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Forensic science is a more tedious and low-tech affair than CSI and 24 would have us believe. Infrared and ultraviolet photography, for example, can reveal residual ink on charred documents, or present juries with a clear image of blood on dark clothing. But shooting in IR and UV is a trial-and-error process, in which technicians take days or weeks to cycle through lens filters and to develop film. By removing a sensor filter that maintains color accuracy in its existing FinePix S3 Pro camera, Fujifilm has created a variant that takes IR and UV photos....

Media Platforms Design TeamHere at Popular Mechanics, the only thing we love more than making a huge mess is making a huge competition out of making a huge mess – a good, old fashioned, place-your-bets, manly men competition, where only the strong survive. And Halloween provided the perfect stage for our kind of competition – and our kind of huge mess, too: The first annual Popular Mechanics Pumpkin Carve-Off. But it’s not just any carve-off, it’s the most extreme carve-off EVER (fact-check THAT!...

At last, a computer mouse fit for the KGB.Last week the site EnglishRussia dug up this treasure from the late 80s—a mouse glistening in Soviet red that marked the high point of UI in the USSR. The site translates some of the Russian on the box as: “It is the most comfortable graphic input device. You can move a cursor or piece of graphics across the screen, paint, or use in business....

Wii Fit Ski JumpPlatform: WiiDeveloper: NintendoPublisher: NintendoRelease: First Half of 2008OK, this isn’t a full-on sports experience so much as a mini-game, but it showcases the capabilities of the surprisingly non-gimmicky new “Balance Board” from Nintendo. Whereas the more health-focused mini-games on Wii Fit such as the yoga and body mass index features more directly absorb the physics of the scale-like board (click here for “feet-on” video), this fun, Olympics-style activity finally puts the feet in the center of gaming action....

Media Platforms Design TeamMost gadgeteers gloss over Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approvals and wireless spectrum news. It’s dry stuff. But there was a big development this week, as the FCC announced that it will block the rise of LightSquared’s new 4G network, a decision that may impact data users (along with our wireless bills) for years to come.Who Is LightSquared, and What Happened?LightSquared had a plan. The firm, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone, was to license a piece of the wireless spectrum and use satellites and land antennas to build a 4G network of its very own....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere are certain sounds that I feel in my bone marrow: the scraping of metal on metal, the death grind of misaligned gears, the low clanking of an engine on the verge of failure. These are the noises that have defined my life.I’m a tinkerer by inclination and a fixer by profession. Ten years ago my college roommate and I founded iFixit, a free online repair manual. We teach people how to repair the stuff they own, in part because most of them have lost both the skill and the inclination to repair....

Media Platforms Design TeamWe are nearing peak climatological tornado season, though to some it might feel like it’s been going on forever. Tornadoes have battered the United States this spring, causing major property damage, injuries and loss of life. Disaster experts estimate that the barrage of twisters that hit the South in late April caused as much as $5.5 billion in damages, and it is not over yet. All these storms raise the question: What is going on this year?...

Media Platforms Design Team(Scroll down for more exclusive photos and Jim Dunne’s Spy Report updates, full of supercharged details and Detroit insider info!)DETROIT — Here’s the latest on the new super Corvette, the SS: Formerly know in various circles as Blue Devil, Sting Ray and Z07, the hottest ‘Vette ever (and probably the first Chevy ever over $100,000) will carry 650 supercharged horsepower under that modified hood. But horsepower is not everything for the ultimate in performance....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: NowBase Price: $33,210 to $36,660 Competitors: Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Nissan Titan, Toyota TundraPowertrains: 4.3-liter V-6, 285 hp, 305 lb-ft; 5.3-liter V-8, 355 hp, 383 lb-ft; 6.2-liter V-8, 420 hp, 450 lb-ft; six-speed automatic; RWD or RWD/AWD EPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 17–18/22-24 (4.3-liter); 16/23–24 (5.3-liter)What’s New: Compared to the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, not very much. The two trucks share the same underpinnings for most of the body panels and the same basic interior design....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamAfter a 352-million-mile journey, NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down on the early morning of Aug. 6, 2012. The fated “Seven Minutes of Terror” had passed, and JPL headquarters received word that Curiosity survived the brutal decent. The rover beamed back images of its shadow on the Martian surface.In the month that followed, the team performed systems checks to make everything was in working order for the rover’s two-year-long mission ahead....

Engineered Wood PlanksWhen you want the natural beauty and warmth of real wood flooring, but not the hassles of sanding and finishing, it’s hard to beat engineered wood. This prefinished product comes in wide, long planks that snap together with precisely milled tongue-and-groove joints. There’s no gluing or nailing. The 5/8-inch-thick planks simply float over a thin foam-rubber underlayment. Engineered planks are composed of all wood, but they’re not solid wood....

There are two ways to launch a social networking site. The first way: Build one from scratch, and spend years and millions of dollars going up against established giants. The second: Add a couple of key features that turn an already ubiquitous service into a social networking site. With Tuesday’s launch of Google Buzz, the search giant has picked the latter path. Media Platforms Design TeamGoogle Buzz, which serves as a sort of watered down version of the cool-but-pretty-useless Google Wave service, fills Gmail with social networking features such as friends lists and status updates....

Media Platforms Design TeamFrom being raised in a NASA home with his father, Owen, to creating the ahead-of-its-time Ultima gaming franchise, Richard Garriott has led a positively enterprising life. Now he’s taking it to the limit by hitching a $30-million ride aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, making him the sixth private citizen to reach suborbital space. He sat down with PM this week to talk about next fall’s mission and his prospects for the private space race....

You probably feel naked without your phone. It makes sense! Why wouldn’t you feel a little off-kilter when the pocket supercomputer that serves as your portal to virtually all human knowledge is missing? But excessive fear of being phoneless—nomophobia—could be a new and serious issue for our new digital age, and researchers are slowly but surely figuring out how to study it. Researchers at Iowa State University recently published a paper—and a questionnaire—that can aid in the continuing study of nomophobia by helping to measure it....

Media Platforms Design TeamM24In 1988 the Army adopted this bolt-action rifle, shown here without modifications, for use by its snipers.1. Signature Suppressor The military will, for the first time, fit the M24 with a suppressor, which reduces the rifle’s noise and distorts the telltale sound (called the signature) that enemies use to identify a shooter. The mod will allow snipers to stay in their hiding positions longer after they fire. 2....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Project: Meteorite HuntingLed by chief investigator Ralph Harvey, of Case Western Reserve University, the Antarctic Search For Meteorites program (ANSMET) spends every austral summer collecting space rocks along the Transantarctic Mountains, which trace a line across the middle of Antarctica, separating the east and west Antarctic ice sheets.The Tech:Meteorites don’t fall more heavily in Antarctica than elsewhere, but they do tend to be found in large numbers where the ice has been slowed by the mountainous geography....

Close calls in orbit happen all the time–scientists estimate that launch vehicles and other objects come within striking distance of one other over 1000 times a day. So when tracking reports on Feb. 10, 2009, predicted that Iridium 33, a 12-foot-long, 1200-pound communications satellite, and a 1-ton Russian military sat, Kosmos 2251, would pass within less than half a mile of each other, no one was alarmed. It wasn’t the closest call predicted for that day, or even the closest pass for any of the 66 Iridium satellites that coming week....

• How fast do you wanna go? How much do you wanna spend? We were eager to see what kind of performance is available from a single V8 sterndrive pushing the smallest hull capable of running offshore. There are no ill-handling bass boats here.We ended up testing four representative 5-passenger runabouts, all between 20 and 25 ft. long, all weighing between 3000 and 3500 pounds, all powered by a production Mercruiser V8 and Bravo 1 sterndrive....

The dense web of oil platforms, pipelines and refineries along the Gulf Coast may have survived Hurricane Gustav without serious damage, a prospect that bodes well for American drivers.On Tuesday, oil companies began calling back evacuated workers, flying aircraft over offshore platforms and sending inspection teams through refineries shuttered by the storm. They didn’t find the kind of widespread destruction they feared.“So far, so good,” said Frank Glaviano, vice president of American production for Shell Oil Co....

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Relentless showers soaking Texas began finally clearing Sunday as dangerous flood warnings expired and the remnants of Hurricane Patricia continued dissolving into a steady but manageable drizzle.More than a foot of rain has drenched parts of Texas since Friday, shutting down busy highways and derailing atrain. Authorities said one man is missing after being swept away by floodwaters near San Antonio, but that no deaths or major destruction have been confirmed in the biggest deluge in Texas since torrential spring rains washed away homes and killed dozens....