Energy issues have been front and center over the past few days, what with the escalating tensions with Iran, the run-up in crude prices, and the release of a GAO (Government Accountability Office) report on the threat posed by peak oil. The latter is amazing, in a way: The report itself is nothing earth shattering (it says oil production is likely to peak between now and 2040… gee, thanks a million), and that we’re utterly unprepared for it (really, now?...
Media Platforms Design TeamOn the second day of Nobel Prize week, the award in physics went to American David J. Wineland and Frenchman Serge Haroche for quantum measurement techniques.Down at the tiny level of subatomic particles, the laws of quantum mechanics, rather than classical physics, run the show. Classical physics can explain a beam of light or a current of electricity, but not the smaller pieces, called quantum particles, that make up the current or the beam....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe days of cold-calling people seems like a thing of the past to most—just Google them, right? But then again, most people aren’t trying to track down con men who are responsible for their parents’ deaths. In last night’s episode of Lost, we were introduced to Sideways Sawyer (aka James Ford), who—almost more shockingly than John Locke’s being on good terms with his dad, or Jack being a dad himself—is a cop on the hunt to avenge his parents....
Media Platforms Design TeamA new class of patrol boats from Singapore are about as stealthy as surface vessel can get. The stealthy, knife-like Specialized Marine Craft sits just seven feet above the waterline, uses water jets for propulsion, and mounts a heavy machine gun. The Specialized Marine Craft (SMC) is designed and built locally by Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd. The SMC is designed for naval base defense and force protection. Designed with stealth in mind, faceted surfaces cover the entire craft—even the bow-mounted machine gun....
Media Platforms Design TeamFRANKFURT — Tiny Japanese motorcycle and car manufacturer Suzuki shocked the car world today with the introduction of Kizashi, a midsize sedan concept—and probably the most radical concept Suzuki has ever shown, period.Since Suzuki will be going it solo without former partner General Motors, the company is apparently gunning for larger and larger vehicles, and the Kizashi (Japanese for “prelude”) is the forerunner for its D-segment sedan of the future as the largest car Suzuki will have ever produced....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) is the Army’s workhorse truck, used in a wide variety of configurations to transport materials and equipment. But with an average fuel economy of three to four miles per diesel gallon, these behemoths are thirsty. Oshkosh, a leader in next-generation hybrid propulsion systems, is hoping to change that.The company is testing a fuel-efficient and environmentally-more-friendly diesel-hybrid, the HEMTT A3, which promises to cut fuel consumption by up to 20 percent—for an average of four to five miles per gallon—enough to save the Army a small fortune in fuel costs....
Media Platforms Design TeamNineteen U.S. Navy ships have sunk since 1945, and 15 of them fell prey to sea mines. To put a stop to it, the U.S. Navy wants someone to build its first unmanned minesweeping system, the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS). Its mission: to find marine mines and detonate them safely—with humans kept out of harm’s way. The Navy hopes to have this technology at sea within five years....
The Metropolitan Transit Authority runs public transit for New York City, by all accounts a pretty big city. You might think that means the gear that controls the subway, for instance, is high tech and state of the art. You would be very wrong. A video recently released by the MTA goes into great detail about the technology that’s present in the trains, on the tracks, and in the command centers for the New York City subway system....
Media Platforms Design TeamOf the 111 Teams that competed for the $10 million purse in last year’s Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, only one was from a high school—West Philadelphia, where85 percent of students are economically disadvantaged. West Philly entered two vehicles—a Factory Five GTM biodiesel hybrid kit car and a converted Ford Focus gasoline plug-in hybrid—and made it to the semifinals with both. “We were going up against teams that had dozens of engineers, and we had 15 students, a couple of teachers and a dream,” says adviser Simon Hauger, a teacher in the school’s Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering....
Not everyone is cut out to climb Mt. Everest. There’s a huge number of failed expeditions lined up to tell you that. But you don’t have to even buy the plane ticket now, thanks to this crisp view of the Himalayas, courtesy of some fancy, ultra high-def camera work.The crew behind this video, Teton Gravity Research, eschewed the easier drone fare for some in-person helicopter photography, courtesy of a GSS C520 camera mounted to the chopper....
Making Software Free /// Google AppsMedia Platforms Design TeamWe used to pay for software. Of course, that was back when word processors were shipped on CDs and floppies. Today, robust Web-based programs gradually are setting software free, moving applications from permanent park on your hard drive to constant flux in the “cloud.” And Google, more than any other company, is in the forefront of this trend. Microsoft may charge $100 or more for Office, but Google offers a compatible suite for free....
SALT LAKE CITY – The guys who keep you equipped for your adventures–stronger jackets for the hike, smarter knives for the hunt, better kicks for the trail run–seem to have an eternal mission: shaving ounces off your gear while incorporating as much technology as its takes to fight moisture and insulate a man on a mission. The 2008 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show here this week revealed some twists on the theme....
Media Platforms Design TeamWASHINGTON — The pool of engineering geeks here at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) is about as deep as you’re likely to find anywhere on the planet. These are the people who design the microprocessors, displays and memory that run our computers, phones and digital televisions. And the IEDM, an annual conference thrown by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is where they flock from the worlds of academia and industrial labs to present papers on new research....
Media Platforms Design TeamIN THE LIVING ROOMIN THE KITCHENIN THE BACKYARDIN THE GARAGEIN THE SHOPTrimming and Marking /// Woodworkers use razors to trim veneer and plywood edging. Used with a straightedge as a guide, razors can work like a marking gauge to plan cuts.+ PROJECT: 4 Better Ways to Measure in the ShopSmoothing Laminate /// Trim routers can leave burrs and curls on freshly cut laminate edges, which interfere with adhesion....
Media Platforms Design TeamFRANKFURT — Is your 552-hp Continental GT just not feeling fast enough anymore? Bentley has, in typical Volkswagen tradition, answered the question that may never have even been asked, with its new “GT Speed” edition of the Continental. The coupe gets a 48-hp bump and will crack off a 4.3-second 0-60 run on its way to a top speed of 200 mph—the first production Bentley to pull this off....
Media Platforms Design TeamFRANKFURT — One of the more controversial production cars unveiled here today is the Jaguar XF, a completely new sedan that’s set to replace the aging, unsuccessful S-Type sedan.The new XF isn’t shaped like a Jaguar—slick as the design may be, it has no recognizable Jag grille from past models, and the rear end certainly doesn’t look familiar. This looks to be Jaguar chief designer Ian Callum’s clean break from the past, a nod to the four-door-coupe phenomenon that’s pervading high-end cars....
Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $80Even if you don’t do much auto repair, a scan tool is a great gadget. On any car made after 1996, the tool will tell you what error code caused the Check Engine light to illuminate. That lets you know if the problem is something you can deal with in a few days, or if it’s serious enough to take your car to a shop immediately or park it until you can do the repairs yourself....
Victory has been a long time coming for John Harrison. Nearly 250 years after he invented the pendulum clock, the recordkeepers from the Guinness World Records have finally certified it as the world’s most accurate way to keep time (in its class).Even though he’s long gone, this award is a vindication of sorts for Harrison. When he invented the clock in 1775, he claimed in a book that his invention could keep time to within a second over the span of 100 days....
Media Platforms Design TeamWhen I arrive, Jonathan Tippett has just finished his lunch and is fighting his way through a badly translated user’s guide to a batch of lithium iron phosphate batteries. The sun has come out after a long, drizzly late-spring morning, and he’s seated at a small red folding table in the parking lot outside the eatART laboratory, in an industrial complex of warehouses and shipping containers. In the distance the North Shore Mountains still have their snowcaps....
On this overcast morning, I’m in a blue Pontiac GTO parked by the runway at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif. Major Tony, a U-2 pilot (last name withheld for operational security), is at the wheel, telling tales of botched landings.There’s no shortage of material: Setting down a U-2 requires a deft touch. The plane’s tricky landing dynamics are a fundamental byproduct of its design. Long, thin wings and a short, needle-like body provide the high lift and low drag necessary for what pilots casually call high flight—U-2s commonly cruise above 70,000 feet, twice as high as a commercial airliner—but they cripple low-speed handling....
