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Media Platforms Design TeamFernando Fischmann is a Chilean biochemist turned real estate mogul. And, if his new idea works out, he could make another career turn—inventor of a way to make power plants more ocean-friendly. Inspired by the giant pools he’s built for resorts, Fischmann came up with the idea of using closed pools to provide the water to cool large power plants, reducing their environmental impact.It all started with Fischmann’s filtration system....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe ride inside one of the three EN-V concept vehicles, destined for display at the Shanghai World Expo opening in May, is silky-smooth motion. You’d never guess that the entire two-person cabin was sliding forward and back, maintaining a delicate balance over its two wheels as the vehicle accelerates, turns, brakes and rotates beneath. And you certainly wouldn’t imagine that the device was communicating continuously with others of its ilk, even as it used optical and sonic sensing devices to “perceive” its surroundings and avoid collisions....

Apple has its iPhone, and Google has the Nexus. But unlike iPhone, with its iconic design that changes slowly (if at all) from year to year, Google’s Nexus phones are made by different hardware manufacturers and have designs that can wildly from one year to the next. And judging by the leaks so far, we’re in for some weird ones this year. Historically, Google has announced a single Nexus phone every year, the way Apple had traditionally launched a single iPhone until the iPhone 5C and iPhone 6 Plus came around....

Media Platforms Design TeamDETROIT—At a press conference this morning here at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, the North American Car and Truck of the Year jurors announced the winners. The Hyundai Genesis was named the 2009 Car of the Year, and the Ford F-150 was named the Truck of the Year. The awards are unique in the United States because, instead of being given by a single publication, they are given by 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada who represent magazines, television, radio, newspapers and Web sites....

Somewhere in Grand Rapids, Michigan, there is an ancient Commodore Amiga that is hard at work. For over a quarter century it has been controlling the heat and air conditioning at 19 different schools and running nonstop. It’s still kicking, for now anyway.A report from local news outlet WoodTV, details the situation: The Commodore Amiga was new to GRPS in the early 1980s and it has been working tirelessly ever since....

Media Platforms Design TeamRice University’s ZEROW house could be a case study in making less seem like more. At only 520 square feet, the house should feel cramped. It may be the copious sunlight giving that feeling of openness, or perhaps it’s due to the recessed strips of LEDs shining soft light in ceiling corners that would normally be occupied by crown molding. It’s also possible that the feeling is a kind of trompe l’oeil caused by a series of wall-width panoramic Houston landscape photos, placed in several rooms at about waist height, creating a fish-eyed wainscoting effect that seems to raise the ceilings and invite the visitor to view a sprawling city from a new perspective....

Media Platforms Design TeamShell Oil has canceled its plans to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska in 2011, but will now set its sights on the summer of 2012. The company has run into repeated regulatory hurdles in its attempts to explore for oil in America’s slice of the Arctic Ocean. Most recently, in late December 2010, the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) sent air quality permits granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) back to regulators for revision....

According to a Bloomberg report, NASA is working with Osterhout Design Group to create augmented reality glasses for use on space missions. Specifically, they would guide astronauts through difficult repairs. The software behind the glasses recognizes objects, helping orient the astronaut to the repair. It also responds to voice commands. The designers been working on the software for a while, but now the technology’s gotten small enough to be workable off-planet....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe U.S. government is reporting that China, after decades of trying, is on the verge of fielding a true underwater leg of its nuclear deterrent, with new long-range missiles tipped with nuclear weapons on board its fleet of new long-range submarines. And that could transform the Pacific into a tense militarized zone reminiscent of the Atlantic during the Cold War.On November 14 the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will release its annual report to Congress, and that report will contain some sobering language about new Julang-2 missiles China plans to field in two years....

Media Platforms Design TeamQ: First off, I really enjoy reading your Auto Clinic every month. Always good info there, I just hope I can remember it all! In the April 2010 issue you show a picture of a Gates Belt gauge and mention it’s available on their website, I did several searches there and couldn’t find anything that looked like that. Oh wait! Was that an April Fool’s joke? If so, you got me…....

Media Platforms Design TeamEarlier this morning, Microsoft announced a major change for Xbox One: It would release a Kinect-less console for $400 starting June 9. Since its release, Microsoft had been selling the One only in a $500 bundle that included the new version of Kinect. Now, the console has finally received its long-awaited price drop but at a greater cost than just $100.This move was almost inevitable as Microsoft slogged through months of slow console sales....

Media Platforms Design Team YoGen Universal Mobile Device Charger ($40) The PromiseNever be caught without a charge again—the YoGen Universal Mobile Device Charger promises an endless stream of energy to virtually any mobile device. Just pull the string, and the juice flows. Various charger tips allow it to fit into different types of gadgets. And while it isn’t the first pull-string gadget charger we’ve seen (we gave another company a PM Breakthrough Award for its prototype generator in 2008)—it is the first you can buy....

Media Platforms Design Team"Give me a place to stand on and I’ll open any damn bottle." Okay, maybe Archimedes never uttered those exact words. But his principle of leverage is the basis for the classic metal bottle opener—and also works with an odd variety of objects.Put a one-handed stranglehold on the bottleneck, and use a [1] DISPOSABLE PLASTIC LIGHTER (a longtime fave) or a [2] USB DRIVE as a lever (and a knuckle as a fulcrum) to pop the top—and learn a refreshing lesson in applied physics....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team On Tuesday, voters in California took the first major step toward building the Golden State’s first high-speed train and linking its major cities by rail. The news was somewhat buried by the historic presidential election and other California state initiatives like Proposition 8, but in a 52 percent to 48 percent vote, Californians agreed to spend about $10 billion to bankroll the new rail system....

If the ocean currents responsible for maintaining Europe’s mild temperatures are indeed weakening, as recent research suggests, our neighbors across the Atlantic may be in for a long, deep freeze. Lucky for them, University of Alberta researcher Peter Flynn has engineered a way to manipulate the global climate. All Europe needs is 8000 barges and $50 billion to pull it off. After evaluating seven possible methods, Flynn and his students identified a single most cost-effective way to enhance ocean circulation: make sea ice thicker by pumping salty water on top of it....

Name: Fireboat Three Forty-ThreeLength: 140 feetWeight: 500 tonsCruising Speed: 12 knotsResponse Speed: 17.4 knotsEst. Service Life: 50 years New York City’s fire department—including its fleet of fireboats—must be prepared for unthinkable emergencies. (Fireboat pumps, due to infrastructure damage, were responders’ only available source of water during the terrorist attacks in 2001.) This year, FDNY fielded two $27 million vessels, mostly paid for by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that can operate in areas tainted by chemical, biological or nuclear agents....

Video cameras evolve in reaction to advances in television and computer technology, and as TVs and PCs have gone hi-def and high-capacity, digital camcorders have begun to follow suit. But increased functionality brings with it confusing new options. The price range is vast, the variety of media formats is staggering and the technology changes quickly. For a look at the inner workings, we took apart this JVC Everio GZ-HD7 to examine the current state of the camcorder art....

Q: We read numerous stories about the benefits of E85 fuel for cars, and I for one would like to use it, since it is becoming more available. But the service manuals for my ‘03 Acura and ‘07 Hyundai both state to use no more than 10 percent alcohol content in fuel. Are there any fixes being produced by auto manufacturers or others to utilize this fuel that won’t violate the manufacturer’s warranty?...

Media Platforms Design TeamLast week’s episode of Lost, “Meet Kevin Johnson,” gave us even more information about the wreck of Oceanic Flight 815 (even if it was the last hour of geek power before a brief hiatus—sniff, sniff). Just as the recently returned Michael was ready to put No. 2 Other Mr. Friendly’s claim that the island wouldn’t let him die to the ultimate test, some breaking television news stopped him in his tracks: The wreckage of the castaways’ flight had been found at a “tremendous depth,” with “little chance of recovering remains or a black box....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn the movies, Luke Skywalker’s green lightsaber has traveled to cosmic destinations such as Tatooine, Endor and the Death Star II. In real life, the lightsaber prop used by Mark Hamill in Return of the Jedi will now fulfill its fictional destiny by making its way into space and back.The 1.5-pound lightsaber is en route to the International Space Station, or ISS, thanks to an idea from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston....