An IBM-led team says today that it has created a breakthrough super-dense computer chip with a capacity four times that of the best chips we have today.The 7-nanometer (nm) chip was produced at the IBM/SUNY (State University of New York) research area in upstate New York. It’s the first 7-nm chip with working transistors, and while it’s just in the testing phase, the chip could help keep Moore’s Law on track, The New York Times says....
Media Platforms Design TeamYeah, yeah. This is Popular Mechanics, not Popular Fashion. I hear ya. But hey, this is pretty important news here. We’ve always liked ICON 4x4 for the company’s modern take on tough classic vehicles. But as fantastic as these creations are, most of us would need to hit the lotto to actually own one. Well, now you can at least wear one. Baby steps, people. For a limited-time campaign, ICON’s owner and founder Jonathan Ward has teamed up with clothing company Art of Craft to make a series of T-shirts inspired by Ward and his work....
Building a paper bridge capable of supporting an entire SUV is no easy task, but bridge designer Steve Messam is up to the challenge. For the construction, Messam and his team traveled the Jiangsu province of China, a region with numerous beautiful bridges. And of course, China is famous for making things out of paper that you wouldn’t think could be made of paper.The bridge is a self-supporting arch and was constructed in exactly the same way that a stone bridge is built....
Media Platforms Design Team"We’ve been there" is a common reaction these days to the idea of returning to the moon. Even moonwalkers like Buzz Aldrin say returning is not as important as blazing tracks into deeper parts of space, like Mars or an asteroid. President Barack Obama, while arguing to scuttle the proposed NASA moonshot, takes a similar approach: “I just have to say pretty bluntly here, we’ve been there before....
Media Platforms Design Team(Photo by Ian Allen)“I want to win. Beat anything Mustang comes up with, at all costs.” That was the goal that General Motors’ product chief Mark Reuss set in 2011 for Vehicle Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser and the Camaro development team. And so Chevrolet made the Camaro Z/28. That’s a simplification, of course. At $75,000, this edition of the Z/28 is the most expensive Camaro ever, and it shows what happens when people who love cars build one with a single purpose—in this case, to create the world’s best factory track car (and, yes, to trump Ford along the way)....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe wreck of the Costa Concordia still lists in the waters off Giglio, more than a year after the crash. Commercial pilots flying overhead are known to point it out to passengers. It’s been photographed from space. Recently the doomed vessel demanded a second rescue after a group of thrill-seeking tourists got too close to the wreck and their dinghy nearly overturned in the frigid waters.It was an unfortunate reminder of how little of substance has been accomplished since the tragedy last January, which killed 32 of the 4200 people aboard and ranks among the worst cruise ship disasters in memory....
Media Platforms Design TeamToday is the worst day for your Check Engine light to come on. And this time it’s not just because a careless gas station attendant failed to tighten the gas cap. (Yes, gentle reader, a loose gas cap can make your engine think there’s a leak in the evaporative emissions system.) This time it’s Something Serious because not only is the indicator light glowing brightly, there’s a definite miss in the engine....
View full post on YoutubeVideo contains NSFW language.Video games have always allowed us to digitally realize our dreams of becoming superheroes, football stars, or assassins. But what about a sim for the less ambitious of us, who’d just like to enjoy lazing in a field on a summer’s day?Friends, you are in luck. Strange Panther Games has launched a crowdfunding campaign for its new title, Rock Simulator 2014. Indiegogo users have already donated more than $700, surpassing the original goal of $500 with 27 days remaining....
Media Platforms Design TeamHumans will go back to the moon after all, it seems. All it took was a few ex-NASA bigwigs with a dream in their eyes, the backing of a few key space industry players, a properly astronomical price tag, and, somehow, Newt Gingrich.Officially announced today, the project is called Golden Spike, named for the spike that joined the two halves of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. For a total fee of about $1....
Media Platforms Design TeamPortland Mayor Sam Adams (L), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (R) (Photograph by bs_10 via Flickr/Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Yesterday, Gas 2.0 hosted commentary from two U.S. mayors, each of whom is competing to make his city the most electric-vehicle-friendly in the nation. In one corner, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom asserts that through government-funded infrastructure, incentives and advocacy, his city will lead the country into an EV-filled future....
Here’s a great marketing strategy for a running shoe company: Announce that your shoes are banned in the Boston Marathon – then offer $1 million to anyone who can win the race in them. Spira footwear has done just that. Slyly touting the effectiveness of their Wavespring technology, Spira points to the “antiquated” rule that no spring or device giving the runner additional assistance may be worn in the Boston Marathon....
Most old-car events are all show and no go, as one would expect. But the great thing about the Monterey Historic Automobile Races is that for 27 years they have provided the go for the collecter-car enthusiast. Held each August at Laguna Seca raceway in Monterey, Calif., the weekend-long event offers participants and spectators a chance to see vintage race cars of all eras take to the track again.The Historics include classes for all types of race cars–from prewar Bugattis and Bentleys up to mid-’80s Ferrari and Lotus F-1 cars....
Update: On July 14, 2011, American Electric Power announced it would table plans to build a carbon capture and sequestration project at its Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia, which is mentioned in this article. Coal is pretty amazing stuff. A single fist-size lump of bituminous coal contains about 12,000 Btu–enough energy to power a 75-watt bulb for two days. It’s relatively easy to dig out of the ground and dirt-cheap: about one-sixth the cost of oil or natural gas per Btu....
Sure, we love power tools at Popular Mechanics. But there’s something about a beautifully made hand tool that just grabs our attention. That’s the case with SK’s new X-frame ratcheting combination wrench, a tool demo at SEMA in 2014 that’s just moving now into full production.The tool has an unbelievably tiny 1.7 degree arc swing, allowing you to loosen and tighten fasteners in tricky or cramped places. But tiny arc swing doesn’t translate into a delicate pawl mechanism....
It just wouldn’t be a European war without the bang-whistle-bang of artillery shells flying back and forth. Maybe it’s something about nations warring with their neighbors, but European militaries have taken to bombarding each other with alarming frequency ever since the cannon was invented. That goes for the current battle in Ukraine, too. And these days, truck-mounted rocket artillery has joined the fight.Tactically speaking, there are wise and unwise ways of using artillery....
Media Platforms Design TeamLet’s put this in the “please don’t be vaporware” department: a company called Windspeed Tech is taking orders for a product named SkyDeck that, essentially, is a giant bubble at the top of an aircraft to serve as an observation deck of the skies. Ranging in price from $8 to 25 million, it’s unlikely to be installed on a commercial jet anytime soon.Windspeed is hoping to use the initial orders to fund the product to completion, including FAA approvals, because installing a sunroof in an airplane isn’t always the easiest sell....
Alfa Romeo MiTo GTAMedia Platforms Design Team// What is it: The Alfa MiTo is basically an exotic Mini Cooper. The “GTA” stands for “Gran Turismo Alleggerito,” but all you need to know is that the mission statement was to optimize the power-to-weight ratio. And unlike most modern cars, that didn’t just mean additional power. Extensive use of exotic materials such as carbon-fiber bodywork and aluminum brakes and suspension components show us just how determined the company was to shed those pounds....
A skiing airbag could prevent deadly injuries on the slopes, but it may be a while before professional skiers warm to them, the Federation International de Ski says. The FIS has approved a design from Dainese, which has been working on a design since 2011. But the federation is hesitant to require them at this point, with only one design on the market. And as The New York Times reports, professional skiers are frosty to the idea, complaining that the safety device adds weight....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe video showing a U.S. civilian cargo jet slamming into the ground in Afghanistan and exploding into a fireball is chilling and perhaps telling, but it’s only one piece of evidence the Afghan government will use to investigate what caused National Airlines NCR 102 to crash and kill all seven crew members this week.The Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation will lead the investigation as part of the U....
Media Platforms Design TeamYour lab built something like this a few years ago, right?It was a rock-paper-scissors robot, but the perception component of it wasn’t nearly as fast. So we couldn’t basically do what they’re doing now, which is to change the robots hand position before the person could possibly even notice and react. We were looking at a robot that was actually being tele-operated, so a person in another room was controlling the robot....
