Posts

Nearly 16 months since US Airways announced it was merging with American Airlines, the combined airline is now operating under a single operating certificate. Flyers won’t notice a change, but it’s a big deal internally because it means the merger will fully come together.“You have to create mirror images of the companies in terms of operating policies and producers long before you can bring people together,” AA’s Chief Operating Officer Robert Ison told Bloomberg....

Ben GoldsteinPrice: $359 for saw only; $647 for saw, charger, and two batteries.Gas-powered chain saws are the right tool for big jobs such as felling trees or carving up logs larger than 6 or 8 inches in diameter. But a cordless electric model is the way to go for brushing and slashing—cutting up trees and branches under 6 inches in diameter. Recently I found myself facing four piles of debris fitting this description in my yard, and I got down to business with the Makita X2 LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Chainsaw....

Media Platforms Design TeamElon Musk has declared war on the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Today at a press conference in Washington D.C., the entrepreneur declared that his company SpaceX is filing suit in the Court of Federal Claims to protest the monopoly that currently conducts Air Force and spy agency satellite launches. SpaceX wants to start competing with the ULA for launch contracts as soon as this year (though there are only 14 opportunities for that open competition)....

When soldiers, special operations operators, or police know they’re running into a place filled with tear gas or other noxious fumes, they don their traditional full general protective mask made of hard, non-flexible material. It keeps them breathing and safe, but it’s not exactly the easiest thing to put on. Besides: What if you’re taken by surprise?The Army wanted a lightweight mask that its people could carry with them, and which they could get on in moments....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis is the thirteenth September since 9/11. Earlier this year, deep beneath the ground where the World Trade Center towers once stood, a museum chronicling the events of that day opened to great fanfare, mixed reviews, and long lines. It cost more than $700 million to build. Admission for one is $24. There’s a gift shop.Media Platforms Design Team(Illustration by Brown Bird Design)Out in western Pennsylvania, in a field 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, another memorial is under construction, just as important and on its way to being astonishingly beautiful....

A series of deep depressions on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko point to a feature more familiar on Florida than most heavenly bodies: sinkholes. And really big ones at that. According to a study published in Nature today, Rosetta discovered sinkholes up to 600 feet wide length and 656 feet deep in her comet. While a series of shallower pits show outgassing as the likely formation culprit, these sinkholes point to some other processes at work....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Argotec/Lavazza)The International Space Station is getting a fresh jolt with the first coffee machine aboard the station. The world of instant powdered coffee is giving way in low earth orbit to freshly brewed Italian espresso.Argotec, makers of many a fine space food, teamed up with roast masters LavAzza to create the first microgravity espresso machine. It works similar to a Keurig cup, with the beans inserted into the machine in a small packet....

Your fingers are safe: This saw uses built-in sensors to stop and actually drop its blade if your digits get too close.If a finger (or a whole hand) gets too near to the internal sensors on the REAXX Portable Jobsite Table Saw by Bosch, then the saw fires a cartridge that drops the blade without permanently damaging it. This was a big problem on previous similar saws, which often broke themselves or the blade if the process of saving your flesh....

You may never have heard of “Digital Displacement,” a technology developed by a UK company called Artemis Intelligent Power. It’s not a very sexy name. It is however, a very sexy technology. One that could be poised to very literally change the world.Viewed from a distance, Artemis’ Digital Displacement tech appears very simple. Essentially it just increases the efficiency of hydraulic engines with the help of a computer that can precisely control hydraulic pistons....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn the 1980s, it was difficult to escape the turbocharger. The twin energy crises of the 1970s forced automakers to produce cars that delivered better fuel economy. And that meant downsizing engines. By the 1980s, turbo technology was evolving and automakers installed them to boost the power of these smaller engines. But turbos promised more than just power—they promised fuel economy benefits too.Turbos were billed as a way to have the fuel economy of a four-cylinder engine with the power of a Six....

View full post on YoutubeHordes of people are on the move today, hoping to get into the path of totality for the Great American Eclipse. But if traveling wasn’t in the cards for you, or you’re stuck in the office today, you can watch online as the eclipse moves across the country from Oregon to South Carolina.This feed from the space educational group Slooh (which starts at about 11 a.m. Eastern) will feature shots of the eclipse as well as live footage from their events happening around the USA....

On-Sale Date: NowPrice: $54,200; $65,000 for a loaded convertibleCompetitors: Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Nissan GT-R, Porsche Cayman RPowertrain: 5.8-liter supercharged V-8, 662 hp, 631 lb-ft; six-speed manual, RWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 15/24What’s New: All new Mustangs are getting an exterior freshening up for 2013, but the GT500 is also getting a bored-out 5.8-liter supercharged V-8. That, plus a lot of aerodynamic tweaking, sends the car to a 202 mph top speed, according to Ford....

It’s finally spring: Time to get outside and capture the world coming to life. Whether you’re shooting on your iPhone or Android phone or experimenting with your first DSLR, here are four essential tips to take better photos.Get one good lens: Crappy lenses distort color and cause fading at the edges­ of the shot. Start with a prime lens—this Sony E35mm F1.8 OSS E-mount (above) fits the a6000 on the previous page—which will get you sharper photos and, since it can’t zoom, will make you think about composition....

A new Apple TV is finally coming this fall, according to a report from Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski who is notoriously well-sourced. The new TV is rumored to sport a new design, new internals, support for dedicated apps, and have a remote that comes complete with a touchpad. The Apple TV hasn’t been updated since 2012, and rumors that it would be updated with support for apps have been persistent since then....

Media Platforms Design TeamGeorge W. Bush is doing his best to become the biofuels president. He’s long been bullish on corn-derived ethanol, and now he’s touting Brazil’s sugarcane and sugarbeet fuel. News outlets today are littered withheadlines about the biofuels “pact” he signed in Brazil, intended to “promote international production of ethanol.” Well, good for him. It’s a step in the right direction. But to cop a phrase, “What’s in it for me?...

Media Platforms Design TeamThe German equivalent of AAA — Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, or ADAC — just finished an exhaustive test of almost all cars available for sale in Europe (241 to be exact) in real-world conditions to answer one question: which car can travel the farthest on €30 (~$36 US) worth of cash?In Europe there are quite a few more choices in the… eh… economical range of offerings than we currently have in the U....

Media Platforms Design TeamNEW YORK — As we type, thousands of nerds are converging on the Jacob Javits Center like a swarm of battle-ready storm troopers to drool over the latest in comic books, action figures and superhero movies at New York Comic Con. Tonight and this weekend, we’ll join them, live blogging panels for X-Files: I Want to Believe, Indiana Jones, The Incredible Hulk, The Spirit and more. So check back with PopularMechanics....

Media Platforms Design TeamTwo concept cars were revealed today. The first is Opel’s Monza Concept, which—like most show vehicles—will exist in reality. A full-size model will grace the floor of the International Motor Show in Frankfurt this September. Conceivably, visitors can reach out and touch it. The second, BMW’s Vision Gran Turismo, will most likely never see the light of day or even manifest in the physical world. Every single element of the car, from the massive splitters to the radar-deadening angles, will be constructed from pixels and polygons, existing solely within the upcoming Playstation 3 racing sim Gran Turismo 6....

Media Platforms Design TeamBehold, the 2013 GMC Denali Dinosaur Terrain. By the time the silk sheet was removed, everyone already knew what was underneath. The Denali version of GMC’s bulky looking Terrain had been announced by the company earlier that day, a Denali Acadia sat in the corner of the event space, and the sheets covering the name on the wall had fallen off—twice. So when the big moment happened, the crowd wasn’t exactly shocked....

Finally got around to watching An Inconvenient Truth last night. Like most who’ve seen it, I found it rather horrifying. The speed with which the climate is changing is just overwhelming and in fact, I wonder if this is part of the problem: The whole thing feels so overwhelming that it’s easy to feel powerless. Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, do. It’s definitely inspired me to be even more careful with my choices regarding what I drive (anyone want to buy a nice ‘97 F150?...