Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamA halogen bulb is a long-lasting and far more energy-efficient form of the standard incandescent bulb—it can yield a 40 percent savings, by some accounts, depending on bulb type. Problem is, it runs a lot hotter—so hot, in fact, that lights using halogen bulbs are completely unacceptable for children’s rooms, play areas or dorm rooms. Also off limits: old houses with creaky wiring. Such houses often experience a significant drop in the voltage supplying outlets....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere’s plenty of serious buzz about a forthcoming Apple television (most recently, Best Buy put out a survey that referenced a 42-inch, $1500 Apple-branded TV), and the desire to reinvent television is one of the highly secretive company’s worst-kept secrets. While it’s possible that this is simply the latest cycle of the constantly churning Apple rumor mill, I have little doubt that Apple intends to get around to TV eventually....

Media Platforms Design Team CLE ELUM, Wash. — Kia probably wishes they had a time machine. Five years ago, the Kia Borrego would have made Detroit very nervous. Here’s a seven-passenger SUV with a 337-hp V8 that can tow 7,500 pounds. It has an independent suspension at each corner and a nicer interior than most in the class. Explorer? Trailblazer? No thanks. I’ll take this Borrego. But it’s not 2003. Cheap gas prices and the bullish SUV market that went along with them are, well, history....

Media Platforms Design Team WASHINGTON — These may be tough times for the Ford Motor Company, but the 2009 Lincoln MKS is a promising luxury sedan for the domestic carmaker. Hoping to snatch a bit of market share from the likes of the Acura RL, Lexus GS350 and Cadillac CTS, the MKS debuts a fresh design direction for Lincoln that designer Peter Horbury says was inspired by the 1941 Lincoln Continental....

Media Platforms Design TeamLOS ANGELES — When the Mazda6 first hit the scene back in 2003, it was nimble and playful, and the power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering was exemplary. In fact, it was favorably compared to the BMW 3 Series—an impressive feat for any vehicle, let alone a mid-sizer in this price range. But it was too small and, some say, underpowered to truly compete in the tough mid-size sedan segment against the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord....

By now, you’ve surely seen enough to agree that almost everything looks better in slow motion. That’s the premise of YouTube channel The Slow Mo Guys, where its hosts shoot experiments with ultra high-speed cameras to capture some pretty mesmerizing videos. This week: a fire tornado. Found naturally in various environmental situations, a fire tornado (or a fire whirl) is usually seen when a wildfire meets strong winds. For the purpose of this video, Gav and Dan set up a bunch of box fans in a circle around a kerosene fire to recreate that scenario, then shot it in 2500fps and 1000fps....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor years, the Pentagon’s research budget has funded not one, but two planes armed with laser turrets. Although the Airborne Laser (ABL) and the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) have different missions, both projects are led by aviation and defense giant Boeing, and both consist of a chemical laser mounted on a large aircraft. Both projects also cleared major technical hurdles in June, with ABL successfully targeting a missile (pdf) in flight, and ATL firing its full-power laser at a ground target for the first time....

LAS VEGAS — Describing freedom from petroleum fuels and emissions as the “ultimate luxury,” GM’ unveiled its Cadillac Provoq Concept at CES 2008 in the hope of furthering their reputation as a forward-thinking carmaker.Hot on the heels of their recent announcement that driverless cars will become a reality within ten years, the Provoq transplants the Volt Concept’s futuristic powertrain into a Cadillac package. But this time, it’s a hydrogen fuel cell E-Flex system....

You may be hearing some exciting news about comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the place where the Philae lander woke up last month. Astronomer and astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe says that the comet’s core might harbor singled-celled extremophile life! But while he could be right, you should take his comments with a comet-sized grain of salt.Wickramashinghe and his colleague Max Wallis made a case for a life-filled comet at this year’s Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales....

Media Platforms Design TeamListen to MSNBC host Tucker Carlson discuss his spud gun addiction on thePopular Mechanics Show (podcast):powered by ODEOYou wouldn’t know it to look at him, but Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC’s Tucker, is a Right Guard man. It’s not the rugged scent that draws him in, though. It’s the butane propellant.Butane? In his deodorant? Well, yeah. How else is Carlson going to get the explosive power he needs to launch a potato from the barrel of his custom-built spud gun at over 300 mph?...

Media Platforms Design TeamA handful of technological giants are conspicuously absent from CES every year. Apple never comes, for instance, and Microsoft is quiet this year. Google, however, showed up and brought something that is genuinely new.Google Cast basically does for audio what Google’s Chromecast does for TV. It’s a transmitter that sends your Pandora or iHeartRadio streaming music from a device to a speaker. It’s different from Bluetooth or AirPlay because the system uses specially-designed speakers, from brands like LG and Sony....

Media Platforms Design TeamHaiti’s earthquake has produced extreme devastation, both in the capital city and in the surrounding countryside. The current wave of reporting is examining problems in getting relief to where it’s needed, and the tone of the coverage is often hostile: Why are things taking so long? For starters, Haiti is a poor country. The Port-au-Prince airport has a single runway and not much room on the tarmac. There’s room for a single wide-body jet, four narrow-body jets and a few smaller aircraft at any one time....

Media Platforms Design TeamAgainst a backdrop of barbed wire, concrete and bitter gang violence, Bill Vanderberg, the 57-year-old dean of students at Crenshaw High School in South Central L.A., launched an Eco Club to lead kids on trips into the nearby mountains. For these mostly poor students, performing tasks like basic trail maintenance, erosion control and building stone steps across streams has opened minds and changed fates. Last year, Vanderberg organized a trip to Yosemite and invited students from rival Dorsey High....

It seems obvious that you can’t cut or drill accurately unless you can mark accurately. A cut line that you can’t see is no help, nor is a dull scribble that’s supposed to mark where you need to drill. “Measure twice, cut once” is no good if you can’t see your measurement.That being the case, why are so few people properly equipped to mark accurately? It seems many people carry a stubby carpenter’s pencil and that’s about it....

View full post on YoutubeHere’s how we know standing desks have made it to the mainstream: You can now buy one at Ikea. The Swedish furniture/meatballs giant has introduced a desk that raises and lowers with the push of a button.The new Galant/Bekant system offers “professional desks that are a pleasure to work at,” Ikea promotional material promises. The $489 desk can electrically raise and lower via telescoping legs to heights of 22 to 48 inches tall....

LAS VEGAS — So if there’s a single Big Thing here, it’s clearly big-screen HDTV. But to make money off of that, you don’t have to be on the cutting edge of technology—in fact, you don’t have to be in the electronics business at all. I ran across the folks from Lucasey Mounting Systems and had a hunch that they were probably making out like bandits from the switch to big flat-screen TVs....

In another step toward getting astronauts to space from American soil again, NASA and SpaceX contracted their first flight together, setting a launch window for late 2017 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX and Boeing are under contract for two to six flights each aboard the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner, respectively. Boeing and NASA previously signed their order together six months ago; with this, SpaceX makes it official as well....

Media Platforms Design TeamLast week’s efforts to fix a stuck valve on one of the International Space Station’s two cooling loops from within the ISS have failed, NASA says. As a result, astronauts will undertake space walks beginning this weekend to repair the valve and get the station running at full speed once again.NASA will outline it plans for the mission at 3 p.m. Eastern today, Dec. 18. In a statement last night, the agency said two astronauts will venture out on spacewalks on December 21, 23, and 25 to swap in a spare part....

Media Platforms Design TeamRKK Energia, the manufacturer of the Soyuz spacecraft and the prime contractor on the Russian part of the International Space Station, quietly published in its annual report last week details on an innovative inflatable space habitat.Wrapped into multilayered synthetic skin instead of metal, the expandable module could be attached to the Russian part of the International Space Station and inflated like a beach ball, providing greater comfort for the crew and extra room for yet-to-be-disclosed experiments, RKK Energia’s report said....

Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $65All of my guitar straps have been hand-me-downs from my dad. They still smell like his parents’ attic but have aged well in the 40 years since he bought them. But there are only two, so I was a bit lost when I found myself with a new guitar and no more straps hidden in damp storage. I decided the best solution was to stick with what I know and get one in the same pattern as one of the 1970s straps—either Neil Young peace signs or Duane Allman stained glass....