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Media Platforms Design TeamIf U.S. armed forces enter Syria, the teetering regime could use chemical weapons—including nerve and mustard gases—against them. Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi confirmed the nation had them when he said no chemical weapons “will ever be used, unless Syria is exposed to external aggression.” So would the U.S. be able to detect and identify chemical agents if they are used—and identify them before any troops were exposed to harmful or lethal doses?...

Media Platforms Design TeamSince learning a month ago that solar flares can affect our GPS, we’ve missed the sunshine as temperatures here on Earth start falling fast. But when NASA launches its STEREO spacecraft Wednesday morning to grab the first 3-D views of the sun, we’ll be one step closer to finding out how even stronger storms from the first star change the weather up in space—and maybe even knock out power back home....

Let’s face it: Most of us suffer from varying intensities of smartphone addiction. In line at the register? Open Facebook. On the train? Gotta check Instagram. Commercial break? Scroll through Twitter. But what about when your smartphone habits start to infringe on the people around you? What do you call it when the constant need to check your phone starts affecting the people you love?James A. Roberts has an answer. In his new book Too Much of a Good Thing: Are You Addicted to Your Smartphone?...

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Lititz house, as it was called by the staffs of Country Living and Popular Mechanics, went from hulk to polished showcase in one year.They sure built ’em right in the rolling Dutch Country of southeastern Pennsylvania. The abandoned 1890s farmhouse on designer David Drummond’s 5-acre spread had withstood decades of weathering with barely a rotted clapboard to show for it. But it was the home’s architectural style – which Drummond labels “folk Victorian” – that convinced him he had the makings of a winner....

Illustration by Mary O’ReillyWe use them to spy on exoplanets, diagnose skin-cancer, and ID the makeup of unknown chemicals. They’re on NASA spacecraft flying around Saturn’s moons right now. Yes, right alongside the microscope, the optical spectrometer—an instrument that breaks down the light that something reflects or emits, telling you what its made of—is one of the most ubiquitous tools in all of science. Today, Jie Bao, a physicist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, has just discovered a fascinating way to make them smaller, lighter, and less expensive than we ever thought possible....

Toyota has recalled millions of cars and trucks—4.2 million to replace floor mats that might impede throttle-pedal travel, and 2.4 million to install a shim behind the electronic pedal assembly. All of the affected pedal assemblies were made by Canadian supplier CTS. Toyota’s boffins have documented a problem that can make a few of these pedals slow to return, and maybe even stick down. Problem solved.But the media, Congress—and personal-injury lawyers—smell the blood in the water....

The youngs, with their Tinders and Instagrams and YouVideos, are up to something suspicious, and CSI: Cyber is on it. The newest addition to CBS’ juggernaut CSI franchise is rolling out the tech-speak so you know just how dangerous computers can be, as this excellent supercut shows.This video is three and a half minutes of pure unadulterated gold, with technobabble buzzwords seemingly drawn from a hat. The long list of computer tropes and misunderstood hacking continues unabated throughout....

Media Platforms Design TeamMay 1975 PopMech.How do Americans feel about the sci-fi technologies promising to invade their lives? This week, pollsters from the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey of 1001 adults, revealing which technologies we’re afraid and which ones we think will never come to pass.The fears of a dystopian future are telling. When asked whether a new tech breakthrough would be a change for the better or worse, most respondents picked “worse” for implants that pump information into our brains, drones in U....

DETROIT — These days while I’m sitting—and sitting, and sitting—in line waiting for the next pump at the local fill ’er up, I like to daydream. After all, when getting gas turns from nasal nuisance to an exercise in pure torture, an escape from reality can make a lot of sense for an automotive junkie. I wasn’t exactly born yesterday, but it does kind of feel like only yesterday that I could buy a gallon of fuel for less than the gallon of milk sitting steps away at the station’s minimart....

Media Platforms Design TeamApple has killed the iPod.Launched in October 2001, the iPod (most recently known as the iPod Classic) matured a bit over those 13 years. It downsized buttons, gained a more streamlined clickwheel, and fattened up to 160 GB—enough space to store 40,000 songs. Alas, it’s now a relic. With nary a word, Apple took the iPod off its website and out of its stores yesterday, shortly after the announcement of new giant iPhones and the Apple Watch....

Media Platforms Design TeamAmerican astronaut Reid Wiseman, along with Russian Maxim Suraev and German Alexander Gerst, landed safely back on Earth last week to conclude his first spaceflight, a 165-day mission to the International Space Station that included two spacewalks and a whole lot of fun. Fortunately for us, Wiseman is an avid social media user, having shared every step of his incredible journey with his 361,000 Twitter followers through photos, 3D videos of submerged GoPros and mind-bending six-second Vines....

This was a frame-off rebuild. The picture above is actually a “before” photo. The previous owner of this wagon had discarded the stock drive train long ago and installed a Ford straight front axle and a ’60s truck rear axle. They were poorly installed and have been removed and donated to a Ford truck club. The previous owner also installed the hood hinges on the outside of the hood! These have been removed and the stock hinges reinstalled....

Media Platforms Design Team2009 DETROIT AUTO SHOW PREVIEW:• CADILLAC: 2010 Cadillac SRX• FORD: 2010 Ford Shelby GT500• CHEVY: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox• GM: Direct-Injection Lineup ExpandingWARREN, Mich.—Ed Welburn is a Buick guy. And as it happens, Welburn is also the vice-president for global design of General Motors. So over the past few years, his Buick designs have been some of the most adventurous the brand has seen in over 40 years. The 2010 Buick LaCrosse, is close to the Invicta concept in appearance—the most radical production Buick design since the 1966 Riviera....

Of all the tons of fuel that drives modern space flight, cash is the most critical. That was the stark reality brought front and center on Wednesday at the first-ever Space Business Forum in New York, where leading rocket scientists, military officers and even hedge-fund managers crunched the numbers to illuminate the future of the space industry. From the European influence on suborbital tourism to why the Air Force doesn’t trust private rockets, and from the increasingly outsourced business model at NASA to a place for that other “green” movement, here’s a news analysis of where the power lies....

NASA has sent landers to Mars, the Moon, and even Titan with landers. But the gas giants are harder to explore. Jupiter’s solid surface doesn’t start for at least 43,000 miles beneath the beginning of its atmosphere, if there’s one at all. But JPL scientists have a new way to explore that they want to test out someday: a polyhedron floating ball kite that would sail through the clouds of Jupiter and Saturn....

The world’s most populous country is taking a big step into the hydrogen market, powering a series of new tram systems with fuel cell technology. China is debuting the tram system in Qingdao later this month. It can go only about 45 mph, but in return, it’s a near-zero emission, clean-burning technology. Fuel cells, especially in transportation, could help a swiftly industrializing country that is beset by air pollution problems stemming from burning huge amounts of fossil fuels....

Media Platforms Design TeamAfter officials pinpointed the location of Air France’s Airbus A330 crash site, they turned to the difficult task of recovering the black boxes, which hold the official recordings of events that happened before the plane went down. Black boxes, which are actually painted orange, can give investigators the missing bits and pieces of data needed to determine an accident’s probable cause. To help officials find the boxes, embedded technology sends sonarlike signals, which can be detected for up to 30 days provided listening equipment can get within approximately 1 mile of the box, according to a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board....

Not great at pool? Well maybe you’re just playing on the wrong table. Forget about the rectangle thing and upgrade to an elliptical where the math is on your side. The elliptical “LOOP” table was designed by Alex Bellos and built by the Snooker & Pool Table Company in Essex, Britain, and has a single pocket placed right on one of the ellipse’s focii. If you remember your geometry, you’ll know that unlike a circle (which is a line equidistant from a single center point), a ellipse has two focii....

Media Platforms Design TeamPresident and CEO of the new General Motors Company, Fritz Henderson, at a press conference to discuss the details of GM’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 10, 2009 at GM world headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. (Photograph by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) DETROIT—In an incredibly short 40 days, General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy. In a press conference this morning, CEO Fritz Henderson announced the new organization will be called the General Motors Company, and GM’s top exec detailed some revisions to its structure going forward....

A hit-and-run accident in 2006 left Rob Summers paralyzed from the chest down, shattering the college baseball player’s Major League prospects. But his injury—and his athlete’s dedication—made him the ideal candidate for a one-of-a-kind experiment led by a scientific dream team. UCLA researchers V. Reggie Edgerton and Yury Gerasimenko had been studying the effects of electrical stimulation on the spinal cord in animals for decades. To test their theories in a human, they teamed with Susan Harkema, rehabilitation director at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, and Joel Burdick, a CalTech bioengineer....