Phil McNamara was able to capture something not a lot of people get to see: the exact moment an active volcano blows its top, and the attendant shockwave. Filming off the coast of Papa New Guinea, McNamara filmed the start of the eruption of Mount Tavurvur volcano on August 29th, 2014.View full post on YoutubeA fun trick you can do with this video: determine about how far away McNamara was from the actual eruption....
Welcome to the resurrection of my blog. For the past year, I’ve been blogging on the progress of our Solar Home Project, a series of stories that have run in the print magazine (the grand finale is scheduled for the January 2007 issue). If you’ve somehow missed all the excitement, allow me to bring you up to speed. I live with my family (wife and two sons, ages 5 and 2) in northern Vermont in an off-grid home....
It’s no secret that MP3 files use compression to turn a large amount of audio information into something that takes up much less digital storage space. What you may not realize is how: Essentially, it clips various high and low ends of raw audio to create a more computer-digestible version.So, what sounds get left behind? As a demonstration, here’s “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega: View full post on YoutubeAnd here’s everything that was left behind when the song was compressed into a smaller file: View full post on IframeThe latter is a haunting series of murmurs courtesy of Ghost in the MP3, a new project from PhD candidate Ryan Maguire....
Media Platforms Design TeamWith tensions escalating between Russia and Ukraine, to do more than issue stern warnings to the Russian government. Economic sanctions are one possible action, but one that could put the squeeze not only on Russia but also the U.S. manned space program.the pressure is on President ObamaSince the space shuttle retired in 2011, NASA has had no native human spaceflight capability. With no other options, NASA has relied on the Russian Federal Space Agency and its Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars per seat....
Media Platforms Design TeamBoutique carmakers without the multi-billion dollar backing to produce sleds like this are frequently stopped dead in their tracks by government regulations. Take Mosler, for instance, the self-described builder of “hyperexotics” which was “pulled into the vortex of the financial downturn.” Their RaptorGTR was supposed to be a range-topping Pagani/Ferrari/Lamborghini alternative, with a Veyron SuperSport-slaying power to weight ratio of 649 horsepower per ton thanks to a twin-turbocharged 7 liter V8 producing 838 horsepower and a carbon fiber safety cell yielding a 2,580 lb curb weight....
Media Platforms Design TeamDespite all those hanging chad jokes—not to mention the $3.9 billion in federal funding committed to upgrading the nation’s election equipment since 2002—we’re back to using paper ballots. How is that possible?If we can invent a machine that dispenses money, surely we can come up with one that safely chooses the next name on the Oval Office door, right?Well, engineering a perfect democracy is more difficult than you might imagine....
Pete BlackSt. Louis, Mo.Years on Job: 2 The African redneck ostrich weighs 350 pounds, runs in bursts up to 40 mph and can eviscerate a person with a powerful kick. And last year, Pete Black had to catch them. “It was a rodeo at times,” he says of the research expedition to Africa, “but no one got seriously injured.” Black works for the St. Louis Zoo, where his primary responsibility is to perform routine exams and surgeries and provide preventative care to the zoo’s 5000 animals....
Media Platforms Design TeamLet’s face it: Most crossovers just aren’t that hip or fun to drive. As useful as they may be for hauling the tots, you certainly won’t see James Bond trading in his brand-new Aston Martin DBS for a family wagon. But there are exceptions. The first Infiniti FX was a triumph of macho sport design—a truly lustworthy crossover. Well, the all-new FX, we’re happy to report, has lost none of its cool....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe SpecsThe Ultimate Driving Machine should be, well, ultimate. The watered-down, disconnected driving experience conveyed by some hybrids would be inappropriate in a BMW, right? That’s why BMW has tuned its first execution of the two-mode hybrid transmission for responsive performance first, while only modestly boosting fuel economy. The crossover’s two-mode hybrid system was developed in partnership with General Motors, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz (when the latter two were still on the same team), and the others have already launched their versions of the technology....
Media Platforms Design TeamPrice (base): $22,280Available: summerFuel economy (estimated city/highway 2.5-liter): 27/38Competitors: Chevy Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda6, VW Passat, Subaru LegacyPowertrain: 2.5-liter I-4, 182 hp at 6000 rpm; 180 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm; 3.5-liter V-6, 270 hp at 6000 rpm; 258 lb-ft at 4400 rpmWhat’s New: A decade ago, when Nissan launched its sleek third generation Altima, it hedged a bet that many midsize sedan buyers want a more responsive, more fun-to-drive car....
BURT’S BUSYThe original X Prize, announced in 1996, would have been a fiasco if not for the freakish outside-the-box design genius and astonishing backyard engineering skills of Burt Rutan, who eventually won it. In eight years, none of the more than two dozen other alleged contenders–pretenders, really–got even remotely close to achieving the man-in-space goal. Without Rutan, the net result of the first X Prize would have been a blizzard of press releases and outlandish artists’ renderings, spiced up with the occasional ground explosion and faked test-launch video....
Media Platforms Design TeamSmartwatches have really exploded in 2013. In the early stages of creating the Toq, what were some things you knew you wanted to include and exclude to make your watch stand out? What were those early meetings like?It really comes out of a conversation that Paul Jacobs, our CEO, had about the digital six sense. So thinking about how we are going to bring in information from the world around us....
Media Platforms Design TeamA bunch of weeks ago, we gave you the six finalists. Now, here are the two winners. Honda swept the field. The 2006 Car Of The Year is Civic, and the 2006 Truck Of The Year is Ridgeline. Congratulations!The North American Car and Truck of the Year are the most prestigious awards given to new vehicles. They’re the most important awards because they’re based on the unbiased votes of a group of 49 respected automotive journalists from across the United States and Canada, including PM’s auto editor, Don Chaikin....
Media Platforms Design TeamReading Tom Vanderbilt’s latest book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), I was struck by a recurring theme: Making things safer may actually make them more dangerous. I wonder if it’s a lesson that also applies off the road.Vanderbilt describes driving along a narrow, twisting road in Spain, where he navigated hairpin turns with few guardrails or warning signs over steep drop-offs....
Media Platforms Design TeamSpaceX isn’t just for rockets anymore. Last night at a Seattle event surrounding the opening of a SpaceX office in the city, Musk announced even bigger plans: space internet, with a headquarters at the new Seattle office. He’d launch a fleet of satellites into orbit roughly 750 miles up, helping create an internet from three times the distance of the ISS. At those altitudes, the delay time would be short enough to enable their use for common applications like Skype and cloud computing....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe FCC has changed the definition of broadband to a minimum of 25Mbps download speed, which officially means many cable Internet subscribers are suddenly not quite receiving “broadband” internet anymore. The move is meant to spur Internet service providers to faster speeds, more in line with the bevy of devices out there streaming music, movies and games. This also virtually eliminates DSL from being considered under broadband as the speed required just can’t compete with the Internet-over-phoneline speeds of DSL compared to cable or fiber optic lines....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe Vacs> Black & Decker FHV1200 Flex ($70)Media Platforms Design Team Dyson DC31 ($220)Media Platforms Design TeamMakita BCL180W ($150)Media Platforms Design TeamThe TestsIn The HouseWe vacuumed up after a staged Super Bowl bash—popcorn and Doritos crushed into 20 square inches of carpet.Black & Decker: Crushed food clogged the hose, which had a tendency to regurgitate crumbs out the nozzle. Gross.Dyson: Smaller crumbs were no problem, but some larger kernels got jammed in the nozzle (it was nothing a pencil poke couldn’t clear out)....
Media Platforms Design TeamHow can a camera perform chemistry?We might say it’s a chemistry instrument and a camera. Basically, it uses a laser to determine a composition of the rocks or soils up to 25 feet away from the rover. The laser is focused down to a small spot on a target so that the energy of the laser shot can be really highly concentrated. Over a few billionths of a second this laser projects the energy of a million lightbulbs onto this small spotabout the size of a pinhead....
Media Platforms Design TeamStep One: The Raw IngredientsSuccess begins with a careful selection of materials. Karen Schaich, a professor of Food Chemistry at Rutgers University (currently in the process of publishing a USDA-funded paper on the chemistry of French-fry crust), says that selecting a good potato is one of the most important steps in making a good fry. “You have to have a high-density potato, like a Russet Burbank,” she says....
Increasing MPGs without Buying a Prius Q: I have a 2001 Grand Marquis with 37,000 miles, which averages about 19.5 mpg the way I drive. Because of my disabilities, getting in and out of the smaller, more efficient, greener cars is difficult and does not meet my needs. Is there a fuel or any additive that really works that will increase my mpg? Many claim to improve fuel efficiency, performance, reduce engine wear and a long list of other claims, but I don’t want to put something in the fuel or oil that will harm the engine or make the situation worse....
