Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamHere at Popular Mechanics, we’ve test-driven electric cars and covered the latest in car-charging tech. But now, if we want to charge up an electric vehicle, we can do it right in our own garage.Downstairs in PM’s home, at 300 West 57th Street in New York City, electricians have just completed the installation of a 208-volt charging station, making our home base one of the first office towers in the city with that capability....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe snooze button on an alarm clock might as well read “self-destruct”: Wake up an under-rested deep sleeper enough times, and the gentle push needed to activate that glorious 9-minute delay can escalate to a blind arm-flail or chuckacross the room. That’s why we like the Oregon Scientific DP200A Projection Alarm Clock. Instead of reaching for any buttons, simply wave your hands in the air, and built-in motion sensors shut off the buzzing so you can snag a few extra minutes of shuteye....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt never fails. I’m taking something apart in the 1950s house I’m remodeling and a nail snaps off, or the head of a screw strips, then I waste all kinds of time dealing with it. Is it me, or does this happen to everybody? It’s true, sometimes removal is more time-consuming (and more of a pain) than any other part of the job. As the years have gone by I’ve become more resourceful when removing stuck or broken fasteners....

In recent years, Roscosmos has largely concentrated on crewed missions, struggling to get a spaceprobe to its intended destination. But Luna 25 hopes to change that. The moon probe, set to launch in 2024, will mark a return to the moon for Russia, which hasn’t landed a probe on the moon since 1976. It’s a surveyor for an even bigger goal: a crewed landing and lunar base. Tomasz Nowakowski at SpaceFlightInsider writes, “The proposed base would include a solar power station, telecommunication station, technological station, scientific station, long-range research rover, landing and launch area, and an orbiting satellite....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe BoniRob is ready to make your Roundup obsolete through the magic of pattern recognition and a mashing tool. Built by Bosch, the gardening / farming bot add-on recognizes weeds by their leaf shape and smashes them deeper into the ground, where the lack of sunlight kills them off. The robot is being developed as a sort of multi-platform agriculture bot that can be lightly modified to suit the needs of its owner....

Saudi Arabia dealt with a massive sandstorm last week that practically swallowed portions of the entire country. As seen in this video below, a wall of sand pummeled the capital of Riyadh, disrupted thousands of flights, and forced drivers off the roads. Saudi Arabian Airlines says that 33 percent of its flights between Wednesday and Friday were cancelled.The National Center for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) said in a statement that menacing winds and dust caused a “near complete lack of vision in daylight....

Media Platforms Design Team A heavily damaged guardrail marks the site of the bus crash. (Photograph by Dane Schiller/The Houston Chronicle) Investigators may have identified a tire blowout as a possible cause in a deadly crash that took place early Friday morning, after a charter bus carrying a Vietnamese church group in northern Texas skidded off the road and onto its side. Emergency responders found 12 passengers dead at the scene in Sherman, Texas, located just north of Dallas; a 13th died after being transported to a local hospital....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn May 8, Maria Melendez, Melendez’s daughter, Melissa Quair, and Quair’s boyfriend about a half-dozen Kern County, Calif., highway patrol officers beating and kicking 33-year old David Silva in front of Kern Medical Center. Silva, the father of four young children, died early on the morning of May 8, presumably from the injuries he sustained from the incident.reportedly witnessedMelendez recorded the entire episode on her phone, as did her daughter’s boyfriend....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: March 15, 2013Base Price: $49,345Competitors: Cadillac XTS, Infiniti M37, Lexus GS 350, Lexus ES 350, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Mercedes-Benz E-ClassPowertrains: 3.5-liter V-6, 310 hp, 272 lb-ft; 6-speed automatic; FWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 20/31What’s New: Acura’s flagship, formerly the RL, is revamped after eight long years. Under the hood a direct-injection version of the Honda/Acura 3.5-liter V-6 replaces the old 3.7-liter, and makes 10 extra horsepower with massive 4 city/7 hwy mpg jumps in fuel economy....

Media Platforms Design TeamHarley-Davidson has a tempestuous relationship with youth. Sure, they own nearly half of the heavy motorcyle market for those under 35 and are the best selling brand in America for 18 to 34 year-olds*. But when it comes to lighter bikes for younger folks, the Motor Company also has miles to go, especially considering their entry level Iron 883 Sportster, the brand’s lightest and cheapest bike, tips the scales at a portly 562 lbs and runs $7,999....

Joerg Sprave, the undisputed slingshot master, has a new prototype on his hands. Instead of going further off into the world of insane weapons that shoot tomahawks or scalpel-covered frisbees, Sprave’s focused on improving the slingshot in a more simple way: by moving its rubber bands inside the frame and adding a magazine for ammunition. A clever pulley system pulls the firing band’s slack right inside the handle until it’s actually needed, while magnets suspend extra ammunition is a convenient little whole right in the middle of the whole thing....

Google took its green stance beyond computers on Monday when its philanthropic arm stepped into the plug-in car revolution. Showing off hybrid-electric versions of the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape, the Internet giant claimed its proposed electric fleet could hit 75 mpg while both tapping into the power grid and even sending electricity back to it. Google’s hybrids use batteries from A123Systems, the same company that will provide batteries to GM for the Chevy Volt and that we featured in our May cover story on the real future of plug-in cars....

I was terrified. I don’t mean occasionally. I mean that terror, as an emotion, as a prevailing mood, had overtaken my life. I woke in the night gulping for air, my heart going faster than ever. Why? Another bad dream. It was 3:13 a.m. There was no getting back to sleep. In that dark and terrible hour, I thought dire things.From where did the terror spring? How could I put it back in the bottle?...

In the December/January issue of Popular Mechanics, Iraq War veteran, writer, and photographer Elliott Woods investigates the elite team of Iraqi pilots who came to the Arizona desert to learn to fly American F-16s. After years of training, they’re starting to head home and battle ISIS.We commissioned the story before the tragic attacks in Paris, so we sat down with Woods to discuss how the attacks might change the Iraqi pilots’ mission, along with the overall Western approach to ISIS....

When you get knocked down – even by an armored car – you have to get back up. So after the premature demise of our previous PM Infiniti (totaled on 34th Street in Manhattan last summer), we’re doing it all over. Since we conducted a yearlong test of the original G35 (with two reports here and here), Infiniti suggested we try the more performance-oriented Sport version, rather than an awd or plain-Jane model....

Media Platforms Design TeamView full post on YoutubeThis is it: The first teaser for the next project from Christopher Nolan, director the Christian Bale Batman trilogy and producer of Man of Steel. For Interstellar, due in theaters November 2014, Nolan is leaving behind caped crusaders in favor of everyday people trying to do the impossible, as evidenced by the dramatic Matthew McConaughey voice-over and historical footage of the golden moments of the space age....

Media Platforms Design TeamDavid Abbott “Ab” Jenkins was one of America’s least known motorsports heroes. He spent years setting long-distance speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats, beginning back in 1932. That was decades before the Southern California Timing Association, which runs today’s Bonneville Speed Week, sanctioned racing there. Ab was a motorsports pioneer.In the early years, Bonneville had a 10-mile circular track, so racers could run 12, 24 or even 48 hours–stopping only to refuel....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe president released his FY 2011 budget Monday, and his policy for NASA’s human spaceflight program sets the nation on a course to second-class status in space. Instead of setting our national sights on the moon, nearby asteroids, or more distant destinations, President Obama is declaring that human spaceflight is unimportant to U.S. national interests.He’s not saying so directly. But his budget actions speak loudly. He has cancelled NASA’s next-generation Constellation Program, including the Orion spacecraft and both rockets planned to return American explorers to deep space, to the moon and beyond....

When we ordered our Versa, gasoline was selling for $3 a gallon and hordes of SUV drivers were frantically looking for early outs from their guzzlers’ leases. Truth is, we wanted to spend serious time and miles in Nissan’s most diminutive family car for more reasons than just saving our gas money. And, as it turns out, we’re glad we did.+ Click to enlargeMedia Platforms Design TeamThe Versa’s cabin is a packaging marvel....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Range Rover Sport is Land Rover’s best selling model in the United States, which is the biggest market for the luxury SUV. It’s a vehicle that vibes with American taste for ostentatious SUVs that with styling cues that suggest more on-road performance than off-road. And while the previous Sport carried most of the standard Land Rover go-anywhere capability (albeit with lower ground clearance than other models), it was also heavy, which compromised acceleration and agility....