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Media Platforms Design TeamWhat is really being seen by these machines?Bruce Schneier: In theory, it sees stuff that isn’t part of the body. So if you’ve got a stapler in your pocket, it will show up. The thought is that it will see stuff that a metal detector won’t detect, like a ceramic knife. But this doesn’t seem to be borne out by reality. The machines have shown up in the wake of the so-called underwear bomber, who tried to blow up a plane with chemicals stored in his briefs....

ST. PETERSBURG—Russian president Vladimir Putin was understandably pleased when his government signed a $400 billion deal this week to supply natural gas to China. With Russia’s economy weakening and tensions rising with Europe— Russia’s major energy customer—the deal showed the country could realign its economy to the east, with partners who don’t judge things like annexing neighboring nations.
The deal is a vivid reminder that in Russia, energy equals power. Oil and natural gas wealth supported Putin’s rise to power, served as leverage to threaten neighbors, and made industry allies of multinational energy companies....

Media Platforms Design TeamA new leg exoskeleton can improve the efficiency of walking by 7 percent – and do it with no power source—according to scientists at North Carolina State University who published their research today in Nature. Their creation could be a big boon for people with low mobility. The device provides support through the carbon fiber frame and attached springs, which act as secondary muscles in the device. The spring and frame combine act as a sort of calf muscle....

A rock caught the eyes of the NASA Curiosity Rover team, one which shows an unusual abundance of materials that might hold fossilized organics. The rock, called the Elk bedrock, has an abundance of silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen. In particular, the first two exist as the compound silica, which could preserve evidence of ancient organics on Mars. The Curiosity rover is currently near Mount Sharp in what’s believed to be an ancient lakebed, in particular because of the meeting of limestone and mudstone....

One day after winning an Oscar for Citizenfour—their documentary about Edward Snowden—filmmaker Laura Poitras, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and Snowden himself did a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Monday afternoon. Check it out here (the AMA is now finished).A few interesting Snowden tidbits:• On regrets: “I would have come forward sooner. … Had I come forward a little sooner, these programs would have been a little less entrenched, and those abusing them would have felt a little less familiar with and accustomed to the exercise of those powers....

It may not settle the debate—since, you know, people love to argue—but a new study from transportation experts at the University of Michigan confirms that flying is more energy efficient than driving—with some caveats.Those caveats come down to basically, “drive a hybrid or an EV.” In fact, according to a Wired report, you’d need a car getting above 44.7 mpg to beat out the fuel efficiency of flying. And with advancements in aircraft composites and engines, you’d need two or three passengers to match the efficiency of flying if you were in an ordinary car....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs the Cardiff team prepares to demo its PC prototype, Giant, at COMDEX, the annual computer trade show in Las Vegas, Bosworth (Toby Huss) is fidgety. “The future’s coming whether we like it or not,” he says. “But it ain’t written anywhere that it includes any of us, and getting there ain’t free. There’s a cost.“We soon learn what that cost is: a federal embezzlement charge. The PC program had gone bankrupt a few weeks prior, so Bosworth convinced Cameron (Mackenzie Davis) to hack into Cardiff Electric’s bank account and transfer thousands of dollars to their division....

CHAJNANTOR PLAIN, Chile — Sixteen thousand five hundred feet up into the Andes, deep inside the Atacama Desert, lies this barren, windswept plateau of maroon rock and sand. One of the driest places on Earth, the table-top-flat Chajnantor is nothing short of a wasteland, offering few humans reason to tread here. Until now.Giant excavators and construction equipment operate in the distance as I labor to breathe in the thin air while walking toward a gleaming metal and glass building....

Media Platforms Design TeamWindows Vista was, if anything, an excellent excuse to hold on to an old computer. Microsoft’s last-generation operating system was so widely ridiculed that a whole generation of PCs running the previous OS, Windows XP, was kept in service long after the hardware had become creaky and outmoded. That has largely changed with Windows 7–a system that, although not a complete reinvention of Vista, is a vast improvement in terms of performance, reliability and usability....

Media Platforms Design Team When the HP Blackbird 002 PC debuted in 2007, it was one of the fastest and most powerful gaming rigs around, and was one of the few that used factory-sealed liquid cooling to chill its innards without the need for noisy fans. However, the Blackbird was extremely expensive (more than $5000), and absolutely massive. Today, HP announced its followup, the HP Firebird with VoodooDNA. It’s a high-powered computer with three graphics cards but a much lower price (starting at $1799, about half the price of its predecessor) and chassis (its body is about a quarter the size of the original, making it small enough to tote to LAN parties)....

Media Platforms Design TeamInfiniti confirmed today at the New York auto show that the luxury crossover EX concept will head for production by the end of the year as the GX 35, so it’ll be a 2008 model.With the release of the GX 35, Infiniti remains hot on BMW’s trail: The all-new G37 coupe already offers substantial competition to the BMW 3-series, and now with this premium crossover SUV concept, Nissan’s luxury division is looking to prove itself against BMW’s X3....

Media Platforms Design Team The German carmakers have traditionally relied on diesel engines to increase fuel economy, but Mercedes is now moving into the hybrid space with the ML450 Hybrid. The production version debuted at the New York Auto show and Mercedes also let us pilot one for a brief test drive. Here’s what we know at this point. —Larry Webster The Specs The ML450’s powertrain uses the hybrid transmission that was jointly developed by GM, BMW, Mercedes, and Chrysler....

The search for Earth-like planets has turned up … not a lot of Earth-like planets. Yes, the Kepler Telescope and other missions have turned up a host of new worlds in the past few years, but the ones most like our planet are largely “super-Earths,” many not in the habitable zone. A new study led by the Space Telescope Science Institute suggests that there’s a good reason we’re not finding more Earth-analogs....

Picture this: you’re doing a little landscaping, casually moving some dirt about in your yard, when you find a big metal sphere. One that looks an awful lot like a cannonball.That’s what happened in Lower Township, New Jersey on Saturday. A man working in his lawn discovered a five-inch cannonball with a brass cap stamped with “4k, 85mm” on it. Once the police were contacted, the Atlantic City Police Bomb Squad rolled up to check in and see what was what....

Media Platforms Design Team2011 World Car of the Year: Nissan Leaf"This is the first time a true alterative fuel vehicle—an electric car—has won the prize. What’s also significant is that the Leaf beat out finalists like the Audi A8 and the BMW 5 Series, some very stiff competition.“2011 World Green Car: Chevrolet Volt"Although it should actually be counted alongside the hybrid variety, GM has generally marketed the Volt as an electric car, and it certainly seems to have captured the public’s attention....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor the 2014 model year, Kia’s square hamster-mover received a thorough renovation. Look past the day-old-guacamole paint job, and you can see that the new Soul shares many of its styling cues with the Track’ster concept Kia debuted at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Underneath this new skin, the Soul is .8 inches longer in the wheelbase with a track that’s .6 inches wider. To increase rigidity and safety, the chassis is 66 percent high-strength steel....

Media Platforms Design TeamEvery year nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke. Eighty-five percent of the survivors end up having some degree of hand disability as a result. After leaving the hospital, the majority of a stroke patient’s rehabilitation consists of repetitive at-home exercises, says Nizan Friedman, a biomedical engineering student at the University of California, Irvine. “The therapist basically will give the person a booklet of exercises and say ‘Move your fingers like this 100 times, stretch your hand out 100 times....

Media Platforms Design TeamGoogle is using its annual Santa Tracker to give kids a new chance to learn coding.In the lead-up to Christmas, Google will be unveiling a tiny, snowy town near the North Pole where each day brings new challenges that need to be unlocked. Some of those challenges will teach kids basic Javascript, offering them a chance to hunt for Santa Claus while building up their coding fundamentals. There are also videos and games to keep kids entertained as they oggle the clock counting down the days and minutes until they get presents this year (and hopefully not coal)....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Plasma Acoustic Shield System (PASS) is a crackling, flashing wall of light hanging in the air up to 100 meters away. And while it’s the stuff of sci-fi, the laser-powered already exists in prototype form, built by of Redmond, Wash., with funding from the Pentagon’s Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate ().PASSStellar PhotonicsJNLWDInitially intended to shield soldiers by creating a high-intensity distraction and provide a highly visible warning signal, PASS may develop into a weapon in its own right, producing a barrage of explosions with the power of flash–bang stun grenades....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn the Pacific, saber rattling is done with missiles.North Korea has announced that it will launch a Taepodong ballistic missile to celebrate the birthday of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15. The country claims this will be a satellite launch, but most observers agree the test is meant to demonstrate a weapon delivery system. Either way, it violates a fresh agreement that North Korea signed just one month ago pledging not to test long-range missiles....