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Media Platforms Design Team DETROIT— Chrysler kept at least one vehicle in its EV concept lineup as a surprise for the media this afternoon. The four-passenger 200C EV is based on a shortened version of the rear-drive, full-size car platform that underpins the Chrysler 300C, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger. Chrysler says the 200C EV is powered by a plug-in, range-extended hybrid powertrain, similar in concept to the Chevy Volt. The Chrysler system here is said to develop a total of 268 hp....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere’s a whole new design language for Superman (played by Henry Cavill) in . Gone are the magical crystals from the previous movies on his home planet Krypton, replaced by a more dynamic physics. Kryptonite, his Achilles’ heel on Earth, has been replaced by confusion and self-doubt. Is he Kal-El or Clark Kent? Will humans accept him or reject him? Man of SteelIt’s all part of a narrative strategy to ground the 75-year-old DC superhero in a more relatable reality for the 21st century—work that fell to production designer Alex McDowell (Fight Club, Minority Report, Watchmen), who’s also an associate professor at the University of Southern California and cofounder of the 5D Institute for immersive design in transmedia, and who has been on the cutting edge of a more progressive approach involving digital world-building....

The 65th annual Daytona Bike Week begins today, March 3. Naturally, big dog Harley-Davidson is there with news and activities. First up: If you’re lookin’ for great places to ride (in addition to the beach down in Florida), Harley’s new Great Roads interactive Web tool now lives in the Experience section at harley-davidson.com. The tool encourages you to explore the country on your bike; you can also rate 20 of ’em....

Las Vegas– There’s no avoiding it. For Palm, the creators of the PDA, and, you could argue, the smartphone, today is do or die. If every great fighter makes a comeback, the question is this: Is Palm still a fighter (or was it ever)? At a much buzzed-about press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Palm finally responded to the iPhone, with a multitouch smartphone of its own....

Media Platforms Design TeamCarbon fiber gained its fame in aircraft and space. Its winning combination of strength and lightweight make it an ideal material for something that needs to take a serious beating and still be light enough to easily get airborne. Those same qualities have made carbon fiber the first choice of racecar and exotic car builders. The stuff has migrated to almost everything from fishing rods, golf clubs, umbrella shafts and watch bands....

Media Platforms Design TeamYou get a pretty nasty knot in your stomach when you discover your vehicle’s side window has been smashed and the interior ransacked—ask me how I know. On top of whatever was taken, there’s the added injury of getting the car repaired. Between the time it requires to file a claim with the insurance company and the inconvenience of taking the car to the shop, fixing the window yourself can sometimes save a lot of headaches....

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Army-funded engineers at MIT are studying the protective qualities of fish scales to help develop lighter, more flexible armor for use on the battlefield. Though war may be a human phenomenon, the need for armor is almost universal. But some species make it better than others, which is why scientists decided to look at the interaction of different layers in the scales of Polypterus senegalus, otherwise known as the gray bichir....

Media Platforms Design TeamUPDATE: Sunday April 6 3 pm. EDT. Followings reports Saturday that a Chinese ship near the MH370 search area had picked up underwater pings, the British ship HMS Echo was racing towards the scene to help determine if the sounds had anything to do with the missing 777. Australian officials leading the massive operation out of Perth were cautiously optimistic after the Haixun 01 patrol vessel twice detected signals of 37....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb is one of the few motorsport competitions that encourages engineering excess. Each year, the race’s unlimited class draws the world’s most talented drivers and bleeding-edge racing machines to the singular pursuit of ascending the Colorado mountain’s 12.42-mile course as fast as human nerves and automotive technology will allow. Ultimately, the race serves as a barometer—albiet an imperfect one—of what can be accomplished with a car....

Media Platforms Design TeamApfelwein (in English, apple wine) is one of the easiest DIY alcoholic beverages out there. There’s no need to press apples, mash grain or distill spirits here; just sterilize, pour, shake and cap. Six to nine weeks later, you have bottles of a sparkling apple-flavored drink with a 17-proof kick in the pants. Apfelwein is not a sweet apple-flavored drink like the Woodchuck or Mike’s Hard Cider that most Americans are familiar with....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis one goes out to the janky robots. I don’t mean the movie and TV robots that were a product of design limitations of their time and now seem hilariously dated, or robots that were cobbled together within the context of the series, like Homer’s robot. And perfectly human androids don’t count either, even though B4 was one of the lowest points in Star Trek Nemesis, a movie with plenty of low points to spare....

The plane that the U.S. military has been using for mid-flight refueling, the KC-135 Stratotanker, is five freakin’ decades old. Some of the models on active duty are pushing 60 years. Time for an upgrade.View full post on YoutubeBehold, the KC-46A Pegasus, the result of 15 years of development. Pretty, it ain’t. It’s based on the Boeing 767, but with matte gray paint covering the layers that protect its highly combustible cargo from attack....

A 360-degree camera isn’t a must-have device for everyone. But if you’ve had an itch to create some VR-friendly video, or simply want to add a new gadget to your camera bag, it can be an enticing proposition. Although we’re very much in the early days of VR, there is now an entire range of options from entry-level to professionalWith services like Facebook and YouTube adding 360-degree photo and video support, maybe it’s time you became the envy of your social media circle....

The SidewinderReader: Michael KillianMaterials: $100Time: 10 daysResult: Confused spectators–and 100 offers to buy.* See Sideways Bike Runners Up* Submit Your Own DIY ProjectLike a skateboard, the sideways bike positions the rider perpendicular to the direction of travel. While a traditional bike calls on left-to-right balance, moving sideways engages front-to-back balance. And this, says Dubliner Michael Killian, is a good thing. “It has a graceful, dancelike motion, like the Zen of drifting and turning on a snowboard....

Precious Metal is a one-of-a-king P-51 Mustang powered by a 3,200 hp Rolls Royce Griffon and unique contra-rotating three-blade propellers. It’s also one of the most popular racing planes in the world. But disaster just the unlimited class air racer as a fire broke out while it was traveling to the renowned Reno Air Races.Owner and pilot Thom Richard announced on the race team’s Facebook page that Precious Metal had reached the end of its career after a devastating fire during a fuel stop en route to the Reno National Championship Air Races in Nevada....

Media Platforms Design TeamVery soon you will be able to race in real time against your favorite Nascar or Formula One star with your hands wrapped around a proper steering wheel. At the very same moment the green flag flies, your car will swap paint with the world’s most elite four-wheel speed machines. And you will be able to do it from home.All you’ll need are free weekend afternoons and $30,000....

Media Platforms Design Team Browse expert reviews and compare info on Impreza at the Media Platforms Design Team Subarus have never sold on style. Loyalists of the brand aren’t the types to swoon over swoopy sheetmetal. Instead, these folks appreciate Subarus for their mechanical engineering. In other words, they’re our kind of people. The turbocharged Impreza WRX and the even more high-strung STi model supplied much of the muscle for the sport compact car craze....

Media Platforms Design TeamCredit: University of RochesterAs a running back is being tackled by a 300-pound defensive lineman, his helmet bounces on the turf. He comes up woozy enough that the trainers on the sideline run the player through a battery of tests. Still, these first exams are not conclusive, and so team docs run the player into the locker room for additional tests.Athletes and their teams have become much more conscious of brain injuries and careful about concussions over the last few years—Kansas City Chiefs star running back Jamaal Charles, who suffered an injury similar to what is described above in an NFL playoff game this past weekend, and didn’t return to the game....

(Published in the December 1997 issue)More: The 3G Stepper might be better than a gym membership.“My butt is really feeling it,” I say out loud, as if I have a bit part in a Richard Simmons infomercial. My wife, who is bent over the piano in the next room, plays on without missing a note, which I recognize as the musical equivalent of “That’s nice, dear.” It doesn’t matter though, because nothing can dampen my enthusiasm....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn April 3, investigators announced the discovery of the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009 amid mysterious circumstances after taking off from Rio de Janeiro bound for Paris. The long-awaited find brings new hope that the causes of the Airbus 300 330 crash will be illuminated—if the black boxes can be found. But just what does a black box do?...