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Media Platforms Design TeamDETROIT—Chrysler and its ENVI electric vehicle organization have produced new and improved electric drive packages in four different vehicles, a Chrysler, Dodge and two Jeeps. Three of them were first shown last fall, plus a new Jeep Patriot with a slightly different electric powertrain.Chrysler said it will soon select one of these electric vehicles to be produced in 2010 for consumers in North American markets, and for European markets after 2010....

Media Platforms Design Team Electric power generation may be the most complex and innovative aspect of building a hybrid for the Automotive X Prize, but a solid foundation to support all that battery weight is just as important. As Cornell’s Popular Mechanics-sponsored AXP team integrated electrical components into its Geo Metro mule, the car’s chassis has received a complete overhaul as well. “Before the conversion, the Metro’s total weight was about 1600 pounds,” says deputy leader Kolby Hoover, a master’s student in mechanical engineering....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s no secret we’re big fans of the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. Those affordable, rear-drive lovechilds from twin Japanese parentage are hugely entertaining to drive, and their tight tuning makes them a sort of gruntier, coupe-based spiritual successor to the venerable Mazda Miata.But if there’s one thing we crave from the 197 horsepower, 2-liter FA20 engine platform, it’s a tad more power. That desire has been addressed by aftermarket companies like Greddy and Crawford Performance, and U....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen unmanned aircraft can refuel one another, their time on a mission will be dramatically extended. The Air Force Research Laboratory is spending $49 million over the next four years to create a system that will allow UAVs to autonomously refuel in the air, as seen in this 2007 RQ-4 Global Hawk test.>F-16 Fighting Falcon:Media Platforms Design Team This oft-upgraded multirole warplane has proved itself in dogfights and air strikes since 1979....

Scientists have now created a program that has essentially solved the two-player limit version of Texas hold ’em poker. You can play against the program yourself online here.This doesn’t mean a machine always knows when you’re bluffing and will beat a human every time, especially since so much luck and guile is at play in poker. What it means, statistically speaking, is that there is no significant chance to see if the computer’s strategy is not the best within a human lifetime of play — 200 games per hour for 12 hours a day for 70 years....

Media Platforms Design TeamScientists cannot hope to prevent or cure neurological disease without a solid understanding of what makes healthy brains tick. But the human brain is an intricate, mysterious machine. Every second, billions of neurons flash electrochemical signals across trillions of synapses.One year ago today, President Obama announced the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, a $300 million collaborative research project with the ambitious goal of mapping every neuron in the human brain, with the long-term hope of unraveling the neurological causes of diseases like Parkinson’s to autism, which today remain hidden within the black box of the human brain....

LAS VEGAS — In a previous life, I worked on—as in repaired, overhauled and rebuilt—diesel engines. Specifically Detroit Diesels. They were built by GM and could be found in boats, bulldozers, cranes, industrial generators and, of course, trucks. Trucks of all sizes and shapes. The engines came in various sizes and configurations, but all were supercharged and two-stroke. Still, none ran on anything edible—unlike this pickup built by Orange County Rod and Customs....

Sixteen fractured gusset plates in the center span on Interstate 35W were a main cause of the deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis last August, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday. The plates, which connected steel beams in the truss bridge, were roughly half the thickness they should have been because of a design error. How that flaw made it into the bridge is unclear; according to NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker, investigators couldn’t find the original design calculations....

Right now, on the big island of Hawaii, a robot is competing in a triathlon. The long-distance mechanical warrior is called Evolta; it’s a 6.5-inch robot packing three rechargeable Panasonic AA batteries on its back. Guided by an infrared sensor that follows an LED its handlers string along in front, the three versions of Evolta—one each for swimming, riding, and running—will together try to finish a full Ironman triathlon. The carbon-fiber and titanium Evoltas have a week to complete the course, running 24 hours a day and stopping only to recharge the batteries....

Welcome to PM/AM, Popular Mechanics’ morning briefing on the top science and tech stories for today. Media Platforms Design TeamWomp, womp: This month’s supermoon may outshine the most popular meteor shower of the year. According to NASA, the brightest moon of the year is happening right around the Perseid meteor shower’s peak, which could make either for a spectacular night or a spectacular disappointment. Sky-watchers, do not despair! Here are five tips for viewing meteor showers this month:Start NowNow would be a great time to start looking for shooting stars....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor six-wheeled, 400-pound mechanical geologists, Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have really turned on the charm, working their way into the hearts of an admiring public—and, most powerfully, those of their engineers. “We just couldn’t be prouder of those little rovers,” says NASA’s deputy administrator, Lori Garver. After landing on Mars in 2004, each rover was meant to operate for 92 days and travel about three-quarters of a mile....

Media Platforms Design Team NEW YORK — It’s been a while since Scion did anything really newsworthy. Yeah, we still dig Scion, but nothing’s really gotten us giddy since the production xB. But today, Toyota’s youth-oriented brand unveiled its slick-looking Hako Coupe concept at the International Auto Show here. A sportier take on Scion’s signature “box” design, the Hako was inspired by the xB and the emergence of American vintage style among young Tokyo trendsetters....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor years, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system has been the bane of great phones, turning slick hardware creations into sluggish, freeze-prone bricks. Even if the current version is a vast improvement over its molasses-like predecessor, Windows Mobile 6.0 is still overly complicated—and way too slow. For example, you typically have to dig through the “Start” menu to find frequently used programs. And, unforgivably, closing a window often leaves your program running in the background, silently eating up system resources....

On Thursday, December 4, General Motors Chairman Richard Wagoner Jr.; Ron Gettelfinger, president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America; Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer, Alan Mulally; Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli; James Fleming, president of the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association; Keith Wandell, president of Johnson Controls Inc.; and Mark Zandi, of Moody’s Economy.com gather in Washington D.C. for a Senate Banking hearing on potential financial aid legislation for the U....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn retrospect, the Concorde was doomed from the start. Besides being fuel-hungry, the legendary supersonic jet created sonic booms that were simply too loud for comfort, which prevented the aircraft from flying lucrative overland routes, such as New York to Los Angeles, and kept it an expensive luxury.More than a decade after Concorde was retired, researchers are investigating new ways to build supersonic aircraft by going back to an old idea: the biplane....

AUSTIN, TEXAS—What can you do with an Oculus Rift, a Leap Motion controller, and a virtual ocean environment that’s filled with giant fish? Shark Punch!It’s the natural answer, and something that the team at Chaotic Moon Studios put together just in time for a media demonstration here at SXSW 2014. Chance Ivey, game designer for Shark Punch, told us that the platform—putting together a controller, an Oculus Rift and an immersive virtual experience—had actually been originally developed for educational purposes: A virtual periodic table of elements would float in front of your eyes, and you could reach out and grab some elements to put them together....

In Mad Max: Fury Road’s dystopian future, there’s a musical element to violent offensives. There’s the flame-spewing guitar, and a car dedicated to war drums. The same goes for Vikings in cartoons with beats to coordinate their rowing, or snares for marching soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Music and marching into battle just go together.That makes you file Spotify’s new system under, “Why didn’t someone already do that?” The thing is, developers have tried to build services that match music to your workout, pumping in tracks that keep you motivated....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe cold Arctic is a hot topic this summer. Last week, Russia and Norway agreed to split the resource-rich Barents Sea down the middle. Just a few weeks ago, Danish government documents leaked to the press indicated that in the next few years Denmark will make a formal claim before the UN for an area of seafloor that includes the North Pole. This comes just a few years after Russia actually planted its flag on the seafloor at the North Pole....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Taylor Hill/GC Images/Getty Images)SpaceX’s reusable rocket test didn’t manage to fly on Tuesday morning, but we still learned a few things about the company’s plans, and other parts of Elon Musk’s life, thanks to the CEO’s Monday night Reddit AMA (Ask me anything).He plans on using completely new designs for SpaceX’s potential Mars missions.Musk says SpaceX has learned a “huge amount from Falcon and Dragon,” the rocket and capsule it is now using to go to orbit....

Media Platforms Design TeamEach year, physicians implant more than 300,000 medical devices into people’s bodies around the world—pacemakers, drug pumps and brain stimulators, to name a few. Increasingly, these devices wirelessly transmit and receive data and instructions, as when doctors query the device for information or fine-tune how it functions. Because these devices weren’t made with digital attacks in mind, their transmissions aren’t encrypted. That leaves them open to a possible attack by hackers....