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Media Platforms Design TeamNuclear reactors leave little room for improvisation: Normal operations resemble choreography with each highly trained operator following precisely scripted procedures and checklists. We saw all of these come into play in Fukushima—but it wasn’t enough in the face of such a monumental disaster. The plant operators’ procedures culminated in the billion-dollar decision to use seawater for reactor cooling—an incredibly expensive choice because it meant the reactors would never operate again....

Media Platforms Design TeamAlmost all the matter in your life comes from the hearts of long-dead stars, where intense heat and pressure fused atoms to create everything from the calcium in your bones to the silicon in your computer. But hey, why take my word for it? Try it out for yourself in , the newest iteration of the addictive game 2048.Fe[26]As in 2048, an Fe[26] player slides squares around on a 4x4 map, pushing like items together....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen Ben Franklin wrote, “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,” he was speaking for most Americans of his day. Beer, and the art of brewing, was one of the first things European settlers brought to America in the 17th century. At the time people drank for a variety of reasons. Water in England was, shall we say, less than healthy to drink....

Thanksgiving brings us family, football, and food. Lots and lots of food. Once the feast is finally over, it’s tempting simply to store the leftovers, wipe down the counters, and call it good. But why not take the opportunity to give your kitchen a full refresh so it’s ready for the next meal or big event?Kitchens lean heavily on appliances, countertops, and utensils, to get the job done right. By periodically taking inventory of these items and making sure they are functioning properly, you’ll be ready to entertain at the drop of a hat....

Media Platforms Design TeamWinner: Space ShuttleOdd as it seems, the retiring shuttle is a winner because the budget allows funding to continue even if the launch schedule slips past 2011. The Space Shuttle won’t get a life extension, but nor will it be put to rest before its full mission roster is completed. Added cost: $600 million.Winner: Earth SciencesThe Orbiting Carbon Observatory sat, created to deliver precise, time-dependent global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, was destroyed in 2009 when the rocket failed during launch....

Any shmoe with a camera can take pictures. What makes a good photographer involves much more than the ability to point a lens and hit the shutter release. Oh, who am I kidding? Everyone’s a photographer these days—even dogs, apparently.Nikon recently introduced what it’s calling the world’s first canine photographer in a project called Heartography (notice my deliberately avoiding the use of the term phodographer). Media Platforms Design TeamThat’s right; dogs can now take pictures....

The lightsaber is arguably the coolest sci-fi weapon ever imagined. But actually inventing it has proven to be a lot harder. Turns out it’s incredibly difficult to harness the power of light in any way even roughly resembling the fabled laser swords. This righteous flamesaber is about as close as we can hope to get. Built by YouTuber Sufficiently Advanced, the device looks like a lightsaber, but in practice it’s more of a flamethrower, using butane as a propellant to fire out a jet of flaming methanol/acetone mix....

SpaceX is moving beyond small satellite and ISS resupply missions into a new launch arena: It’s finally been approved for military launches, a market where it will face Boeing and Lockheed head-on to launch missions of national security right into low Earth orbit. This announcement coincides with an upcoming request for proposals from the Air Force, which wants to launch the GPS III fleet up into space. That contract could net the launching company a $70 billion deal....

To hear more from the editors of Popular Mechanics, download this week’s episode of The Most Useful Podcast ever here, and be sure to subscribe and comment on iTunes!http://i.imgur.com/W6eJw2e.jpg77T.jpg><span id=The directors of scary movies employ a number of techniques to manipulate the audience’s emotions—the close-up, the wide-angle, the long take, the jump cut. Todd Strauss-Schulson, director of The Final Girls, a campy meta-style horror- comedy, out October 9, wanted to do something different....

In the 1950s, the International Screen Organization released a four part series called The Universe. The five part educational film reel series started with the wider universe, narrowed to our galaxy, then discussed our planets, our moon, and our sun, using the best information available at the time. This was back when NASA was still the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and no one had achieved an orbital vehicle, let alone an interplanetary....

Media Platforms Design TeamLike the one in your car, Johannes Roßnagel’s engine is a four-stroke. In four steps it compresses and heats, then expands and cools. And as with any other engine, this cycle is repeated over and over again—transforming the changing temperature into mechanical energy.But Roßnagel’s engine is no V-8. And it doesn’t use internal combustion. Roßnagel, an experimental physicist at the University of Mainz in Germany, has conceived of and is in the process of building the world’s tiniest engine, less than a micrometer in length....

A new non-invasive, brain-stimulating helmet could be the key to alleviating symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.The three-pronged helmet, called a STIMBand, was developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Electrodes in the helmet stimulate certain parts of the brain, lessening the severity of symptoms. Says Popular Science:It uses external electrodes to deliver a low-level current to the motor cortex of the brain, and is based on the research of Yousef Salimpour, a postdoctoral research associate at Johns Hopkins....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe 3D model of a cadaver floats like a hologram in front of neuroscientist and dentist Alexandre DaSilva. Using a video-game controller, he can slice away sections of the body, as well as turn and zoom in on it for a more detailed view of its anatomy. This tech not only could help medical students virtually dissect cadavers but also allow scientists to peer into everything from mastodons to hurricanes....

If the world ends, a lot of folks are going to get very lost. Without email or smartphones, families scattered across the country that rely on long-distance communication will be forced to find one another in real life again, in a countrywide game of postapocalyptic Marco Polo. I’ve read Stephen King’s The Stand. This is not going to be easy.Assuming all goes well, my family will be better off than most: We got drunk at my mom’s birthday dinner one year and unintentionally chose our apocalypse rendezvous location....

Media Platforms Design TeamRobots have it rough up here at 10,580 feet on the Greenland ice sheet, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The cold drains batteries. The human handlers push hard because their research season is measured in mere weeks. And for Yeti, which arrived here at Summit Station in the back of an LC-130H on July 15, life is destined to be dangerous. It’s an autonomous robot whose main job will be to roll out ahead of heavy machinery, and use ground-penetrating radar to scout for dangerous crevasses in the ice....

Media Platforms Design TeamDrones can be fun to fly, but they’re also a headache for security. Drones are flying spies, poking their nose in sensitive areas, and there are rising concerns they could be used as flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs.) Small, nimble, and fast, drones are hard to shoot down. Even then, shooting at a drone with a weapon presents a problem—missed shots can endanger the public.Enter the Blighter Anti-UAV Defense System (AUDS)....

DIY Gifts for the Family: Build Them With Care for Loved OnesMake a Magnetic Knife BlockMedia Platforms Design TeamThis is a gorgeous project for the chef on your short-list. It allows him or her to display and store high-quality knives, while simultaneously protecting those knives. Most store-bought knife blocks have magnets and exposed metal rails. Here, the magnets are placed within the wood, and the knives never touch a metal rail, which prevents unwanted nicks and dents....

LONDON— Back when Audi’s first TT concept was shown at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, times were simpler. They seem like halcyon days now, when oil would last forever, European cars weren’t even required to have exhaust catalysts and roads were for driving rather than raising government revenue. Times have changed. And Audi has tacitly acknowledged that by easing a diesel version of the TT onto auto show stages around the world, alongside the new 2009 Audi TTS super-sports TT....

Media Platforms Design TeamCadillac unveils freshened styling and upgrades in performance and technology for the 2008 STS at the New York auto show.Styling changes are mostly confined to the grille, where the insert is completely revised with shapes and textures similar to those on Escalade and the 2008 CTS. A new lower front fascia is patterned after the STS V-series models. A new design detail is the air extractor on the front fenders—another design taken from Escalade....

Media Platforms Design Team MUNICH, Germany—This might come as a surprise, but the most eagerly anticipated Porsche is not an even hotter version of the Porsche 911, but an all-new four-door sedan—the Panamera. This is the car that purports to be as practical as it is engaging to drive. So, naturally, we’re eager to climb behind the wheel. But before we do, we’re corraled into a briefing room for a Powerpoint presentation on the car’s electronic features....