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Media Platforms Design TeamThe Proposed RulesUp until now, there has never been any sort of regulation on energy use of TVs sold in the U.S. That could change in 2011, when a rule proposed by the California Energy Commission, which has the authority to enact efficiency regulations within California, could go into effect. The mandate would set a ceiling on the energy consumption of television sets that can legally be sold in California....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf SpaceShipTwo, with its spacious interior and three rows of passenger seats in back and two up front for a pilot and co-pilot, is a kind of space minivan, then the XCOR Lynx is a space Corvette.It’s easy to lose track of the Lynx with all the attention being showered on the spacecraft like Space’s Dragon angling to carry cargo and crew for NASA and the behemoths like Stratolaunch and SpaceShipTwo....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team Handsome and refined, Audi’s A6 has always been an alluring alternative to the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E Class. A makeover for 2009 will likely make this middle rung in Audi’s sport sedan lineup that much more appealing. While we haven’t driven it yet, the latest specs offer several tantalizing tidbits, including a new, supercharged V6 engine. In the appearance department, the changes are subtle....

Reverse Camber GrowsMedia Platforms Design TeamShaped skis and their pronounced hourglass sidecuts revolutionized in-bound skiing more than a decade ago by making it easier to carve turns. Now, reverse-camber skis are out to do the same for powder skiers. Instead of being arched underfoot like most skis, reverse-camber boards have a rocking-chair shape similar to that found in water skis or surfboards, making it easier to float through deep snow. Reverse-camber skis have existed for a number of years....

First, airlines charged for checked bags, so you reverted to lugging your stuff in a carry-on. Now, they’re trying to limit what you can bring in those, too. CNNMoney reports that an international trade group wants to restrict the size of your carry-on bags.If the International Air Transport Association gets its way, carry-ons will measure 21.5 x 13.5 x 7.5 inches at most. That’s compared to the current average of 22 x 14 x 9 inches....

Media Platforms Design TeamCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo (2009)Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s hard to believe that just four years ago Bill Hader was a featured cast member on Saturday Night Live, and now he’s a fixture in Judd Apatow films, a producer on South Park and the (animated) star of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Loosely based on Judi and Ron Barrett’s children’s book, Cloudy explains the origins of Chewandswallow’s bizarre weather....

Media Platforms Design TeamSince its unveiling last year, we’ve known that Chevrolet’s newest small block V-8, the LT1, will flex some serious muslce when it makes its debut in the 2014 Corvette Stingray. While GM had offered only rough power estimates so far, yesterday the automaker confirmed the official, SAE-certified output figures of the LT1 in the new ‘Vette: 455 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, making it the automaker’s most powerful base-level Corvette yet....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs I spoke with Micah Frerck at this week’s Biomedical Engineering Society meeting, I had to focus to block out the cacophony around us and tune in to his voice. But for people who are hard-of-hearing or deaf, these kinds of environments can be torturous—a hearing prosthesis would amplify all the sounds equally, making it nearly impossible to carry on a conversation. Fortunately, Frerck, a bioengineering student at the University of Utah, is building a device that might be able to help....

Media Platforms Design TeamLast night, my sleep was feverish, what with having just spent the week in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show combing through gadget after gadget. And no sooner should I get home than comes time to turn around and fly out to San Francisco for MacWorld. Needless to say, all this nerdy excitement has started to affect my dreams. As I slumbered, a stage appeared before me....

THE BIKE: Dahon Mu SLMedia Platforms Design TeamThere’s lots to love about the nine-speed Dahon Mu SL: It unfolds by unsnapping three clips–no operation manual required. The elegant but sturdy and simple frame consists of a single curving piece with a V-shaped bracket for the pedal housing. The bike is light enough (about 20 pounds) for urban commuters to lug on a bus or subway. It’s also narrow enough in its folded form to fit through New York subway turnstiles....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf the name Foose doesn’t sound familiar, you don’t know one of the headliners in street rod customizing. No matter. The visuals tell the story here.Of course the pickup is lowered—that’s a given. Then there’s the way oversize 22-in. wheels. For even more drive-by, notice you have racing stripes running the whole length of the body, starting with the hood and turning across the fenders, then narrowing down at mid length to flare out at the tailgate....

The Navy is considering using experimental unmanned helicopters to assist Japan in recovering from its 9.0 earthquake. A spokesman for Lockheed Martin says meetings are underway that could result in enlisting the unmanned K-MAX helicopter in disaster relief. These craft could deliver cargo to hard-to-reach places—or even to subdue the out-of-control reactors in Japan. The K-MAX, developed by Lockheed Martin, and Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird are the two unmanned helicopters the Marine Corps is testing for a program to deliver cargo to remote locations on the battlefield....

Last year, Google-owned Nest bought the home security camera company Dropcam. It’s was pretty obvious what would come next. Last week, there were leaks of a new Nest camera. Minutes before a Nest press conference, Best Buy tweeted about the new camera and linked to its store page. And now the new Nest camera—called just “Cam”—is confirmed.View full post on TwitterUnsurprisingly, it looks and functions a whole lot like a Dropcam....

How It Works: The Ultimate Face PlantAnyone can fly like a bird and land without a parachute–once. But Jeb Corliss has no desire to become a human pancake. “A wingsuit landing is only successful if you can do it 10 times out of 10 without being injured,” Corliss says. “I’m talking no broken toes, no broken anything.” Corliss is guarded about his plan–he doesn’t want rivals to steal his ideas–but he has let some details slip....

Stephen LewisYou can make anything with a router and a pile of wood. We didn’t go that far with our technique primer below, but you can see how a woodshop workhorse like Bosch’s 1617EVS router can contribute to a classic project like a blanket chest. It can cut the dovetails for the drawer or even the case sides. It can cut the groove for the drawer bottom. And it can shape an attractive ogee on the top....

Media Platforms Design TeamStripped down for speed, the Ariel Atom 2 is go-kart for adults that has a better power-to-weight ratio than high-performance exotics costing 10 times as much. (Photograph by John Lamm)Do you really have to spend $200,000 to $300,000 or more for the privilege of owning an exotic supercar? The short answer is no. It’s not exactly easy to make a car go fast, handle well or stop on a dime....

If you’ve ever tried to snap a photo with your iPhone and been told you have no more space, you know the pain. Even with huge smartphone capacities, including MicroSD expansion on Android phones, it’s hard to know how much space you’re using on your devices and how much you’ve got left.Mophie, perhaps best known for its phone cases that provide backup power, has a new system that includes both a battery to charge your device and flash storage to pump up its gigabyte capacity....

Netflix has ordered up a Planet Earth sequel called Our Planet, arguably its most ambitious and beautiful project to date. The eight-part nature documentary comes from the same people behind the original 2006 BBC miniseries that captured our earth’s most remote wildlife areas. Notably, the stunning scenery will be shot in 4K so it’ll really feel like you’re there.“The ‘Planet’ projects have enjoyed great success on Netflix and have helped launch new technologies for viewing at home,” said Netflix’s VP of documentaries Lisa Nishimura in a release....

While many spacecraft get by just fine on solar power, it won’t work efficiently past about Jupiter. Most deep space spacecraft rely on a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, an internal nuclear power source. But for a few decades, NASA has been unable to produce new plutonium-238, an element essential in RTGs that keeps Cassini, the Voyager probes, and New Horizons going. Now, for the first time in 30 years, new plutonium-238 has been enriched at the Oak Ridge National Labs....

Almost a year ago, a reader wrote in and asked my impressions of a new spark plug, to wit: Pulstar. I’d never heard of this manufacturer before, so I went to their website and checked it out. As I often find with aftermarket devices that promise improved mileage, the claims on the website back then were more than a little over the top. Over the years, I’ve seen and tested a lot of gadgets intended to boost mileage, and I’ve usually found that the more extravagant the claims, the less likely the product is to deliver on them....