally, the standards have been significantly updated. By model year 2016, the fuel efficiency of the new vehicle fleet sold in the United States will have to average at least 34.1 miles per gallon. The tailpipe emissions of our cars are regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)....

DETROIT — Earlier today, GM unveiled a hybrid concept, and mere hours later Ford answers back with one of their own, called the Airstream Concept. Hey, is there some kind of domestic hybrid war going on? Stay tuned to find out. In the mean time, let us tell you a little about Ford’s hybrid concept: The Airstream isn’t a gas-electric hybrid like you might expect. Instead it uses a small hydrogen fuel cell that functions as the on-board charging system for the lithium-ion battery pack combined with plug-in capability....

There’s a quiet revolution going on in America’s rural areas and suburbs. We’ve written numerous times over the years about the best generators you can buy for your home (and how to use them). If you’ve ever used a portable gas engine generator, you know it’s about as loud as a lawnmower. But around the country, homeowners are installing standby generators powered by propane or natural gas. You’d have to hear one to understand just how quiet it is, which is why we included the video clip above....