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Media Platforms Design TeamOn Tuesday, Nov. 1., China launched the Shenzhou-8 space capsule into the same orbital plane as its Tiangong-1 prototype space station. Over the course of several Earth orbits, the capsule performed a rendezvous maneuver and slowly caught up to the space station. Eventually, when it got close enough, Shenzhou-8 made some final burns to precisely match its velocity and location with the Tiangong-1, and the two spacecraft docked, temporarily becoming one....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen it comes to choosing venues for press launches, car and motorcycle manufacturers are in a constant race to outdo each other– from Sardinia to the Arctic Circle, no locale is too far flung for a car or bikemaker to debut their wares, if only for the “wow” factor of juxtaposing their latest, greatest hardware against a visually and viscerally stunning background.The latest hot property is the newly minted Circuit of the Americas, a 3....

DARPA’s Robotics Challenge is a collection of some of the most brilliant minds on the planet, and the brilliant and unique machines they build and command. If you haven’t already been watching, the finals kicked off on Friday. And in it, 25 teams with 25 robots compete to complete a series of seemingly simple goals:Walk to a vehicleDrive the vehicleOpen a doorFind and close a valveBust through a wallA surprise task (today it was to pull a lever)Navigate some rubbleClimb up some stairsEvery time one of these automatons performs even the simplest of these tasks—whether it’s closing a valve or opening a door, or navigating some uneven terrain—it’s a mammoth accomplishment of technology....

Think about all the products that, over the last few decades, haven’t changed at all. Many of them are in the house and, more specifically, in your bathroom. That’s for good reason: Our basic anatomy hasn’t really changed, and some of our upkeep practices, like hygiene and makeup application, aren’t begging for improvement. In the last few months, though, two designers have looked at dental hygiene with new eyes. They’re trying to rethink the toothbrush, which—despite illusion of choice offered by myriad styles and color on display at your local drug store—hasn’t changed much in decades....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe demand for well-stocked fallout shelters has receded since the end of the Cold War. Today, another nuclear risk looms—a terrorist cell detonating a single nuclear weapon in a major city—and it requires different preparedness. In 2010, the U.S. government released a 130-page publication designed to help local officials plan for the explosion of a 10-kiloton weapon. The publication instructs survivors (anyone outside the blast radius) to shelter where they are, preferably in a basement or other underground space....

Flying JennyReader: David O’NeilGreen Acres, Calif. David O’Neil rigged up this classic piece of playground equipment, which is like a see-saw and carousel in one. It spins horizontally on a wheel hub, and the see-saw part can balance anywhere to compensate for riders of varying weights. LocomotiveReader: Skip FeherRavensdale, Wash. Skip Feher didn’t skimp on any details of this miniature locomotive for little tikes. Not only is it fully ridable, it also has a digital sound system synced up to its wheel rotation, and a nontoxic smoke generator to simulate steam....

Just a few months ago, Google really started showing off its newest secret weapon: a robot brain that learns. Using machine learning algorithms that actually get smarter as they practice, Google’s been able to identify your loved ones in your photo albums, and figure out what you might want to search for based on what’s on your phone screen. And soon, it could be answering your emails too. The new feature is called “Smart Reply” and it’s for Inbox, the fancy new Gmail alternative Google announced a while back....

Iain Banks fans, we’ve got bad news for you: the Culture is probably not out there. Recently, a team of scientists used information from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to look for any energy signatures from galaxy-spanning advanced civilizations. They found nothing. Now, this doesn’t rule out the existence of complex life or intelligent life. But what it means is that the type of advanced civilizations that have conquered entire galaxies or vast regions of space – the backbone of sci-fi – aren’t there yet....

Media Platforms Design TeamRIM BlackBerry Storm /// $199 w/ two-year contract The Promise: In the two years since the iPhone was first announced, virtually every major mobile manufacturer has jumped headfirst into the touchscreen party. Not RIM. The BlackBerry manufacturer has been biding its time, and is only now releasing its first touchscreen phone: The BlackBerry Storm. For now, it’s available only on Verizon’s network. The Reality: If a researcher were to ask a random sampling of people what words come to mind when they hear the word “BlackBerry”, I’d imagine their responses would look something like this: “Keyboard,” “Simple,” “Speedy....

Waiting in line is a universally despised experience, but scientists around the world are dedicated to making it less odious. In June, Taiwanese researcher Pen-Yuan Liao published an equation that predicts when a customer will avoid a line if he feels it’s too long. Liao’s formula calculates the expected length of a line and the mean arrival rate to determine the number of customers who will retreat. His research, intended to inform stores’ staffing needs, represents only one niche in the growing field of queueing theory....

Media Platforms Design TeamCivilian aircraft designers have been trying to get back into the supersonic business ever since the 2003 forced retirement of the Concorde, but they have been hampered by the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulations that prohibit sonic booms over inhabited areas. Now, in a bid to bring Mach-busting jets to wealthy travelers, aircraft vendors including Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin are designing airplanes with features such as retractable nose spikes that may reduce these bone-rattling noises....

Suddenly, it’s 1969. Well, almost. Those of us fortunate to have been around and driving during the musclecar era of the late ’60s will remember well how fast and brutal built-up ponycars could be. Remember, gas was cheap, carburetors were the size of turkey platters—and there is still no substitute for cubic inches. Times have changed.The allure of Serious Horsepower in a relatively small car hasn’t. Our Pal Marty Schorr, former GM PR man and one of those guys whose been around this business since, well, the ‘60’s, has stirred the pot, playing a pivotal role in bringing the original Baldwin Motion Camaros back into production....

Media Platforms Design TeamWHEN ASSESSING THE State of the Union in 2003, President Bush declared it was time to take a crucial step toward protecting our environment. He announced a $1.2 billion initiative to begin developing a national hydrogen infrastructure: a coast-to-coast network of facilities that would produce and distribute the hydrogen for powering hundreds of millions of fuel cell vehicles. Backed by a national commitment, he said, “our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free....

What’s Going On Back There?I towed my boat around a lot this summer. Each time, I hooked up the trailer harness connector when I hitched up the trailer, but half the time one or more of the lights didn’t work. (Several members of the local law enforcement community were kind enough to point this out to me.) So now, I’m very careful about checking to see that the brake, turn signal and running lights on the trailer are working....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe pins on a noid light (used for testing fuel injectors) match up with the pins on your fuel injectors. (Photograph by Dennis Kleiman)Lights OnQ:My car has become very unreliable. It often won’t start. Yet by the time I get it towed to the shop, it’s fine. I can’t tell if the problem is the ignition or the fuel injection. Is there some easy way to tell if the injection is working?...

Media Platforms Design Team Browse expert reviews and compare info on the M3 at the Media Platforms Design Team The serpentine roads that meander through the picturesque mountains above Marbella in South of Spain proved to be the perfect proving grounds for the new BMW M3. The mostly two-lane system of roads snakes through the region like one long and continuously flowing S-Curve, and the M3 ate up every inch of it with aplomb....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team Browse expert reviews and compare info on Accord at our Media Platforms Design Team Honda’s relentless evolution of the Accord continues with the introduction of the new eighth generation for the 2008 model year. No surprise here: Just as Honda has done with each previous generation, it’s made the new Accord bigger, better and more powerful than the one preceding it. And as Accord buyers have long expected and demanded, it once again delivers a sweet-natured drive in a package built like a solid granite mountain range....

Media Platforms Design TeamLOS ANGELES — Chevrolet’s all-new 2008 Malibu Hybrid, here at the L.A. Auto Show, joins the Jay Leno-owned, E85-powered Corvette we saw last month-plus a host of other eco-conscious GM vehicles from the past year-to prove that the General is going green.Starting at $22,790, the Malibu Hybrid employs a 2.4-liter Ecotec VVT four-cylinder engine in concert with nickel metal hydride batteries and a 36-volt motor/generator unit to produce a total of 164 hp and 159 lb-ft....

Media Platforms Design Team DETROIT — Dodge wants to take a bigger bite out of the full-size pickup pie. And with the all-new Ram, the company just might succeed. The ‘09 Ram is more aerodynamic, yet still rugged. To our eye, it looks great. Under the hood is a choice between a 3.7-liter V6 and two V8s—a 310-hp 4.7-liter V8 or the venerable 5.7-liter Hemi, now with 380 hp. A small Cummins diesel will join the lineup within two years....

Media Platforms Design Team DETROIT— Lexus has a full lineup of hybrids—four at last count—including the RX450h we recently test drove. Yet none thus far has been built from the beginning, solely as a hybrid. Well, this summer, that will change. The Lexus HS250h rides on a front-drive platform not shared with any other Lexus or Toyota in the U.S. However, Lexus insiders say that it does share many components with the European Toyota Avensis sedan....