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Even if you never get an Apple Watch (and let’s face it you probably won’t for a while), it’s still a super important gadget. Not because it’s a smartwatch or anything, but because it has Apple’s first pressure-sensitive screen—aka Force Touch—and that technology will make it to a gadget you do want, and very soon. Bryan Jones decided to take an Apple Watch and investigate it under a microscope (specifically a Olympus stereomicroscope and an Canon 1D Mk III) and what he found—in addition to the pleasant pattern of a close-up AMOLED screen—was a series of tiny, tiny orange dots that doubtlessly give the Apple Watch’s screen the ability to understand not just whether or not it’s being touched, but how hard it is being pressed....

Media Platforms Design TeamFrom its orbit around the sun 40 million miles from Earth, the Kepler space telescope stares toward the Cygnus constellation, watching for planets that might reveal themselves by passing in front of any of 100,000 or so stars. The telescope has already revolutionized how astronomers view the universe, discovered more than 2700 exoplanet candidates, and increased the odds that we might someday find life beyond Earth. But a malfunction might doom the instrument and turn it into space junk....

Media Platforms Design TeamWe’ve always been fond of Garmin GPS units, so we were happy to see a few cool new products at the company’s booth. First up is the Nüvi ($899), a direct challenge to Sony’s new nav system, and a far better product. The Nüvi launched in Europe a short while ago, and it’s good to see that it finally reached the States. This is a thin machine that is bigger than a deck of cards, but smaller than a paperback book....

According to an NBC News report based on “a senior U.S. intelligence official and a top secret document,” the Chinese have been able to read personal emails of a number of Obama administration officials since at least 2010.The NSA document that NBC acquired allegedly dates back to 2014 and indicates personal emails from a number of providers, including Gmail, were affected and were still being accessed at the time the document came out....

View full post on TwitterA 223-foot long glass walkway that winds around part of Yuntai Mountain in China’s Jiaozuo City cracked this past Monday underneath tourists as they made their way across. The path sits about 3,500 feet above sea level. Surely there’s some ground somewhere in between, but there’s still quite the long way down. According to the People’s Daily Online, a visitor dropped a thermos while traversing the path....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe work I’ve done on spacecraft got me hooked on 3D printing. When I was an electrical engineer for RCA Astro (now part of Lockheed Martin), I helped design, build, and launch the Mars Observer and other interplanetary probes. Back then I had dreams of building my own spacecraft and rocket engines but was discouraged by how expensive and time-consuming it was to fabricate even the simplest space-grade hardware....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs tornado season continues and hurricane seasons ramps up, window manufacturers nationwide are working hard to publicize their impact-resistant lines of windows and doors. Just in the past few weeks, national manufacturers such as Pella and regional window makers such as Florida-based PGT have issued press releases to boost what they hope to be a coming boom for these stronger—but far more costly—product lines.Impact glass is engineered to protect you from flying debris thrown by excessive storm force winds....

There’s no telling who will buy a car, which is why carmakers value getting as many tests in as possible before bringing a product to market. People used to be required for this testing process, but new robots can speed up the process exponentially. All they need is their mechanical butts.View full post on YoutubeTesting cars with human equivalents has gone on since the 1930s, when human cadavers were used. By the late 1940s scientists were beginning to make “Sierra Sam” and crash dummies meant to simulate the entire body....

Media Platforms Design TeamReferences to Friday as an unlucky day first appeared in Western literature in the 17th Century—any business conducted or jobs, journeys and harvests begun were ill-fated. And it is believed that the number came to represent bad luck because that’s how many people sat at the table of the Last Supper—and the first to leave died soon afterward. Combine the two, say the superstitious, and something very bad is bound to happen....

Media Platforms Design TeamA white, FedEx delivery truck parks in front of a house, carrying the holiday present the homeowner has been waiting for: a giant, flat-screen Samsung computer monitor. Watching through his open front door, the recipient grins at the sight of the deliveryman. The package handler struggles to pull the glossy box out of the van, and then staggers up to the property’s 6-foot-tall iron fence. But instead of reaching for the bell to alert anyone that he’s there, he casually lifts the fragile computer monitor above his head and chucks it over the fence....

Media Platforms Design TeamEvery kid needs a hero. Mine was my big brother, Paul, who has always been a whiz with mechanical stuff. He’s a remodeling contractor now, and I still admire him – these days, for the way he can deftly pop painted trim off a wall without damaging either surface. Here’s the Paul method. First, he slices through the paint that bonds the trim to the wall. Next, he taps a stiff putty knife behind the trim....

This morning, Iomega, the hard drive manufacturer, introduced one of the cleverest products we’re likely to see at CES, and it’s not really even a product in the traditional sense of the term. The company’s new v.Clone software is a free, downloadable program that works on any of the company’s drives, even ones that have already been purchased. It uses a fascinating twist on the concept of virtualization–where a computer can run a virtualized operating system on a computer running another OS (the tactic is often used to run Windows within a Macintosh OS)....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor the last three decades, we’ve primarily interacted with our computers using two devices: the keyboard and mouse. Leap Motion intends to change that. Today the company begins shipping its eponymous 3D gesture control sensor, a black-and-aluminum rectangle the size of a pack of gum that lets you control your computer by waving your hands. The $80 device, winner of a 2012 Breakthrough Product Award, opens up the possibility for completely keyboard- and mouse-free computing....

The next Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is coming soon. But this isn’t that car. Nope. This is the front-drive next generation Lancer. The current Lancer never quite set the compact sedan world on fire—even with the halo effect of the Evo. That may change with this car. Even behind the black masking you can tell it has retained the chiseled good looks of Mitsu’s recent concept cars. Underneath the skin it’s a whole new platform shared with the next Evo and the Outlander SUV....

Media Platforms Design TeamAdam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have set off dozens, if not hundreds, of controlled explosions and fired myriad ballistics at a bomb disposal range in Dublin, Calif., while shooting episodes of MythBusters. But yesterday, one went dangerously awry.The MythBusters fired what the San Francisco Chronicle is calling a “cantelope-sized cannonball” from a homemade cannon, attempting to hit large water containers. The cannonball missed the target and bounded completely out of the test range into a residential neighborhood....

NASA will work with the International Potato Center (which is, yes, a real thing) to make The Martian come partially true. A planned collaboration will try to grow potatoes under Mars like conditions. The plan involves using soil as identical as possible to that on Mars (via Peru’s Pampas de La Joya Desert) and simulate a Mars-like atmosphere and climate condition. The researchers believe elevated levels of carbon-dioxide might spur the plant on to more robust growth....

Media Platforms Design TeamBAGHDAD, July 5 — A lot of the line troops in Iraq have taken multiple casualties, and it’s wearing them down, getting them frustrated. Furthermore, given the negative things I’ve heard the past few weeks about the Iraqi police and the pervasive suspicions that a lot of people harbor about working with Iraqis in general, I’m almost afraid to ask how the Iraqi Army is doing—let alone our own....

I’m just getting into computer games and I was looking to purchase a graphics card. I’ve noticed that there are now “physics cards” that are supposed to boost the gaming experience. Is this redundant with the functionality of a graphics card?Since I’m a computer and gaming enthusiast, you may expect me to hedge my answer and say something like, “For most people, physics add-in cards are superfluous, but for the ultimate gaming experience, you should go ahead and throw one in....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf a car has Final Edition in its name, it seems safe to assume the vehicle is the end of the line. Not so with Mercedes-Benz. Despite its moniker, the 583-hp Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT Final Edition unveiled at the 2013 L.A. Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show last week might not be the last SLS, according to a source from the German carmaker. Apparently there is supposed to be one more version of the car, but that’s all we were told....

A helicopter accidentally fired at civilians during Russia’s Zapad 2017 wargames, an event which was captured on video by bystanders. At least two people are seriously injured according to the Russian outlet 66.ru. The incident took place on Tuesday when, according to an unnamed source, a technical glitch caused one Ka-52 helicopter to fire air-to-surface missiles in the direction of bystanders, likely journalists. The videos of the incident don’t show much in the way of aftermath, but reports suggest two cars caught on fire as a result of the blast....