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Media Platforms Design TeamDRY RUN: The X-48B will undergo testing at NASA’s Dryden research facility in the Mojave Desert. (Photograph by Boeing)Boeing’s new X-48B is aviation stripped down to the basics — all wing, with no tail and no distinct fuselage. Slated to begin test flights this year, the Blended Wing Body (BWB) prototype measures just 21 ft. across but may herald an era of truly massive heavy lifters, with enough internal volume to hold vast amounts of cargo and as many as 800 passengers....

Researchers at Aerial Burton in Japan have created a way to project 3D images into mid-air, creating a floating sign without using a screen.The company creates the digital skywriting by firing a 1KHz infrared pulse laser into a 3D scanner. The scanner reflects and focuses the laser pulses to specific points in the air. From there, the molecules are ionized, which creates white dots in the air that you can see even in bright sunlight....

Media Platforms Design TeamPhotograph by Everett CollectionSo you just bought an HDTV. You laid down serious cash for your new set, upgraded your tuner box and hooked it all into your surround-sound system. Then you turned it on and tuned into a whole new era of disappointment. Those HD pictures don’t look as good as they should. The image breaks up into little blocks. Fast-moving objects aren’t crisp. And standard-definition TV programs look like garbage....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe 2012 Presidential campaign continues to heat up, and today President Obama used the auto business to take a direct strike against China by accusing them of using at least $1 billion worth of unfair subsidies between 2009 and 2011. The actions, according to Obama, “… directly harm working men and women on the assembly lines in Ohio and Michigan and across the Midwest.” The complaint, the third Obama has filed against China this year and the eighth overall, aims to protect the US auto industry’s sales in regions like Africa and Asia where Chrysler, Ford, and GM already sells cars but Chinese vehicles are emerging....

WOLFSBURG, Germany — This week VW revealed a number of changes fort he near future that will alter its marketing plans and technical offerings in the U.S. VW’s market focus for the next couple of years will be to a tidier model lineup with its vehicle features aimed more narrowly to specific markets. At the same time, VW models will offer more feature choices from upgrades in content and styling. Here’s the short-term to-do list:Major upgrade for the Touareg’s quality and engine offerings....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe fun, funky music and jaunty walk of the Halluc IIx hides a biomimcry secret: the cute little robot is named after one of the weirdest animals to ever walk the Earth. Or crawl. Or scoot. Or … something.The 14 legged spiny worm known as Hallucigenia sparsa, an animal that lived around 530 million years ago. It lived on the bottom of the ocean on legs more like tentacles than crab legs....

To paraphrase an old saw, “The electric car is dead; long live the electric car.” What might be the single most important piece of news to come out of the Detroit auto show this week is that the very company accused of killing and burying the electric car is bringing one to a dealership near you—probably before the end of this decade.Among the many concepts announced at Detroit and covered by everyone, the Chevy Volt has probably gotten the most attention....

Porous pavement allows rainwater to seep beneath the surface, into a gravelly, open-graded aggregate, where it’s distributed to the soil for plants to drink. When used on a large scale, such as in parking lots or in Chicago’s alleys, permeable concrete cleans oils and chemicals, controls storm-water runoff and recharges the groundwater supplies that we drink from.On the backyard scale, a good way to get started is to install porous paver blocks, such as Unilock’s Eco-Priora....

Media Platforms Design TeamHere’s one reason why space missions are so expensive: For every pound of payload launched into space, you’ve got to launch another 99 pounds, mostly in the form of fuel. As a result, it can cost $10,000 to put a pound of payload into Earth orbit.That’s a big problem for a long-term space missions to Mars or beyond, which would require bringing along incredible amount of fuel and supplies....

Nearly 770,000 Americans live near a volcano.Heavy ash falling after an eruption can cause serious lung irritation and shortness of breath (especially for people with asthma), as well as corneal abrasions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that people living in volcanic regions keep N-95 respirators and eye protection on hand for themselves and their families. 2. Each year, 36,000 people are injured by chain saws.The risk of injury greatly increases after a natural disaster, when bent, pinned branches from downed trees can strike people with enough force to cause injury or even death....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamANAHEIM, Calif. — A portable breath-testing device on display here at the DARPATech 2007 conference can supposedly detect a wide range of diseases, including breast cancer, by analyzing your breath. The air in your lungs contains over 3000 volatile organic compounds (or VOCs), with a fraction of those chemical byproducts correlating to diseases in the body. The Breath Collecting Apparatus 5.0 (BCA) samples your breath over the course of two minutes, and analyzes it on-site for specific VOCs....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor all but the purist vinyl-owning audiophiles, speakers have become wireless extensions of our phones, tablets, and laptops. A few swipes of a glowing screen are typically all you need to link your music library to a speaker. Right now, playing music loudly is cheaper and simpler than ever, but it takes some know-how to identify the best way to spend those hundreds of dollars.There are several options for wireless formats, and, unfortunately, committing to one generally means eschewing the others....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team This spring and summer there was a lot of speculation about Dell’s new ultraportable line of notebooks, rumored to be called the E-Series. Today, Dell launched its Inspiron Mini 9, the real name for its smallest web-surfing notebook, some models of which are shipping now. The big number that Dell’s been throwing around for the new Inspiron is $349—the price of the cheapest Mini 9....

Media Platforms Design TeamLast year, two teams of gamers co-authored a paper describing an HIV-related protein that had long stumped scientists. Not only did they puzzle out the protein’s elusive shape, they did it in just three weeks. Their scientific method: Play a multiplayer online game called .FolditProtein folding is one of the hardest computational problems in biology. The get-it-done chemicals of life, proteins power muscles, transport signals through the brain, and defend against germs....

Media Platforms Design TeamFRANKFURT — The always progressive Hyundai wowed the auto world today with the introduction of its third-generation hybrid, the i-Blue Concept. While we already knew this would be Hyundai’s first model designed from the ground-up to incorporate a fuel cell, it was the i-Blue’s amazing shape and grace that stunned the crowds here.The i-Blue Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) platform is tailored to incorporate Hyundai’s new fuel cell technology, powered by 100-kilowatt, 450-volt fuel cell stack fueled with compressed hydrogen stored in a 115-liter fuel tank....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s been a year and a half since we ran a brief review of the battery-powered Thermo-Cut Tape Gun from InnoDesk, but I have a confession to make: I’m seriously in love with anything that seals boxes. We originally wanted to prove that this tape gun was ridiculous—press the thumb button and a wire pops out, heats up and instantly burns through packing tape. At the time, I tested it, grunted, tested it again, nodded and grudgingly admitted that it worked as advertised, offering a cleaner cut than those vicious, tape-clogged teeth that make all other tape guns so problematic....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere’s ugly and then there’s hideous. We can all probably agree that this creation, called the Youabian Puma, is hideous.What exactly is the point of this monstrosity? The company says “to stand out and be unique”. Their pamphlet also states, “It was conceptualized for those individuals who dare to be different than the ordinary. Those who go a step beyond achieving and dreaming the best that they can be....

NASA’s Mars InSight lander was going to launch in March 2016 and begin studying seismic activity on the Red Planet. But a persistent air leak in one of its instruments has proven troublesome for the agency. So troublesome, in fact, that Brian Berger at SpaceNews says it will announce later today that the agency is scrapping plans for a March launch. The InSight lander was selected from the low-cost Discovery program proposals....

This Cessna plane crashed at Fort McMurray, Alberta, following a mid-air collision with another aircraft. As you can see in the video, firetrucks are already en route to intercept the plane. Shortly after the crash, the pilot ran from the plane and survived. While the Cessna 185 pilot was unharmed, the other plane wasn’t as fortunate. Both occupants of the plane were killed on impact. One of the planes involved in the accident was a training craft from McMurray Aviation....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe EquipmentA high-altitude balloon made of polyethylene fabric, the thickness of a dry-cleaning bag and filled with helium, will lift a capsule containing Baumgartner to near the top of the stratosphere. With a volume of 29 million cubic feet, it will span 600 feet across at altitude and stretch 600 feet tall. According to Kittinger, “We used a balloon 50 years ago because it was the most practical way to get up there, and it still is....