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When the U.S. Army wants a bridge built, they want it done fast. Luckily, they have the M60 AVLB (Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge). As you can see in the video below, it takes just about a minute and a half for the tank to lay down a bridge. View full post on YoutubeBridge-laying tanks have a long history, vital in getting armor and artillery across rivers and other obstacles. The British and French used early versions of armored vehicle-launched bridge tanks in World War I as a way to advance in a time of trench warfare....

Market Street in Kenilworth, New Jersey, about a thirty-minute drive west from Manhattan, is not a sprawling coworking campus somewhere in Silicon Valley, nor is it an imposing factory in New Taipei. Yet in one of the unassuming warehouse buildings that line this drag, tucked among the auto-glass repair shop and the industrial-supply company and the diner, the techno-craftsmen of Maingear Computers do the unexpected (for New Jersey): They create monolithic desktop towers, and they do it by hand....

Media Platforms Design TeamWith spreading water shortages, you’d think a good heavy rain would be, well, heaven-sent. But there are now 25 million acres of impervious surfaces nationally–equivalent to a parking lot the size of Virginia–where rainfall runs off rather than soaking in. The rushing streamlets carry fertilizers, pesticides, eroded soil and organic material into storm sewers, and from there into waterways. Many cities (746 of them across the country) have old sewer systems that can overflow in heavy storms, contributing to local drinking water problems and to the giant dead zone that forms each summer in the Gulf of Mexico....

It’s been just about 10 years since the auto industry was abuzz with the impending transition of automotive electrical systems from 12 volts to 42 volts. Didn’t happen. Isn’t gonna. Stop holding your breath.In the first place, why on earth would the car industry make such a global change, obsoleting trillions of dollars in 12-volt infrastructure and aftermarket accessories? Simple: Twelve wasn’t cutting it anymore. Wiring harnesses were getting heavier and bulkier to run all the power accessories on board, such as heated seats and power windows....

Buick introduced two higher-performance models in its four-door sedans for 2008 at the auto show today: the LaCrosse Super and Lucerne Super. Both offer more powerful engines, plus ride and handling upgrades that promise to put more fun in Buick driving and remove some of the brand’s image as a “doctor’s car.” Super is a Buick name from the past, last used on the brand 50 years ago. —Jim DunneBuick LaCrosse Super Media Platforms Design TeamLaCrosse Super comes equipped with a 5....

Media Platforms Design TeamJeep has an all-new Liberty ready for the 2008 model year, but you can easily spot some familiar lines in its exterior styling and interior layout. Most obvious of the changes is the exterior shape and size: Replacing the rounded curves of the 2007 model are sharper body angles, especially evident in the rear, where the box-like tail replaces the rounded forms of the current model. Here’s a rundown of the major features:new independent front suspension and revised rear suspension for a better ride without sacrificing Jeep’s off-road capability;two four-wheel drive systems—one part-time, the other-full time;improved fuel economy of 16/22 mpg for city/highway based on 2008 EPA standards;two transmissions—the six-speed manual and four-speed automatic;3....

Media Platforms Design TeamNice, France—Minivans are implements of necessity, not desire. They’re practical and roomy, but lack style. Parents, who need a minivan’s space but dread the vehicle image—yes, think soccer mom—are one reason three-row SUVs and now crossovers have become so popular. The minivan segment has dwindled in size, and neither GM nor Ford currently competes, seeming willing to let Honda, Toyota, Chrysler and Kia fight over a shrinking market....

2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2RThere’s a gentlemen’s agreement among motorcycle manufacturers: In the name of sanity, nobody strays above 200 horsepower or a 187-mile-per-hour top speed. At least that was the case until Kawasaki decided to ignore rules, moderation, and possibly a few laws of physics. The result is the Ninja H2R (base price: $50,345), a track-only bullet bike that takes two-wheeled performance to a scary new place. The key ingredient is the motor, a supercharged 998cc four-cylinder that revs to 14,000 revolutions per minute and generates 300 horsepower....

Now that the Obama Administration has set the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard at 34.1 mpg by the year 2016, along with tightening CO2 emissions regulations, the world’s automotive engineers can lock in their product plans for the next several years. During the first panel discussion at this year’s SAE World Congress, titled “Near-Term Powertrain Solutions—Before 2016,” executives from Chrysler, Ford, Honda and Hyundai/Kia discussed how they plan to meet the new criteria....

Things cool off in the fall, and that’s when the fun starts, at least as far as yardwork is concerned. It’s just satisfying to get behind the wheel of a tractor and grade a driveway, renovate a lawn or haul firewood to its stack. You can use any basic lawn machine for small jobs, like towing a dethatcher, but hard work calls for beefy equipment. In the outdoor power business, these machines are known as garden tractors....

Media Platforms Design TeamYou might dump your kitchen scraps into the plastic composter at the back corner of the yard and forget about them, but those are often an inefficient way to reduce food scraps into usable organic material. The food can sit there for months or even years, especially in colder climates, without breaking down properly. compost binsA quick and easy way to compost kitchen scraps year-round is to use a worm box, which is called vermicomposting or vermiculture....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf you wanted to train to be a solar photovoltaic panel installer at the absolute finest institution nationwide–the Ivy League school of solar installation training–where would you go to learn? That question, posed to industry experts at the recent PV America trade show, generated a unanimous response: The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, or NABCEP. There, an aspiring installer can earn the only national professional certification available for solar-thermal and solar-photovoltaic work....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn a sport where the difference between two drivers is hundredths of a second, even tires are incredible pieces of engineering—pieces that have to be fine-tuned for each event. In a teleconference with reporters today, Pirelli’s Head of Motorsport, Paul Hembrey, discussed the challenges involved with getting tires just right for next weekend’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.This is the first F1 race in the U....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe military conspiracy-thriller Green Zone, a policy debate masquerading as an action movie, has a premise that invites scrutiny. The central idea—that warmongering civilian planners knowingly lied about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a reason to invade Iraq in 2003—is challenging enough. But the filmmakers then have their nefarious civilians engage in a cover up and, while they’re at it, willingly make moves that will directly lead to Iraq’s Sunni insurgency....

This is NASA’s LEAPTech plane, an all-electric aircraft that could help to usher in a new era of environmentally friendlier aviation. The prototype is small, with just a 31-foot wingspan. It’s also light, built out of carbon composites. A total of 18 independently operated motors keep it aloft, and NASA says the plane will be able to reach speeds similar to that of most small planes. It’ll be the Tesla of the skies....

View full post on VimeoTräullit Dekor Hexagon by FORM US WITH LOVE from Form Us With Love on Vimeo.Here’s a new idea I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of: Hexagonal tiles made from pressed wood material, used as an interior wall covering.This particular product and others like it are gaining ground fast on image-sharing sites such as Pinterest. These tiles intrigued me, so I did some poking around looking for the original source....

Brooklyn, MI – During the Automotive X Prize’s second “Shakedown” week at Michigan International Speedway (MIS), the gathered teams all seemed to be hitting the point of exhaustion at the same time. By mid-afternoon on Thursday, every eye looked like it was rubbed red, the normal garage chatter had spun down into prolonged yawns, and purposeful strides had given way to head-down shuffles. The goal may be to produce a realistic car that can perform at the equivalent of 100 mpg, but this grueling contest is as much a measure of each team’s human endurance and determination as it is of their vehicles’ mechanical abilities....

A new verdict is (likely) in on the death of the dinosaurs: it was an asteroid. But it was also volcanoes. That’s according to a study published in Science this week. There are two things at work here. There’s the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, which was considered the “smoking gun” pointing to an asteroid impact throwing dust into the air and killing off most megafauna. But an ancient volcano chain in India called the Deccan Traps corresponded to that same moment 65....

Travelling Through TimeLost executive producer Damon Lindelof once told Popular Mechanics that he has “a long and storied history in every single time-travel story that’s ever been written,” and Season Five’s two-part, two-hour premiere, called “Because You Left” and “The Lie,” draws on that knowledge. Sure enough, last season we saw Ben (the former leader of the Others) activate a wormhole and move the entire island through time and space to protect it from the nefarious Charles Widmore, who has been trying to find the island for 20 years....

Jamie Hyneman’s Essential Toolsby Jamie HynemanMYTHBUSTERS MONTH• PLUS: The Mythbusters’ Guide to Gonzo Engineering• MYTHBUSTERS: More Tests and Projects from Jamie and AdamMIG WelderMedia Platforms Design TeamIf I could have only one welder, it would be MIG. There are times when you have to use a TIG for high-performance welds and a stick welder for coarse work. But MIG is the easiest, fastest way to weld. And the most versatile—you can use it 90 percent of the time....