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Can you tell me what impact a lead additive will have on my unleaded engine? My neighbors and I found empty containers of lead additive at the curbs on several streets.Lead (in the form of tetraethyl lead) was an integral part of the blending of gasolines between the ’20s and ’70s. It boosted octane ratings and quite unexpectedly acted as a lubricant for valve seats. When lead was mandated out for emissions reasons, cars were soon manufactured with hardened valve seats and lead was no longer necessary....

Media Platforms Design TeamForensic analysis can help finger a criminal or track down a long-lost relative, but in recent years it has increasingly been used to trace non-human animals, too. Now, DNA detective work could help protect endangered sharks from overfishing, according to scientists mapping the genetic signatures of shark populations around the world.Humans kill up to 73 million sharks a year, according to a 2006 estimate, mostly to feed appetites for shark fin soup....

Yesterday, PopMech noted that there was nothing inherently unusual about the fact that the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had a flight simulator in his home. But as Malaysian investigators look more deeply into the pilot’s background, his particular simulator is looking a little more suspicious. The New York Times reported this morning that data records dating back to Feb. 3 have been deleted from the simulator, and they are currently trying to recover this information....

The first man on the moon passed away this weekend near his home in Cincinnati. Neil Armstrong, known for the immortal words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” when he first stepped on the moon on July 20, 1969, died at 82. His family said it came as the result of complications from a cardiovascular procedure. Buzz Aldrin, who accompanied Armstrong on that history-making Apollo 11 moonwalk, issued this statement:“I am very saddened to learn of the passing of Neil Armstrong today....

Media Platforms Design TeamNeptune’s newly discovered 14th moon was there in the pictures all along. It just took Mark Showalter to see it.Showalter, an astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, was studying archival photos that the Hubble Space Telescope snapped of Neptune between 2004 and 2009. On July 1, while trying to get a better look at the faint rings of the eight planet from the sun, he spotted a diminutive dot appearing over and over again in the images....

Media Platforms Design Team1) How much does Osama bin Laden’s death impact al-Qaida’s ability to strike international targets?This is the central question, and President Obama made the administration’s line pretty clear: “The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaida.” But this is hyperbole—the biggest blow to al-Qaida was the invasion of Afghanistan and removal of the Taliban who hosted them....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sale Date: NowBase Price: $4999Competitors: NonePowertrain: 900-cc I-3, 60 hp or 90 hpFuel Economy (est.): 1.94 gallons per hour What’s New: The all-new Sea-Doo Spark just might be the world’s first retro personal watercraft (PWC). Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the sales peak for these watercraft, just about every one on the market was small, nimble, and weighed about half as much as the typical PWCs do today....

Back in early April, the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff mentioned that the service will always need good pilots “who want to come in and fly the F-22, the F-35, the X-Wing fighter.” Now, Gen. Mark Welsh may not have been meant that the Air Force is building a real life X-wing. But the service and its contractors are very seriously working on another part of Luke Skywalker’s fighter: laser cannons....

A friendly YouTube user known as carsandwater built quite the following by dropping a red-hot nickel ball onto a number of different substances—a block of ice, a watermelon, ballistic gel—to see what happens. In his latest experiment, he moves on to everyone’s favorite terrifying substance, thermite.He drops a 5-pound gummy bear into an old paint tin and fills the rest of the container with an equal amount of thermite. Then he slips in a wick, ignites it, and steps back for the show....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s often a long and expensive haul for fleet operators and truckers. While passenger cars and trucks are getting more efficient to meet new mpg standards, it’s not easy to raise the fuel economy of a big rig. And while there are a few aimed at helping heavy-duty-vehicle manufacturers increase their fuel efficiency, it can be tough for smaller fleet owners to install their own cost-saving measures.large-scale initiativesThey need a smaller, simpler solution, such as the Eco-Flap....

Media Platforms Design TeamWater-powered cars continue to be the largest single topic taking over my in box–and the Comments section of this website. And it’s not just my recent column on the truth about water-chugging prototypes. This trend has become an obsession with many backyard inventors, and some of them have become quite strident, insisting that if I knew anything at all about cars, I’d be embracing this technology. They say it could help change the world as we know it....

“Body-Connected Bike"Media Platforms Design TeamPatent Number: 6,805,657 B2Date of Patent: Oct. 19, 2004 This idea takes two separate wheels and connects them with a body. The front wheel has a set of handlebars centered through the middle of the wheel, and the back has a small platform on which the rider can kneel. When mounted, the end result looks like a low-tech version of the Tron Light Cycle. “Sealed Crustless Sandwich"Media Platforms Design TeamPatent Number: 6,004,596Date of Patent: Dec....

Media Platforms Design TeamNo Easy Day, the controversial first-hand account of the that killed Osama bin Laden, doesn’t just provide a minute-by-minute description of the famous May 2011 operation. The book by SEAL Team Six member Matt Bissonnette (who wrote under the pseudonym Mark Owen before his true identity was revealed) also gives a wealth of fascinating information about what the Navy’s elite commandos carry along on a mission. Navy SEAL raidBissonnette is clearly careful not to reveal details about classified technology that SEAL Team Six (also called DEVGRU) used....

All it took was one vote in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, and Pluto was no longer a planet. Depending on who you ask, this was either a long time coming or a declaration of war.Nine years later, as New Horizons becomes the first spacecraft to fly past Pluto, the wounds are still fresh. But look: It doesn’t matter whether you call Pluto the p-word or not. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this is a fascinating world with fascinating neighbors in a strange faraway part of the solar system that deserves more of our attention....

The Great Firewall is out. The Great Cannon is in. As the name would suggest, China’s efforts to censor the Internet have gone from the defensive to the offensive—intercepting foreign web traffic and attempting to insert malicious code into a user’s system.The highest-profile use of this technology that we’ve heard of so far has been to redirect advertiser traffic intended for the Chinese search engine Baidu into a DDoS attack against GitHub....

VALENCIA, Spain — When the 2008 C-class lineup arrives in Mercedes-Benz showrooms this summer, the bodies of both the high-performance Sport and more traditional Luxury model series will feature greater length, width and wheelbase measurements—improvements that translate into greater space all around inside the cabin. Thanks to high-strength materials, C-class body structure is 16-percent stronger in torsion, and curb weight is lower by about 18 lbs.But that increase in body strength is not just a number: You can feel it, just as we did in driving the C-class through the mountains here last week on an unusually windy day....

One of my first mechanic jobs was replacing the valve-stem oil seals on the original VW Sciroccos. It was quite a common job as it happens. Apart from the distinction of working on the acme of small sport coupes at the time, the glamour quotient was sent skyward one day by the presence of two ticket stubs for the previous week’s Duran Duran Girls On Film concert in London. Vicarious hedonism like that didn’t come much better in the hillbilly hell of Norfolk where I happened to live....

On Sale Date: NowPrice: $18,060–$23,310Competitors: Scion TC, Mini Cooper, VW BeetlePowertrain: 1.6-liter four-cylinder, 138 hp at 6,300 rpm; 123 lb-ft. at 4850 rpmEPA Fuel Economy (city/highway): 28/40 mpg (manual) 29/38 (automatic)What’s New: The 1980s are back. No, we’re not talking about mesh half shirts, Flock of Seagulls haircuts or guys named Blaine. It’s the hatchback that has returned—the most practical automotive body design this side of a station wagon. Throughout the 1990s and most of the 2000s, Americans preferred sedans—cars with proper trunks and formal rooflines....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamLess than 50 days before its expected “stand up” opening, the Air Force Cyber Command (AFCC)—a program expected to help lead the U.S. military’s counterattacks against cyberwarfare—has been suspended amidst reorganization at the Pentagon. When Popular Mechanics visited the provisional unit’s temporary home at Barskdale Air Force Base in Lousiana earlier this year, officers were gearing up for distributed-force operations with some 8,000 onhand to extend the Air Force’s modified mission to “dominate cyberspace....

Media Platforms Design Team1. IN THE DERRICKA top-drive motor in the 160-foot derrick can apply 25,000 foot-pounds of torque to the drill string. The rig can drill through 20,000 feet of rock. 2. HULL GEOMETRYThe Kulluk is 24-sided, nearly round, and flares out below the waterline. The shape helps it shed ice but makes the rig hard to tow. 3. SPREAD ANCHORSThe Kulluk is anchored above the well by a dozen 3....