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Hot Clutch WoesQ: I have a 1995 Celica ST Liftback with 245,000 miles on it. It has been having transmission problems (or at least I think it’s the transmission) for about the last year. After long interstate drives (say 45 miles) at 75 mph, the clutch pedal becomes very “spongy.” It engages near the bottom of the throw, close to the floor, but most of the time I can still shift gears....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team A key was once one of the simplest devices you could own. No more. Today’s automotive keys are no longer just the simple piece of stamped steel you spend a buck to get duplicated at the neighborhood hardware store. Even the most stripped-down econocar is likely to come with a keyless entry system using encrypted digital hardware. And more expensive models eliminate traditional keys all together, replacing them with a fob and an electronic “Start” button on the dash....

Ingolstadt, Germany.—Somewhere in the ether of recent history, during the hybrid automobile’s baby steps of development, a jaded marketing man and a frustrated middle manager met in a florescent-lighted, windowless room and decided fun should be sacrificed at the altar of efficiency. On that day, the hybrid car was made an appliance. Of course, the idea that fun and efficiency cannot happily coexist is just plain silly. Cars like the Honda CR-Z and Chevy Volt are slowly chipping away at that notion, but the Audi A1 E-Tron is a prototype car that completely demolishes it....

Boeing is working on bringing a real working force field to military vehicles, using plasma to deflect shockwaves from explosions. It may not be the stuff of Starfleet just yet, but the shield — outlined in a patent application called “for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc” — could save some lives nonetheless.An sensor onboard a land vehicle equipped with this technology would sense the blast. The system would then use an arc generator to create a protective energy barrier, changing the air around it to lessen the impact of an explosion’s shockwave through temperature variations and air density changes....

Media Platforms Design TeamCasio’s hot new S100 flagship calculator will sell for just slightly more than the price of an iPhone with a two-year contract. And for that money you’ll get a beautiful four-function calculator that also can—nope, just kidding it’s actually just a four-function calculator. Released on the 50-year anniversary of Casio’s first calculator with built-in memory, the S100 has no internet connection, no apps, no wireless connectivity, but it does have craftsmanship....

Media Platforms Design TeamJust this afternoon we heard that Uber is taking on Google by working to build driverless cars. Well, it turns out that Google is also taking on Uber—it’s working on a cab service.According to Bloomberg, the cab service probably will use the driverless cars currently under development at Google. Bloomberg’s source says the ride-sharing service is already being tested and used on the Google campus right now.Making this even stranger is that Google is already a big investor in Uber....

The choice between an electric, single, two, or three stage snow blower can be confusing. Here’s how to find the one that best fits your abilities and the needs of your home.To find your ideal match you need to consider your property size, typical snow accumulation and the benefits of each type of snow blower. Here’s a great article about how snow throwers work.Electric and Cordless Snow BlowersFor light-duty clearing of 2 to 4 inches of snow, a corded electric or cordless snow blower can be the best solution....

Since I did my last story debunking hydrogen-on-demand, documenting an NBC Dateline story I participated in, my e-mail has been relatively free of the hydrogen-gadget feeding frenzy. Within a few weeks of that story last spring, the number of people vilifying me and accusing me of being in the employ of Big Oil was remarkably high.Now, maybe because the price of gasoline has come down, people aren’t so desperate. And as everyone is trying to weather the economic storm, it seems there’s no time or energy left over to try to circumvent the laws of physics....

The design and materials of Tour de France bicycles have more in common with airplanes than the Huffy a kid rides to the park. “We optimize every single aspect of the bike,” says Jim Felt, founder of Felt Bicycles, which outfits professional cyclists around the world. Rider David Zabriskie (pictured on next page) works with Felt and his team, Garmin-Slipstream, to keep his 16-pound bike studded with innovations. “A lot of guys don’t like changing,” Zabriskie says....

Media Platforms Design Team Recharging in front of City Hall in San Francisco, California (Image by Clayton Cornell at Gas2.org) The folks at Gas2.0 reported that San Francisco will install electric-vehicle recharging stations in front of City Hall. (Mayor Gavin Newsom wrote in to Gas2.org as well—“I believe that full battery electric vehicles are the quantum leap we need to make,” he says.) Plug-in recharging stations is a critical first step in the adoption of electric vehicles....

Media Platforms Design TeamBritish luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce released the first teaser image of their new Wraith luxury coupe today. Set to make its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Rolls isn’t announcing specifics at this point. But amidst their enigmatic descriptions of its “extraordinary power and dynamic promise,” two tangible details stand out: it’s named after the 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith, and more importantly, will be “most powerful Rolls-Royce in history....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt has to be depressing to be a Russian space scientist interested in the Red Planet. In more than half a century, Russia has made about 20 attempts to send probes to Mars, with almost no success whatsoever. Missions have failed to get into space at all, gotten stuck in earth orbit, flown past the planet instead of going into orbit, lost contact, hit the planet too hard....

11:00pm Sunday March 19, Frostproof, Florida–Those of us who have spent a lot of time around pro-series racetrack paddocks are more than familiar with diesel machinery–just about every racing car arrives at the track in a tractor-trailer that runs on diesel fuel, and when the wind is right you’ll be reminded of it. Phew.This 54th running if the Sebring 12 Hours endurance race is the beginning of a sea change in automotive technology....

Andrew Rosenblum at Popular Science has a great story on how the Shaper, a clever smart router that corrects for your shaky hands, took shape.Initially a project of MIT grad Alec Rivers and partner Ilan Moyer, the tool had an interesting purpose: Just as a 3D printer takes a computerized design and builds a three-dimensional item out of it, the Shaper could take a piece of raw material, seek input from computer software, and cut a 3D shape out of it....

You could put $50,000 toward the downpayment for a house, but why throw your money away like that when you could plunk it down to hunt a specially bred mutant animal on a ranch in South Africa?Yes, you read that correctly. According to a Bloomberg report, ranchers like Barry York find animals with different-than-normal appearances, capture them, and breed them, with the hopes that their variations will pass on to offspring....

Media Platforms Design TeamCameron Robertson and Todd Reichert got their $30,000. Now it’s time to see if they can make history.Earlier in June we covered the two-man team attempting to build a human-powered helicopter called Atlas and pursue the Sikorsky Prize. It’s a DIY aviation objective that’s gone unrealized for 30-plus years: Get a human-powered helo off the ground for one minute, and reach an altitude of three meters. Last week Atlas reached its Kickstarter goal, meaning the project will be funded and the guys—who already built a human-powered ornithopter—can get down to business in the shop....

A Roomba that mows your lawn just cleared a legal hurdle that means they could soon be out on the prowl for grass.iRobot, the company that makes the little Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners that wander about collecting dirt from the floor, received regulatory approval from the FCC to sell a robotic device that mows lawns. The automated lawnmower design uses stakes that act as signal beacons, that talk to the device so that it knows where it is, where it’s going, and where it shouldn’t go....

Airline passengers abroad could soon find themselves sitting in chatter class. In the past two weeks, regulatory authorities and individual airlines in Europe have taken steps to allow in-flight cellphone use–not that you’ll be able to phone home while flying over the United States anytime soon. The British equivalent of the Federal Communications Commission approved on Monday all non-3G mobile calls aboard aircraft registered in the United Kingdom, although the country’s civil aviation authority would likely need to approve each airline’s plans for how it would work....

For years, computer systems have been made of silicon processors and memory chips arranged so they sit next to each other on a single layer. Intricate wiring connects the components so data can be computed on the processors and then stored on the memory chips. The problem is that this configuration sends digital signals on a longer route than is ideal, and there are common problems with bottlenecking—too much data trying to travel the same circuits simultaneously....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn Sale Date: Now Price: $92,900 Competitors: Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, Land Rover Range RoverPowertrains: 4.4-liter turbocharged V-8, 555 hp, 500 lb-ft; 6-speed autoEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 12/17 What’s New: BMW holds to the X6 M’s bold bruiser roots, with little meddling beneath the skin of this high-performance crossover SUV. For 2013, the X6 M receives an imposing “power dome” hood, reshaped kidney grilles, a squintier set of headlights, and reworked taillamps....