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Media Platforms Design TeamThe 5.0-liter Cummins ISV engine scheduled for the next Nissan Titan has been a long time coming. It doesn’t sport any groundbreaking technology—at least that you can see. But this is the company’s first new V engine in years, and one that fills the void between the 3.0- and 6.6-liter light-truck diesel engines on the market.ISV roots go back more than a decade to a Department of Energy project that, among other things, yielded the NOx absorber strategy that allowed the 2007 Dodge Cummins to meet 2010 emission requirements....

Media Platforms Design TeamOur basement has only flooded twice in 15 years. Would it be wise–or a waste of money–to install a sump pump?This is a matter of personal preference, and depends on the cost of installing the sump pump compared to the inconvenience and cost of having a flooded basement. If the basement is finished or used for storage, waterproofing the space and installing a sump pump will help protect your investment and personal property....

Media Platforms Design TeamUPDATE: Since we published this story last week, Russia announced its intention to de-orbit the ISS and , at the end of the station’s planned mission. drop it into the ocean in 2020The final curtain drops today on the space shuttle program, with Atlantis’s long last fall to Earth from orbit. After the wheels stop permanently on the Kennedy Space Center runway, what is next for the International Space Station (ISS), so much of which was built by the shuttle?...

A group of enthusiasts gather outside London’s Heathrow airport daily, watching the planes come in. They track the flights by app, watching as a variety of planes come in from all points in the world. So while the United Kingdom mulls a contentious Heathrow expansion, the BBC went down to Heathrow for something a little more lighthearted: seeing if the planespotters could identify an aircraft by engine sound alone.With their backs turned, the enthusiasts had mostly positive results, identifying Boeings vs....

Media Platforms Design TeamCES Unveiled is the teaser trailer before the major motion picture—a taste of what’s to come at the big electronics show in January. This year’s CES Unveiled carried a plethora of portable solar power panels, e-cigarettes, wireless cellphone chargers, automated home security systems, and the occasional ultra-HD TV. Below are three pieces of tech that might be worth a closer look. Tobii EyeMobileImagine losing the ability to use all your limbs or your entire body and being able to communicate only through eye movement....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Air Force is beginning to plan the replacement for the B-2, called the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRSB). It will be an airplane built for conventional and nuclear missions. Which mission comes first?The B-2 and the B-1both of those bombers were produced during the Cold War. So we were in the middle of this ideological conflict, and as they came off the production line they went off and did testing for nuclear weapons because that was the primary mission and role that we had for them....

A new trailer for the much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released this week, and to no one’s surprise, the internet exploded like the Death Star after the Rebels shot up its core. It might surprise you, however, that another Star Wars trailer was also released this week, this one starring arguably the most-hated character in science fiction: Jar Jar Binks.Media Platforms Design TeamThis isn’t the first time motion graphics artist Michael Murdock has dabbled in idolizing the goofy Gungan general we all love to hate....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe year was 1989. The first GPS satellites were launched into orbit, Nintendo introduced its Game Boy to Japan, and Michael J. Fox brought us all back to the future, again. This time, however, it wasn’t just the DeLorean time machine that captured techno-geek moviegoers’ imaginations. It was the Mattel hoverboard.In perhaps the most famous scene of Part II, Fox’s Marty McFly jumps on a hoverboard—a pink floating skateboard without wheels—to flee from a pack of 2015 goons riding tougher-looking boards....

Media Platforms Design TeamABC’s “Detroit 1-8-7,” a gritty made-in-Detroit police drama that airs on Wednesday nights has had a difficult time finding a consistent audience and could soon face cancellation. The same, however, should not be said for the annual show of cars and trucks being offered by Detroit’s often maligned automakers—Ford, GM and Chrysler.As the North American International Auto Show opens to the public on January 15 through 23, there is a clear momentum shift from the last few doleful years....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: Now Price: $24,450 to $34,800 Competitors: Ford Edge, Toyota RAV4, Kia SorentoPowertrains: 2.4-liter I-4, 190 hp, 181 lb-ft; 2.0-liter turbo I-4, 264 hp, 269 lb-ft; FWD or AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 20–22/27–33What’s New: Hyundai’s all-new Santa Fe is now available in a short-wheelbase, five-passenger (Sport) version, and coming soon in a long-wheelbase seven-passenger iteration. The Sport claims 266 pounds of weight loss over the previous version, thanks to extensive use of high-tensile steel....

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A California company with visions of building a futuristic transportation system to one day zip people and packages at nearly the speed of sound announced Tuesday it is building a test facility in southern Nevada.Hyperloop Technologies Inc. and the Nevada governor’s office said the 50-acre facility at a fledgling North Las Vegas business park will test a linear electric motor at speeds of about 335 mph — about half the speed envisioned in a full-scale system....

Media Platforms Design TeamThough the North American motorcycle industry is showing some signs of life following the retail disaster of 2008’s global recession, U.S. bike culture is still somewhat of an oxymoron, especially when compared to the widespread enthusiasm for all things two-wheeled that’s rampant in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.Seeking to expand mainstream interest in motorcycles is a new event dubbed AIMExpo (short for American International Motorcycle Expo), a trade show which intends to mash up the realms of manufacturers, dealers, consumers, and media....

Officials at the National Science Foundation (NSF) are scrambling to save the upcoming Antarctic research season after losing access to the Oden, a Swedish icebreaker. If a replacement can’t be found, and soon, scientists hoping to study everything from geology to climate science to astrophysics may have to postpone their plans for a year.The ship was slated to clear a channel through the ice in December 2011 and January 2012 to allow supply vessels to reach McMurdo Research Station, the biggest scientific base in Antarctica....

In just the last fifteen years, scientists have found more than 300 extrasolar planets, and every month brings more. This past November the Hubble Space Telescope captured the first visible-light image of a planet orbiting another star–weeks after, the ground-based Keck and Gemini observatories scored another first when they captured three planets in infrared images. Still, none of these exoplanets are likely to harbor life–most are huge Jupiter-like planets that are too hot or too cold....

A motorcycle helmet isn’t the kind of gear a tech geek dreams about. They are safety devices that have remained largely analog, save for a handful of Bluetooth add-ons. That’s about to change.“Riders want vertically integrated tech, and they want something that feels seamless and helps them enjoy what they’re doing more,” says Skully Helmets founder and CEO Marcus Weller. He hopes to realize that vision later this year, when Skully plans to release a revolutionary full-face helmet....

Lexus just put out a tease of a video that suggests it’s accomplished one of the most iconic sci-fi feats and created a working hoverboard. It’s not 1000 percent clear if this is real, or if it’s some sort of hoax like that other hoverboard announcement, but here’s to hoping.According to a minimal website, the board is called “Slide” and works using magnetic levitation. The mist emanating from the board’s bottom hints at the real-life physics that would make a hoverboard possible....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Popular Mechanics Used-Car Checklist iPhone app is now available in Apple’s App Store. It’s free, and it’s interesting. Car enthusiasts should check it out, whether you’re in the market for a new ride or not. But it’s especially handy for car novices looking for solid advice on how to tell a good buy from a money pit.The Used-Car Checklist leads the user through an inspection of a car, looking for mechanical trouble....

Through its first five episodes, the AMC drama Halt and Catch Fire has tried to immerse us in the PC wars of the early 1980s and all the technological problems thereof—our heroes dream of building a 15-lb. “portable” computer, after all. But in episode 6, the series shifts into debating questions that drive today’s computer science: How deeply can a computer interact with its users, and does it have a soul?...

Media Platforms Design TeamWhy study the trachea?It started many years ago when I was a resident and I did my Ph.D. on organ and tissue transplantation. Crazy as it might be, the trachea was the only organ that was not transplanted. The fact that so many children during my clinical rotation were dying of airway diseases without any possibility of being treated triggered my interest in tracheal transplant. How do you create a trachea from stem cells?...

Standing around watering plants provides ample time to ponder ways to avoid this necessary chore. When we explained how to plan and install a raised bed in our April issue, we offered a comprehensive irrigation system set up to be customized to the needs of specific plants, with maximum efficiency. But outfitting the system with buried lines, timers and fertilizer injectors can get a bit complex. For the small urban garden where we built a flagstone patio, it was overkill....