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Whatever it is about watching a spacecraft launch in high definition, we can’t get enough of it. That’s why whenever SpaceX, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s extraterrestrial exploration branch, puts out a video, we watch. Next time: leave out the music, please? Unadulterated rocket boosters are sonorous on their own.The footage is of test flights for Falcon 9, a two-stage rocket that delivered the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. The most insane part: the rocket is designed to land itself after flight....

It may or may not be true that GoPro cameras are indestructible, but the latest evidence in the extreme sports camera’s favor is this skydiving video. In it, a GoPro falls 10,000 feet only to land (fairly) safely in a Swedish pasture.Watch the freefall footage is intense. There’s a moment in this video, right after the camera gets bumped off and starts falling, when you’re gripped with terror until you remember that it’s just the camera, and not the skydiver, that’s in freefall....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: June 2011Cost: $20,000 to $32,500Competitors: Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Hyundai SonataPowertrains: 2.5-liter I5, 170 hp, 177 lb-ft; 2.0-liter turbodiesel I4, 140 hp, 236 lb-ft; 3.6-liter VR6, 280 hp, 258 lb-ft; five-speed manual, six-speed automated manual, six-speed automatic, front-wheel driveEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 20–31/28–43, estimatedWhat’s New: Built in a sparkling new factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., and big enough to have best-in-class rear seat legroom, the all-new 2012 Passat strives to maintain the road chops that built a cult following while expanding the brand’s reach....

Media Platforms Design Team[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/aR5a_N0LQu0?version=3&hl=en_US[/youtube]Although the official reveal is still a month away, we know a fair bit about Chevrolet’s next-generation Corvette, the C7. We know what’s under the hood, we have a rough idea of how it drives, and with some fairly simple search terms, you can find out what it looks like.And now we know what the interior will be like. Well, sort of.Yesterday Chevy released yet another teaser via YouTube, entitled “Craft....

Media Platforms Design TeamI remain defiantly optimistic about the future of trains in America. We used to have the fastest, smoothest, most comfortable trains in the world. Then, seemingly overnight, streamliners and thousands of miles of tracks just disappeared. America seems ready to rekindle its love affair with the train, but we need to do so in a way that promotes alternative fuels as a way of motivating massive trains.Amtrak, which has not turned a profit in, uh, forever, is moving forward with plans to test out a new biodiesel blend in one of its trains....

Media Platforms Design TeamMuch has been made of the Cadillac ATS’s aluminum underpinnings: extensive use of the lightweight metal has helped give Caddy’s new compact luxury sedan a curb weight that undercuts the Audi A4, BMW 3-series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. But one particular drivetrain component on the CTS reveals why aluminum isn’t always the best solution for fuel efficiency.The ATS’s rear differential is, counterintuitively, constructed of cast iron. Why such a heavy metal?...

Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $19.99Professional woodworkers prefer water-based PVA glues for their superior strength, affordability, and easy clean-up. However, these glues set quickly. On a warm, dry day your open working time can be as short as 10 minutes. That makes gluing complicated assemblies a stressful experience—often you’re scrambling for spreaders and using your to get everything fitted before the glue cures. It’s a mess.Rockler’s glue applicator kit promises some respite....

Media Platforms Design TeamHolstein No. 2699 gazes warily over Shawn Saylor’s shoulder. The 39 other cows lining the stainless-steel stalls of the milking parlor at Hillcrest Saylor Dairy Farm appear unperturbed—by two strangers or by the vacuum pumps being swiftly attached to their udders. “They’re very particular,” notes Saylor, a fourth-generation dairy farmer. “Everything has got to be consistent.” No. 2699 gives one last measured look from under long lashes, lifts her tail and ejects a stream of runny, brown energy that, very soon, will help power the farm....

Media Platforms Design TeamA rock bed at the Gillespie Lake outcrop on Mars displays potential signs of ancient microbial sedimentary structures. (Photo Credit: NASA)Our planet’s microbes leave behind traces of themselves in the form of sediments. Now, there’s tantalizing evidence from the Curiosity rover that Martian microbes may have done much the same. The evidence is far from conclusive, but some scientists say the visual similarities are striking.The formations on Mars resemble those found near Gillespie Lake in Australia, whose 3....

Media Platforms Design TeamPopular Mechanics editor-in-chief James Meigs and deputy editor Jerry Beilinson recently interviewed inventor Dean Kamen for a future issue of PM. Kamen, head of the Manchester, New Hampshire, firm Deka Research, is one of today’s most celebrated inventors, holding over 440 patents, primarily in the medical field. His innovations include the first wearable infusion pump, a portable kidney dialysis machine, a more flexible stent, one of the world’s most advanced prosthetic arms, and many other devices used in the treatment of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other conditions....

Democrats reclaimed the House of Representatives last night, and with word now coming that the party eked out a win in Montana, control of the U.S. Senate looks like it will hang in the balance of a Virginia recount that is bound to be prolonged and, if critics of electronic voting are correct, technologically tricky.Computer glitches in certain areas of Virginia yesterday cut off part of Democratic challenger James Webb’s name, giving voters a headache, but it’s poll workers who will be seeing double once the election is certified later this month....

Yahoo just gave Flickr a big shove to the front in the race for best cloud photo-storage system. Flickr just got a slew of improvements and a whole new look across platforms. There’s better uploading, better search, better organization, and still the 1 TB of free storage that’s been offered since 2012.One of the most useful tools is Uploadr, a desktop app (and part of the mobile app) that runs in the background and automatically uploads new photos, and by default sets them as private....

There’s been lots of chatter over the years about capturing the energy of the waves to bring renewable electricity to the world. But no one’s actually brought it to the grid until now.A prototype wave generator in Hawaii called Azura is supplying 20 kilowatts. That’s not much—not even really enough to power the average home in a day. But as a proof of concept (it’s just a single generator, after all), it shows that the concept works in the real world....

It’s time for a little beer for thought.While watching a droplet slip down your PBR can on a hot summer’s day, you’ve taken a moment to appreciation the metallic vessel that carries your suds. It’s doubtful, though, that your love of the aluminum can runs as deeply as Bill Hammack’s. In the nearly 12-minute-long video below, Hammack explains the science of exactly why a can of beer or soda is shaped the way it is....

Media Platforms Design TeamSpirographs are used by grade school kids to decorate their folders and pass the time in boring classes. With the help of a CNC router and a traditional router, you can build your own to enhance your woodworking projects.Search for gear plans for your CNC router and cut them out in MDF or plywood. Size the pattern to fit your project as well as the capacity of the router....

Update, November 16: It’s Tesla Truck day. We’ve known for a long time now that Tesla Motors had an electric big rig in the works. Tonight, at 8pm Pacific time, Elon Musk will reveal the truck to the world. (The event was originally scheduled for October; Musk pushed it back sighting more pressing issues involving the Tesla Model 3 and his personal mission to help Puerto Rico.) View full post on TwitterTesla will be live-streaming a webcast of the event on its website....

The same tunnels that protected Londoners from falling rockets during WWII are now home an underground farm. Along with rocket (i.e. arugula), the hydroponic farm—called Growing Underground—will also grow pea shoots, mustard, coriander, celery, radish, and parsley. It is now about to start selling its first produce.Beneath LEDs, rows of plants now fill the 100-foot-deep farm, which was designed to hold up to 8,000 people when it was a bomb shelter....

LAS VEGAS — It’s an age of adjustment for old-line services such as the American Automobile Association (AAA). Remember the paper TripTiks your dad used to get before car trips? You can do all that online now at AAA.com, but then again, you could just use MapQuest or Google Maps like the rest of the world. Now AAA members can buy Magellan’s new RoadMate AAA Edition RS2.0 and maybe feel better about their membership fee, even when they’re not calling the 800 number for a tow truck....

The National Hardware Show is the place for manufacturers to hawk their wares to the hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards across the country. But, changes in retailing over the last ten years or so, have produced a real shift in what we see at this annual event. Gone are the big tool companies that used to dominate the aisles. Names like DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Skil and Bosch—with huge booths often two-stories high—vied for the attention of buyers and press alike, each year offering new and exciting power tool designs, innovations and demonstrations....

It’s early afternoon on the slopes of Palomar Mountain in Cleveland National Forest, 70 miles northeast of San Diego, and California is at war. The steep hillsides are thick with fuel—which is what firefighters call the tangle of trees and scrub and grass so desiccated it crackles underfoot, as combustible as oil-soaked rags. The Poomacha fire has already swallowed 138 houses and mobile homes and 49,410 acres on the mountain’s lower slopes....