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Media Platforms Design TeamFour billion dollars of investment later, it appears that hope is dimming for LightSquared. This week, the Federal Communications Commissionshot down a plan by the company, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone and the hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, to build its own 4G LTE network to sell wholesale and compete with the giant carriers Verizon and AT&T. The issue for LightSquared, as it has always been, is that the firm wanted to operate in a part of the spectrum formerly used by satellite companies, but this chunk lies close to that used by GPS systems....

LAS VEGAS – Volvo’s C30 compact hatchback isn’t even on the market yet. But it didn’t take long for the Swedish automaker to send a few off to get tuned for SEMA. Tuning house Evolve created the most radical one—and one of our favorite vehicles at the show. Virtually none of the original drivetrain remains untouched. The inline 5-cylinder is now a twin-turbo packing 507 hp and routed through a Haldex all-wheel drive system....

Media Platforms Design TeamAstronauts repairing Hubble in May 2009.During the past 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the age of the universe (about 14 billion years), shed light on dark energy and captured galaxies in all stages of evolution. Few pieces of scientific equipment rise to Hubble’s level of celebrity, and film director Toni Myers felt the telescope’s final upgrade in May 2009 was worthy of full Hollywood treatment. The result is Hubble 3D, to be released in April....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sunday night, NASA will land its latest explorer on Mars, a stationary robot designed to explore the possibilities that life once existed on Mars—or still does­—and perhaps lead the way for human colonization.The Phoenix lander has a simple mission, but it’s being conducted in a very challenging corner of the solar system. Once it lands, the stationary craft will deploy a 7.7-ft. robotic drilling arm that will dig through 20 in....

Stephen Hawking in love. Alan Turing at war.As the autumn approaches, we’re getting to that time of year when the theaters are full of pyrotechnic summer blockbusters but the previews are getting serious. Oscar-bait season will soon be upon us, and two of the would-be contenders are taking geek heroes to the big screen.View full post on YoutubeThe Theory of Everything, coming in November, is a biopic tracing the young life and love of Stephen Hawking: his days as a Cambridge physics student, his courtship of wife Jane, and his diagnosis with the ALS that would leave the great mind wheelchair-bound and forced to speak with the machine voice that has become so iconic....

The crew is back for a sixth all-out driving attack. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez lead a cast of returning all-stars as the team comes out of retirement to take on a dangerous new mission in exchange for amnesty for past crimes.The Fast & Furious 6 Blu-ray comes out Tuesday, Dec. 10 (with a portion of the proceeds going to the late Paul Walker’s Reach Out Worldwide charity)....

Jeff Han’s Multitouch Wall: Hands-onWe followed NYU professor Jeff Han from his mind-blowing demonstrations in 2006 to the rise of multitouch computing (and his company, Perceptive Pixel), and capped it off with our 2007 Breakthrough Awards, where he demonstrated the a-ha moment: a glass of water.From the 300,000-plus hits Han got on YouTube for his demo at the TED conference, you followed him, too: “I had seen his presentation at the TED conference,” a PM commenter wrote, “and obviously Jeff is not sitting idle since then....

Media Platforms Design TeamScientists Jolt Brain Back to Consciousness Wire electrodes planted deep inside a man’s brain have safely stimulated him to speak and eat on his own after six years trapped in a minimally conscious state, researchers are reporting in this week’s issue of the journal Nature. Scientists are optimistic about the procedure but warn that it still needs additional study and may work only in limited cases.TECH WATCH: Gaming with Your ThoughtsPLUS: The Upgradeable Human BodyDiesel Honda Accord May Head to U....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Jim Sanborn)The cipher for Kryptos, the mysterious sculpture sitting outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., has eluded code crackers since it was erected in 1989. Three of the four sections to the puzzle have been solved, but the fourth still has people scratching their heads 25 years later.Sculptor Jim Sanborn is using the sculpture’s anniversary to throw a few clues to sleuths amateur and professional. He just provided the simple word “clock” as a new clue, to follow up his previous clue, “Berlin,” which is said to be hidden in the final 97 letters....

Media Platforms Design TeamBeing tea-bagged is a drag–literally. Imagine ripping and bouncing a tea bag over the surface of a tubful of water. Now imagine thatyou are that tea bag and you’re being keelhauled by a 16-ft. kite. That’s the downside to kiteboarding (also known as kitesurfing). The upside is getting as much as 50 ft. of air. Boarders of all types have this thing for getting air (must be their evolutionary lineage from birds), and you can’t do much better than 50 ft....

Media Platforms Design TeamTomorrow, the tech press will descend on Cupertino, Calif. for Apple’s reveal of its newest products. The event is being held at the Flint Center—a location Apple hasn’t used to unveil a product since the first Mac. Beyond the unusual location, the event will also have a few unusual guests: fashion writers. Editors from several top fashion magazines have reportedly to this week’s event, a first for many of them....

Cue Jeff Foxworthy accentYour car might be a clunker if …* It’s wearing three (or more) different sizes of tire.* Your bowling ball keeps falling out of the trunk, even when the trunk lid is closed.* You need to add oil more often than you need to add gas.* Dogs don’t bark and chase after it.* You can only get country and western stations on the radio.* There are mushrooms growing out of the rear-seat carpeting....

Media Platforms Design Team DRESEN, Germany — The success of BMW’s 1 Series offers proof that the German company can successfully downsize its cars. And that’s especially important today as high gas prices and future fuels remain front-page news. As more manufactures hurry to launch Prius-like hybrids and pure electric vehicles, BMW will combat high fuel costs with its most economical 3 Series yet. But for those seeking flagship Bimmer luxury and technology, the company has revamped its top-dog BMW 7 Series for 2009....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamThe debut of the ‘09 Hyundai Genesis at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show just might prove that the Korean carmaker can play hardball in the premium sport sedan market. But how will the public receive its styling? With less-than-subtle references to Acura and Infiniti inside and out, we’re not sure if the Genesis is distinctive enough to stand out in this very competitive segment. But considering its impressive spec sheet and, more remarkably, its sub-$30,000 price tag, Hyundai’s big new entry will offer a lot of car for not a lot of cash when it goes on sale this summer—unparalleled value in an upscale market....

Take a ride in this plane and you could be across the ocean before the flight attendants have a chance to bring the beverage cart.Airbus recently filed for a patent for this design for a jet capable of traveling at a maximum of Mach 4.5. That’s nearly 3,500 mph, fast enough to travel from New York to London in about an hour or get halfway around the world in the time it takes to watch an extended cut of one of the Lord of the Rings movies....

Progress is easy to take for granted. When I was a child in the ’60s, polio was history, measles was on the way out, and diphtheria and whooping cough were maladies out of old movies. Now these contagious diseases are making a comeback. Take measles, for instance. The disease used to infect 3 to 4 million Americans per year, hospitalizing nearly 50,000 people and causing 400 to 500 deaths. In 2000 a panel of experts convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proclaimed that measles transmission had been eradicated in the United States, except for imported cases....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Minnesota Twins’ Central Division title hopes took a major hit before the season even began when their All-Star closer, Joe Nathan, went under the knife to have season-ending ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction; more commonly known to baseball fans as Tommy John surgery. But it isn’t just Major Leaguers undergoing this operation; the number of young pitchers requiring elbow reconstruction has surged during the past decade. As UCL injuries increase and recovery time for Tommy John surgery remains protracted, doctors worry that athletes will turn to platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP), an unproven treatment that has faced scrutiny from anti-doping officials....

Media Platforms Design TeamQ: I am finishing my basement. To do that, I have to deal with some drywall that got wet from a plumbing leak. The leak has been fixed, but mildew is growing on the drywall. Should I replace the drywall, or can I clean it?A: Replace the drywall. Once you remove it, thoroughly inspect the wall or ceiling cavity behind it to be sure the moisture problem has been corrected....

Media Platforms Design TeamFrom rockets to passenger cars, Tesla is a company that loves playing by their own rules.So it should be no surprise that Elon Musk’s vision for direct sales (as opposed to franchise dealerships) is rubbing certain folks the wrong way. You see, Tesla is so intent on mimicking Apple’s retail sales model that the Palo Alto, CA-based automaker hired George Blankenship, who once pioneered the Apple Store concept, to manage Tesla stores selling their automotive offerings....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe best responses we could hope for in a myth-debunking story like"Now What? The Lessons of Katrina" from our March issue tell us that the ideas we put to print have acted as a starting point for discussion of the problems in the past and, more importantly, preparations to be made for the future. PM Reader, Red Cross Disaster Assistance Relief Team Member and retired New York Firefighter Robert Reeg wrote in to say that our mention of the high pressure membrane water filter system, which can pump 288,000 gallons of potable water a day at the cost of $4 per 1000 gallons, was one such idea....