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Media Platforms Design Team1) Hardware pops out from the screenHere at PM, we write a lot about 3D movie tech, but Beyond all Boundaries tries to be a 3D movie. The main screen in the theater, a scrim 115 feet wide by 28 feet tall, can handle multiple layers of projections. During the film, hardware rises from a hidden 18-foot pit in the floor and descends smoothly from the ceiling. The coolest use of these effects is when the movie meshes real-world items with on-screen scenes....

MORE NEW FOOD RESEARCH* PLUS: Nanotech Tests Offer Healthier Option for LivestockTomatoes and lemons are often touted as potentially powerful cancer fighters, but even the healthiest foods can quickly become unhealthy–even lethal–if improperly handled. According to the Food and Drug Administration, each year foodborne illnesses account for an estimated 76 million Americans becoming sick, with more than 300,000 hospitalizations and 5000 deaths. And while mad cow disease seems to creep into the headlines every year, tainted crops may now be threatening the U....

DETROIT SPY TEXT AND GRAPHICS BY JIM DUNNESince Ford has just redone the Explorer, it figures that the Expedition cannot be far behind. And this photo of an Expedition test mule proves that things are right on schedule. From the looks of this vehicle, and given Ford’s timetable, the new Expedition should be ready for the 2007 sales year. While it appears that the body shape will be virtually unchanged, you can look for the big SUV to have new and quieter interiors, just like the company’s F-Series pickups....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf PopMech had a rooting interest at the 86th Academy Awards last night, it was for Gravity, our choice for the sci/tech movie of the year. The Oscar voters were impressed with the spectacular orbital disaster movie, too. Gravity took home seven awards, more than any other film.It wasn’t a total domination, as when films like Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won double-digit Oscars....

Tomorrow at 11:22 a.m., NASA’s Cassini probe will fly just 30 miles over the south pole of Enceladus, right through a geyser spray from the moon’s ocean. Enceladus, size-wise, isn’t much to write home about. Saturn’s tiny moon is a little more than 300 miles in diameter, and covered entirely in an ice shell. But below that shell, the tiny moon hides a giant, warm global ocean. Gravitational forces from Saturn create geysers that spew forth from cracks in the ice sheet....

PM west coast editor Ben Stewart drives a brand-new Corvette Z06 from Los Angeles to New York this week, in search of America’s best driving roads.We’ve been wanting to run the Tail of the Dragon for years. It’s been called by some the best sports car and motorcycle road in the country. It has 318 curves in just 11 miles. And just about every curve has a name: like “Gravity Cavity,” “Crud Corner” and “The Whip....

Media Platforms Design TeamNew materials make kitchen countes more attractive and durable. This one’s cast in concrete.Of all the choices to make in a new kitchen, none get more attention than the countertop material — simply because there are so many options. There are dozens of new products available, ranging from stone to acrylic, with prices running as high as $250 per square foot.“Usage and budget play key roles in making a good decision,” says Bruce Colucci of Le Gourmet Kitchen, a design service in Orange, Calif....

Media Platforms Design TeamYou don’t need Cub Cadet’s i1050 Zero-Turn Tractor ($3900). Then again, you don’t need a Porsche. The i1050 lets you make zero-point turns, rotating in place to get in and out of tight spaces. Like other zero-turn mowing machines, it uses dual transmissions – one for each rear wheel, allowing one to roll forward while the other spins in reverse. But instead of using unfamiliar handles to maneuver, the i1050 has a standard steering wheel – no gear shifts, levers or previous experience needed....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen we last left Curiosity, it had finished up its first full month on Mars, checked and double-checked its gear, and set out in search of a rock suited for the first actual contact science. What’s it up to now?“Jake the Rock"They’ve found the rock! For the first surface science, the team has selected a pyramid-shaped hunk, likely basalt, nicknamed “Jake Matijevic” after a mathematician-turned-rover-engineer who played a critical role in the design of the six-wheeled rover, but died just days after Curiosity landed in August....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s very easy to put off estate planning, particularly in your twenties or thirties, but the longer you delay, the more your loved ones (and your assets) are at risk.Wondering what estate planning is exactly? It’s essentially determining what will happen to your stuff (your car, home, other real estate, banking accounts, investments, life insurance, furniture and personal possessions) when you pass away. It’s a bit morbid to discuss, much less plan, but it’s necessary to ensure your wishes will be followed....

Media Platforms Design TeamBase Price: $23,295This year we introduce our first-ever Popular Mechanics Car of the Year. This is an affordable vehicle that excels in multiple auto excellence categories, not just one. No vehicle hit a variety of marks harder or topped more editors’ scorecards than the all-new 2013 Ford Escape. The Escape is freshly minted, with a solid new chassis shared with the European Ford Kuga. It’s still a compact crossover, but there’s more room inside for people and gear....

Media Platforms Design TeamGoogle offices in Mountain View, California. (Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Harvard professor Alex Wissner-Gross made waves recently by suggesting that making a couple of Google searches are just as bad for the environment as the cup of tea you drink while you’re making them (he has since backed away from the claim ). Wissner-Gross’s study says that the energy needed to power Google’s servers and storage, combined with connecting to and running your own computer, creates about 7 grams (about 0....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs we expected, Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event yesterday offered some new iPods and a new version of iTunes—even if the unveiling didn’t quite meet our expectations. But Steve Jobs and Co. had something else to deliver as well: a clear message that his company now has its sights set directly on the portable gaming market, with very real and very high aspirations for App Store games for the iPhone and iPod Touch....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photo by Jarren Vink)STEP 1 Make the BodyMake the wagon-box parts and apply latex primer. Attach the side panels to the front and back panels with wood glue and 6d finish nails. Paint everything red. Or any color. The best wagons are red, though. Bore a ¼-inch hole for the steering bolt through the bottom panel.Make the side rails, back rail, and battens (see diagram, next page). Mark the curve on the back and side rails....

Media Platforms Design TeamSomething odd has happened recently in my music-listening life. Two weeks ago I received the new fifth-generation iPod Nano. Since then, my once-rigid playlist of personal standards has suddenly been infiltrated by daily doses of NPR, college radio and the occasional classic rock riff. Yes, Apple has pushed me back into FM radio.I remember well purchasing my first MP3 player a decade ago–it was a five-song, 32 MB-capacity Rio Diamond....

Mars is no stranger to life. Seven U.S. spacecraft have successfully landed there, and all of them took microbes to the planet’s surface (though the bugs probably did not survive for long). Yet the world’s space agencies continue to maintain strict spacecraft sterilization procedures in the hope of minimizing the spread of Earth life beyond our planet. For decades this ethos—known as planetary protection—prevailed. Now, some scientists say, these precautions are undermining the search for life beyond Earth by raising costs and inhibiting innovative missions—without meaningful benefits....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is about to become a production reality. Toyota, Honda and now Hyundai are poised to launch models they promise, are ready for prime time.Hyundai’s Tucson Fuel Cell vehicle will hit this spring. But here’s Hyundai’s trump card: a three year lease of $499 a month with all your fuel included. That is quite honestly, an astonishing deal. And with a solid 250 miles of range betwen fill ups, you may not even have to stop all that often....

Media Platforms Design TeamScott Wilson was a very big product designer for some very big brands. Until he decided to go rogue in 2007. Then he blew the lid off crowd-funding in 2010, and changed the entrepreneurial game for good.Wilson had a great track record of creating innovative product designs for some of the world’s largest companies. In 2007, he returned to his hometown of Chicago for an opportunity that didn’t turn out as he expected, and he decided to strike out on his own....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sale Date: NowPrice: $149 (16GB); $179 (32GB)When buying an iPhone, tempting to save your money on gigabytes. Opting for less storage space means saving $100 or $200, and when you’re already handing over a serious chunk of change for a new phone, settling for 16GB might seem like an acceptable tradeoff. Fast-forward six months, though, and your phone is jam-packed with music, photos, files, and videos, and taking yet another selfie requires deleting a song to free up the space....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhere did you get the idea to build a duct tape bridge?ADAM SAVAGE: The idea for the duct tape bridge came almost immediately after we were finished sailing the boat around the bay [last season]. We were thinking, what’s next, what else could we do? And we had two or three ideas; the bridge was the one we chose for the next bust. We even have a better idea for the next duct tape special....