You may just be able to live a childhood dream. NASA is taking applications to be an astronaut, starting today. Getting there may be a little more difficult. Just ask Clayton Anderson. But the rewards could be huge: NASA says they want to leave low-Earth orbit, meaning the next class of astronauts could be the first in 40 years to head into deep space.Where that destination may be is up in the air....
Media Platforms Design Team"Man, that isn’t your GT-R, is it?“It took me a second to realize the guy was talking to me. I was busy scanning the collection of old thermoses at the quirky barbecue joint I’d stopped in for lunch about 2 hours outside Nashville. Pig and horsepower occupied the majority of my thoughts.“Because I was just telling him,” he went on, nodding toward his friend standing in line at the counter, “that car will blow away that Camaro out there....
Media Platforms Design TeamLater this month Fitbit will debut what it’s calling its superwatch: a premium fitness smartwatch with built-in GPS.The Surge, one of three new Fitbits about to debut, can monitor your heart rate, measure how many calories you burn, track your sleep, and count your steps. But it’s the introduction of GPS tracking shows what buyers Fitbit is aiming for here: the serious workout hounds who’ll love the ability to map their runs or bike rides....
Kepler-438b seemed like a promising find. It was the size of Earth. It was right in its star’s habitable zone. While plenty of “most Earth-like planets” get attention (hi Kepler-452b!), nothing quite compared to 438b. Which is a shame, because new research from the University of Warwick suggests that it’s virtually uninhabitable. The problem lays not in the planet itself, but in its star, Kepler-438. A red dwarf / M-dwarf star, it’s more volatile than most, throwing out repeated solar flares into space....
Editor’s note: We learned today that Fiat Chrysler will end production of the Dodge Viper in 2017. America’s racecar will surely be missed. “Race car for the street” is a misappropriated phrase, applied to everything from Porsche 911 GT3s to your cousin’s Honda Civic with the stickers and the big wing on the trunk. When you hear of some new machine described as a race car, that’s typically just shorthand for a predictable roster of modifications: more power, stickier tires, maybe a few pounds less weight....
Media Platforms Design TeamOver the past 50 years, several SETI projects have scoured the cosmos but have yet to turn up anything conclusive. What do you make of this cosmic radio-silence?A lot of people do think of and refer to this as a silence, but I certainly don’t. Because of the limitations in equipment and money, we’ve carefully explored very little of the sky. Yes, the first SETI experiment was done more than a half century ago, but you probably have to look at a few million star systems at very high sensitivity before you score a success....
Do you remember getting last year’s flu shot? What about your childhood measles vaccination, your birthday party-ruining bout of chicken pox, or the last time you were bed-bound by some nasty, unknown virus? Even if you can’t recall them all, a newly developed blood test will.Using just a single drop of blood, a single swoop of the VirScan test will do what would otherwise take hundreds of expensive, time-consuming examinations: It can chronicle your past (and current) battles with any of thousands of different virus strains....
Media Platforms Design Team>Vigilante 502 Unmanned Helicopter+ Max Weight: 1100 pounds + Length: 26 feet + Rotor Diameter: 23 feet + Top Speed: 117 mph + Payload: 150 pounds + Fuel Capacity: 36 gallons + Flight Time: 6-plus hours>RND Manufacturing Edge 2000 Rifle+ Cartridge: Lapua Magnum .338 + Weight: 14 pounds + Action: Gas-operated semiautomatic + Muzzle Velocity: 3000 feet per second with 250-grain bullet + Rate of Fire: Up to 10 carefully aimed shots per minute + Ammunition Cost: $4 per roundIn modern warfare, the advantage often goes to guerrillas who can attack, then quickly hide among the population or disappear into the hills....
Media Platforms Design TeamEureka: Season 3.0 (2008)Media Platforms Design TeamFans of science fiction shows can be a fickle bunch, that’s because most of what’s out there is usually so bad, and what’s good too often gets cancelled. That’s why a show like Jaime Paglia and Andrew Cosby’s Eureka has gone on to become such a hit for the the Sci Fi Channel and even spawned it’s own comic book series. Populated by some of the world’s most brilliant scientists, Eureka, Washington is actually a government think tank secretly owned and operated by the Global Dynamics corporation (not to be confused with Fringe’s Massive Dynamics)....
Media Platforms Design TeamAs humanity’s reach extends into the universe, there’s an ongoing argument among space exploration buffs: Should humans, or robots, explore the solar system and beyond? At the recent science and sci-fi conference, planetary scientists, a commercial space entrepreneur, and a veteran astronaut tackled the question. Surprisingly, they agreed that the best possible option is one that will never be a reality: sending humans to explore planets like Mars but not letting them put their feet on the ground....
The Pentagon caused a stir this week by announcing plans to fly radar-carrying, 80-yard-long blimps in the skies above the Northeast United States this coming spring. It says this is part of a U.S. Army plan to use that technology as the eyes of a domestic defense system.“Raytheon is conducting research and development that will enable the system to better protect Washington D.C and a large swath of the East Coast from cruise missiles and drones,” the Pentagon says....
Media Platforms Design TeamAh, winter. Time to hunker down inside—and realize that you never tackled half the projects from your 2012 New Year’s to-do list. Feel guilty? The best cure for that—and cabin fever—is to get busy. Here are the home-savvy shortcuts that’ll help.A little bit of painting goes a long way. [1] Clean up those scuffed walls in high-traffic areas, such as hallways and foyers, with a fresh coat of semigloss or satin finish....
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The new Buick LaCrosse sedan represents a number of milestones for General Motors. It’s the first car introduced since the company emerged from bankruptcy last Friday. It’s a true “world” car—engineered in Germany, styled in the U.S. and China and due to be sold relatively unchanged around the world. Additionally, this is the first U.S. Buick built with a focused eye on China, a very large and very lucrative market for the brand....
On-Sale Date: December 2011Price: $14,250Competitors: Renault Twingo, Fiat Panda, Dacia Sandero, Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10Powertrain: 1.0-liter, DOHC, three-cylinder, 59 hp, 70 lb-ft; five-speed manual or robotised manual; FWD EPA Fuel Economy (city/highway): European NEDC Combined 56 mpgWhat’s New: Volkswagen has finally produced its Up! hatchback, which first appeared as a concept car at the 2007 Frankfurt Show. Four years ago, this was an innovative rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive family hatchback that maximized cabin space and fuel economy....
View full post on YoutubeThe owners of an incredible home featured on Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters has found themselves in a little tiff with their county assessor over their creation. The problem: The county considers it a little too nice for a treehouse, namely because of the plumbing, electricity, and working kitchen.Mike and Pat Splinter contracted the treehouse because the couple wanted a fun treehouse for their grandchildren, and designer Pete Nelson installed a kitchen so the family could make holiday candies up in the tree....
Media Platforms Design TeamBlasting your iPod on the way to work has become one of America’s quintessential (if loud) moments of peace, but there has never been an easy answer to what volume level is actually unsafe—until now. Much to the relief of mothers and subway neighbors everywhere, a new study recommends turning down the music with its guidelines for safe listening.Sitting 100 doctoral students in their mid-20s on a commercial airplane for eight months of research, Dr....
Media Platforms Design TeamI’ve been thinking about buying a Chevy Volt, but the news stories about battery fires have freaked me out. Can you supply a definitive answer about what’s going on?Of the 15,054 Chevy Volts sold as of this printing, exactly zero have caught fire out in the real world. I don’t want to sound like a cheerleader for the Volt program, but it pushed a lot of boundaries in engineering and testing and in some ways exceeded the standard testing parameters the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) uses....
For the first time since World War II, the Air Force will use enlisted airmen as pilots. Rather than climbing into cockpits, though, they’ll be seated at workstations in places like Beale Air Force Base north of Sacramento, CA. American drone pilots don’t face the physical danger of flying into hostile territory, but taking out enemy targets while remotely piloting a Predator is a stressful and grueling gig. Drone pilots often log as much as three times as many hours as pilots of manned aircraft, and keeping them motivated and in the Air Force is difficult....
Media Platforms Design TeamRepairman and small-business owner Rich Herder doesn’t mince words about the damage ethanol in gasoline is doing to the small engines in outdoor power equipment. “It’s the biggest disaster to hit gasoline in my lifetime,” Herder says. He owns McIntyre’s Locksmith & Lawnmower, a service business in Westfield, N.J. Founded in 1898 to refurbish saddles, the business today repairs more than 5000 machines a year—mostly pieces of outdoor power equipment, and many of them, according to Herder, damaged by the alcohol in today’s gasoline, known as E10 for the 10 percent of alcohol it contains....
The hillside near Oso, Wash., that gave way on March 22, killing at least eight (update: now 14, as of Tuesday morning) and leaving another 100-plus people missing, has a history of sliding—both ancient and recent.On Saturday, a torrent of loose organic material, rock, and trees came down a steep embankment right through the Stillaguamish River and into homes on the other side in the small town 60 miles northeast of Seattle....
