Media Platforms Design TeamToday rental car giant Avis Budget announced its entry into the world of car sharing: It’s buying Zipcar. Although Zipcar has yet to turn a profit in its 12-year history, reporting a net loss of over $7 million in 2011, Avis plans to purchase the company and its fleet of more than 10,000 cars for approximately $500 million in cash, a 49 percent premium over the company’s closing stock price at year’s end....
The race against time continues for researchers trying to predict the avian flu virus’s potentially deadly next move—and learn how to defend against it. Scientists at Scripps Research Institute have been analyzing the strain of H5N1 originally isolated from a Vietnamese boy two years ago, and found that relatively minor mutations can result in switching its binding site preference from the intestinal tract of birds to the respiratory tract of humans....
Media Platforms Design TeamElectric vehicle buyers have a new reason to feel conflicted about their forward-thinking purchases, thanks to a recent study which suggests EVs are potentially more polluting than their gas-powered counterparts.According to The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the environmental ramifications of EVs from well to wheel are significant. The study took into account all factors along the lifecycle of an electric vehicle, from the toxic battery ingredients like nickel and copper to the energy sources which power the grids that ultimately charge the cars’ batteries....
Media Platforms Design TeamCredit: flickr / futureatlas.comLots of drivers out there probably didn’t know (or care) that gasoline is blended differently for summer or winter. Recently, though, that issue has been capturing headlines, thanks to a showdown in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown wants to allow the early use of the so-called winter-blend gas in a play to bring down spiking gas prices in the Golden State. The price of gas is a confusing, convoluted issue....
According to The Intercept, more and more sensitive defense equipment items are showing up on Craigslist, eBay, and online military surplus sites. Much of the haul amounts to thermal imaging binoculars and night vision equipment, some of which was previously reported as having been sold by the manufacturer, BAE Systems, in Pakistan.The equipment largely comes from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, which has been criticized for a lack of oversight and budget inflation....
Media Platforms Design TeamWith its tall roofline, obviously thick skin and fender-mounted flag stanchions, there’s no mistaking the president’s new limousine for any other stretched Cadillac DeVille. If you’re still not sure, read the license plate.On the final Monday of Bill Clinton’s presidency, the White House and the chief executive prepared for a five-day visit with an imposing visitor, one that would soon become a trusted regular in George W. Bush’s administration....
Media Platforms Design TeamEver get the feeling that text messaging makes your cellphone bill just a little too expensive? A British space researcher, of all people, might finally have an answer for that end-of-the-month jawdrop. Assuming the average price to send a text is 10 cents and the message itself is about 140 bytes in size, Dr. Nigel Bannister calculated that texting costs about $749 to send just one megabyte (MB)....
A recent DNA study conducted in New York City’s subway system turned up a lot of surprising finds—and in its own way, pointed to the need of more robust genomic sequencing. Half the DNA found throughout the turnstiles, trains, and ticketing machines “matched no known organism.” But, as Sarah Zhang at Gizmodo points out, “The problem … is that our genetic libraries are still incomplete.” In other words, if we don’t have the genome of a cockroach (her example), we couldn’t accurately identify it....
Sharing the highway with distracted drivers can be frustrating. Sometimes you might even be inclined to cuss a bit. Which is what this Australian driver was doing, right up until his very blue tirade was interrupted by a brutal crash.The incident took place on the M4 Western Motorway in central Sydney last week, and was caught by the driver’s dashcam. You can hear him using some pretty nasty words on the phone to describe how reckless the other driver is, even complaining about the fact that he ran over a pair of glasses that flew out their window....
Somewhere in Oklahoma there is a strange, desolate, and fake city. It’s called “Liberty City"and it’s where the Homeland Security is trying to see if drones can be used for public safety purposes, like law enforcement. The existence of Liberty City was uncovered by some Freedom of Information requests that MuckRock filed in order to find out more about the Department of Homeland Security’s Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety (RAPS) program....
Jumbo Jerky Works Gun /// $19.99 Media Platforms Design TeamWe’re hard pressed to think of a more macho kitchen gadget than a gun that shoots beef jerky. Maybe one that makes beer at the same time. But then it would be multipurpose, and out of the scope of this article. The barrel of the Jerky Works Gun holds a whopping pound of meat, which means less refilling (reloading?) for you....
Media Platforms Design TeamLAS VEGAS—The CES news is heavy on two kinds of companies: Huge players, many with elephantine TVs (curved and 4K this year), and cool Kickstarter success stories such as Pebble Watch. But off in the corners of the show you can find startups with working prototypes and intriguing ideas, which are getting ready to launch crowd-funding campaigns in the coming weeks and months.1. Solar Cool Tech. This is a solar-powered beach cooler, which sounds mundane but is actually a big deal....
Media Platforms Design TeamAs the National Transportation Safety Board wrapped up a marathon 12-hour hearing this week on the July at San Francisco International Airport, in which three passengers were killed and 180 of 307 on board were injured, federal safety officials suggested that changes may be needed in the way pilots are trained to handle increasingly automated cockpits. They also suggested that the high injury toll might prompt changes in cabin design, as many of the injuries resulted from the chaos of the evacuation, malfunctioning emergency equipment, and loose seats....
Media Platforms Design TeamRyca Motors co-owners Casey Stevenson (near right) and Ryan Rajewski design and build most of the parts found in their CS-1 café-racer conversion kit. (Photographs by Chris McPherson)Take a look around the hippest neighborhoods across the country and you’ll see motorcycles that look like something out of an old Steve McQueen movie—retro, minimalist, and tough. These bikes revive the 1960s café-racer look made popular when European kids stripped down their small-displacement bikes to zip from one café hangout to another....
Media Platforms Design TeamTom Magliozzi’s 1952 MG Roadster has finally bit the dust. His brother, Ray, tired of repairing the old jalopy, says it’s time for something new. But neither wants just any four-wheeled conveyance: The hosts of NPR’s most popular program, Car Talk, want their new ride to be fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly and just as fun to drive as Tom’s beloved British classic. Their quest is the subject of next Tuesday’s hour-long NOVA special on PBS, “The Car of the Future,” which covers the most promising new automotive technologies—from battery-power to biofuels, cellulosic ethanol to hydrogen—in a way that’s more wondrous drive than watered down....
Media Platforms Design TeamMARBELLA, Spain — Though it won’t be coming to the United States for at least a couple of years, Subaru unveiled its all-new, 2.0-liter four-cylinder boxer diesel here this week. “This is the first diesel engine of this configuration ever installed in a production passenger car,” says Hirofumi Senoo, Subaru’s general manager for testing and development in Europe. The new, horizontally-opposed four-banger is rated to produce around 150 hp and 258 lb....
Media Platforms Design Team NEW YORK — The pundits were right: Pontiac is finally committed to building a hard-top version of its Solstice roadster, and the curvy coupe should further the success of GM’s pint-size sports car. A GXP version of the coupe was unveiled today at the New York Auto Show, while future plans also include a normally aspirated model. Open-air aficionados should be pleased to know that the coupe won’t have a fixed roof—there’s a targa-like removable roof panel....
Media Platforms Design TeamBERLIN—Audi’s presentation for its new A1 claims that it is the only car in the premium supermini sector of the market. Surely this is some mistake? Once the marketing mullahs were put back into the rubber room, more steady heads admitted that this new baby Audi faces tough competition from, amongst others, BMW’s Mini Cooper and Citroën’s new DS3, although only the former is available in the U....
Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: NowPrice: $21,990 to $26,660Competitors: Honda CRV, Toyota RAV, Subaru Forester, Ford Escape, Hyundai Tuscon, Kia Sportage, Chevrolet Equinox Powertrains: 2.0-liter I-4, 155 hp, 150 lb-ft; 2.5-liter I-4, 184 hp, 185 lb-ft; 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic, FWD or AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 25-26/31-35 (2.0-liter), 24-25/30-32 (2.5-liter)What’s New: The news for the 2014 model of this driver-pleasing compact crossover is that Touring and Grand Touring models, whether front- or all-wheel-drive, now use the 184-hp, 2....
Media Platforms Design TeamIf you simply can’t imagine life on the go without an internet connection, you’re probably keen on the recent news that Audi’s new A3 will be the first vehicle in the U.S. to offer in-car 4G LTE connectivity. The system, which taps into AT&T’s cellular network to power the car’s built-in features like Google Earth, weather forecasting, and fuel price info, will also enable Wi-Fi hotspots with blazing download speeds of up to 100 Mbps– faster than most home internet connections....
