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Finally, a toy that invites children to explore the nature of cruelty. In fact, Electronic Test Tube Aliens ($15) are either the most cynical and ill-conceived toys on the market, or the world’s first truly existential toy. The story is simple: There’s an alien invasion on, and you get to be a collaborator by taking care of a Wi-Fi-enabled, battery-powered alien adoptee. Three of the aliens are good and three are evil; whether yours is good or evil has no bearing on how your creature will behave, since these test-tube babies can’t fight each other or really do anything....

Media Platforms Design TeamIs my smartphone out to get me?Misuse of theses devices is the real danger. There are always safe ways to use technology, but tech companies should inform consumers about the risks and continue to refine their products with information from science and medicine to make safe use of these products easier and more convenient.Wait so people are already showing up in your office with iPhone injuries?We have seen bad postures evolve with regular use of the computer....

How many times have you been playing Grand Theft Auto and thought to yourself, “Man, I wish I could actually experience this game in real life”?Ok, maybe minus the killing and stealing and beating random people on the street…Well, the guys over at CorridorDigital nailed it with this uncanny re-creation of the role-playing video game we’ve all come to obsess over. Using GoPros and iPhones, they managed to reimagine the fictional city of Los Santos, filming in the real-life places that inspired the game such as the Griffith Park Observatory, where the main character sells drugs then promptly punches the buyer in the face, as one would naturally do....

border=“0”>Anycom BIWAS-20 ($280)The BIWAS-20 streams music from your PC or MP3 player. But it’s the robust stereo sound, with 100 ft. of roam, that makes it the envy of other Bluetooth speakers. anycom.com valign=“top” style=“padding-left:10px”>Belkin Bluetooth USB Adapter 100 Meter ($50)This smart little adapter adds Bluetooth capability to any PC with a USB slot, allowing it to communicate with Bluetooth-compatible devices from over 300 ft. away. belkin.com border=“0”>Plantronics Audio 910 Bluetooth Headset Kit ($150)This multitasking headset connects with your PC for VoIP calls and, with the touch of a button, switches to an incoming call on your cellphone....

Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $25 to $30Price Difference Relative to Similar Products: Could cost more or less depending on size and other variables.Description: Estwing bills its solid steel hammer as a tool for framing, but it’s more than that. Forged from a single block of tool steel and given expert heat treatment to ensure that it won’t crack, chip, or break, the hammer is unbelievably tough. I have 30 years of use on mine, and have found that it will stand up to any job in construction....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team Word got out late last month that, after watching their new cancer therapy eradicate several disease strains in mice, researchers at Wake Forest University were preparing to conduct human trials. The scientific community—and the Web—were abuzz. Biochemist Zheng Cui’s controversial idea centers on pulling out healthy, cancer-fighting white blood cells from healthy patients, then injecting them into someone with cancer. His mice-and-test-tube success is the basis for planned clinical trials, but the established medical community isn’t quite ready to embrace his approach....

LONDON — Even though the 2008 Ford Focus sitting at your local dealership is wearing relatively recent clothes, it’s actually quite old underneath those snazzy threads. In Europe, the Focus rides on Ford’s newer, more advanced C1 architecture shared with Volvo and Mazda. In the U.S., the platform dates back to the very first Focus—it’s going on nine years old now. Still, thanks to high gas prices, Focus sales back in the States remain strong....

Media Platforms Design Team Few motor sports are more definitively American than flat track racing. Die-hard fans of the sport were baffled when Harley-Davidson’s flat track–inspired XR1200 was made available only in Europe. But it didn’t take Harley long to mend its ways and announce the release of the XR1200 in the good ol’ U.S. of A. With the first batch of 750 (an homage to the legendary XR750 dirt tracker) available in Harley’s classic orange-and-black livery, the company is banking on the enthusiasm of the hardcore nostalgic motorcycle fans....

Media Platforms Design TeamAlternative fuels are still stuck inside the chicken-and-the-egg dilemma. No one wants to commit to building an alternate fueling infrastructure (the egg) before there’s a critical mass of vehicles (the chicken) out there to use it. And vice versa. Frustrating as that logic loop is to be caught in, there are indications that there are ways out of it. One ray of sunshine (literally) is the quick charger station for electric vehicles in Vacaville, Calif....

Media Platforms Design TeamAt Popular Mechanics, we have seen our share of appliance power monitors that help to measure real-time and long-term use of electricity by various appliances. These monitors can help homeowners take control of their energy usage and become more efficient. But none of them is as seamless–and dare we say, sexy–as the Oregon Scientific Wireless Appliance Manager. This monitor displays real-time cost, power consumption and even carbon emissions created at up to four sockets....

Media Platforms Design TeamToday’s Word is autostereoscopy or, in plain English, glasses-free 3D. Sure, these sci-fi screens exist today, but because they work by directing particular pixels to particular ocular vantage points, stepping a few inches outside a sweet spot can transform that fourth-wall-breaking Na’vi into a blue blur. This is why the tech is, thus far, found mostly on handheld gadgets like the Nintendo 3DS: Users keep a constant grip on the screen and can control the viewing angle for optimal 3D joy....

Media Platforms Design TeamWarmer days are on their way, finally, which means it’s time to start thinking about cleaning up your yard and getting ready for the coming spring gardening season.If you’re serious about having a great garden and want to top last year’s, getting things ready early in the season will help put you on the right path to having the best garden in the neighborhood.Planning Is KeyBefore you start flinging soil like there’s no tomorrow, set out your vision for the season....

“Paradigm shifts are underway,” says entrepreneur Grant Delgatty. When he noticed that millennials were tuning in to social and environmental issues, it triggered his breakthrough invention: the URB-E e-vehicle.Media Platforms Design TeamGrant wagered on the power of a new generation prioritizing sustainability. With this in mind, he saw the infinite growth potential of clean energy transportation. “It’s about social impact. Every decision we make needs to be the right decision to protect our environment for tomorrow,” says Delgatty....

Media Platforms Design TeamShock TestTo measure the locks’ resilience against brute force—the kind they’d feel from a sledgehammer—we used an MTS Systems shock test machine to drop a 32-pound weight on them.Franklin: One drop from 55 inches (the machine’s max height) popped the lock.Medeco: Three drops and the lock was reduced to a cloud of plastic and steel shrapnel.Master: The toughest lock slowly pulled apart over the course of four drops from max height....

“Sonic X-Treme” could have been a flagship game for Sega Saturn. Instead, Sega’s fortunes turned, Ninendo and Sony took control of the console business, and this Sonic game never was. Until now. We have a glimmer – but just a glimmer – of what could have been. A group of fans have resurrected the game. Well, sort of. They’ve resurrected a semi-playable level of the game, which they are releasing for free on Windows....

Media Platforms Design Team LAS VEGAS— Wars tend to drag on long after one side has won. So despite the recent announcement from Warner Bros., that as of June it will stop releasing movies in HD DVD, meaning its high-definition content will be exclusive to Blu-ray, the high-def format war is far from over. The timing was dramatic, just a few days before the Consumer Electronics Show got underway in Las Vegas, leading the HD DVD consortium to cancel its invite-only press conference in a clear sign of defeat....

Update: Success! In the wee hours of this morning, on the seventh night of the mission’s second launch window, Marilla Samara’s team launched their rocket into an aurora. Data coming soon.Just before midnight, an aurora rips an iridescent gash along the northern horizon. Sixty miles below, down on Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, Marilia Samara is fiddling with a two-stage rocket, and trying to stay warm.Samara’s team at the Southwest Research Institute has passed several fruitless evenings in the bitter cold, waiting to launch a million-dollar sounding rocket into the Northern Lights....

Media Platforms Design TeamWould Hal Jordan have been hired to test military aircraft even though he’s not a member of the military?Its up to the aircraft manufacturer. Im a test pilot for Lockheed Martin and the airplanes that I work on include the F-35. If a manufacturer is primarily responsible for developing the airplane, then the military pilots help out in a team arrangement, but its up to the manufacturer to decideespecially early onwhos going to fly that airplane....

View full post on YoutubeA few years back, you would have been right to think of Phoenix as a backwater for makers and startups. But that notion has changed radically over the past year, due in part to the opening of a TechShop studio in Chandler, Arizona, about 25 miles from downtown Phoenix.The makerspace opened in November 2013 as part of a deal with the Arizona State University. Students from the ASU College of Technology and Innovation share the shop with local residents....

Media Platforms Design TeamHome automation exists in the curious realm where screwdrivers and drywall meet PCs and routers. The cat­egory is still evolving–there are multiple, incompatible standards–and getting this stuff to work requires knowledge of both household electrical wiring and computer networking, but once everything is hooked up correctly, it can change the way you interact with your home.Last month, I wrote about installing Insteon networked lighting in my home, which allowed me to link up switches and outlets throughout my house regardless of which branch circuit they were on....