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Media Platforms Design TeamGardeners know they need to weed, water, and prune for a healthy, vibrant garden. What they might forget, says Gary Heilig, horticulture educator at Michigan State University Extension, is some soil TLC. “When we grow something in the soil and harvest it, we’re always taking nutrients out,” he says. The changes may be imperceptible initially, but eventually you’ll find your plants are smaller, more susceptible to problems, and maybe discolored and misshapen....

By now your collective splinters should be removed, the sawdust swept up, the last bit of lacquer applied, and your plywood projects proudly at work or on display. Good job, all of you. Our first-ever Home Workshop Challenge asked you to construct something out of a single 4 x 8–foot sheet of plywood. Some people relied on CAD software, some people seemed to have no prior experience operating a saw. We were impressed by all of them....

Media Platforms Design TeamDrones aren’t just military devices and hobbyist passions. As it turns out, cartels are using the unmanned aerial vehicles for a pretty insidious purpose: smuggling drugs high in the sky. And some of those drones crash down, as indicated by a drone crashing near the Mexico-California border, weighed down by six pounds of crystal meth. The drone was a DJI Spreading Wings s900. Media Platforms Design TeamIn 2012, at least 150 drones were reported to make dashes for the border, drugs in tow, and they’ve also been used to smuggle drugs into prison....

The TRAPPIST-1 system is made up seven roughly Earth-sized planets orbiting a dwarf star around 39 light-years away and is often hailed as the most likely place for life outside our solar system that we know of. A new study offers further insight into each TRAPPIST planet’s biological properties and the signs are encouraging.The new research comes from scientists around the globe, including University of Bern in Germany, the Sorbonne in France, Cambridge, NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and others....

Feel the burn. Muscle burn, that is. We’ve been spending a few months with the 3G Stepper—a fitness bike that takes the stationary stair step trainer to the streets. It’s the brainchild of 3G founder Gary Silva, and it’s a concept that has us asking, “What took you so long?” The Stepper is a great innovation for anyone who wants a low-impact exercise without the hassles and expense of a gym membership....

Private Derby XXX, a Swaledale ram, was officially recognized for “good behavior” and promoted to the illustrious rank of lance corporal at a recent event celebrating the eight-year anniversary of the Mercian Regiment, the British Army regiment for which the majestic horned beast serves as mascot.Lance Corporal Derby XXX, who is considered a soldier, may now wear a stripe to signify his new rank. The ram joined in February 2014, and is the 30th in a line of mascot rams, thus the “XXX” surname....

You cannot rent a car on the island of Bermuda. What you can rent is a Twizy.The Renault Twizy is a road-legal electric minicar with scissor doors and delusions of grandeur. This quadricycle went on sale in Europe in 2012 and just recently came to Bermuda, where, prior to its arrival, a tourist’s only means of motorized self-locomotion was to rent a moped and pray to their own particular god.The Twizy is a silly island novelty....

A large part of Antarctica is about to become an iceberg, according to new images from NASA. An chunk of ice twice the size of New York City is close to breaking off from its ice shelf, and when it goes it could destabilize the entire shelf, taking millions of tons of ice along with it.The Brunt Ice Shelf in West Antarctica has been monitored by NASA for years, and scientists first started to grow concerned after a large crack started to grow eastward....

Media Platforms Design TeamA 12-foot-long picnic basket blocks the road ahead of us, a towering bottle of cabernet jutting from the top and ants the size of kindergartners scaling the wicker sides. As the basket sits in traffic, a herd of human giraffes—spotted tights, papier-mâché heads—sweeps by. Then from behind comes the sound of clanking metal. I turn around to confront a silver sea monster on wheels. Front-mounted lobster claws chomp hungrily, dragon jaws on the roof open wide, and a long tongue of flame scorches the sky....

Disney has ramped up its robotics game this year, and now it seems to be going out with a bang, debuting this adorable wall-climbing robotic car. The VertiGo utilizes central propellers to distribute its weight and climb both up and down walls, making it a buggy that utilizes commercial drone technology. The thing can also move wicked fast on the ground. The propellers provide an additional thrust that helps the vehicle scale a wall....

Media Platforms Design TeamForty-nine people were killed when Comair Flight 5191, a 50-seat commuter jet, crashed just outside Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. (Photograph by AP/Wide World Photos)This holiday season, much of the blame for record air travel woes has focused on overcrowding in the skies. But a close look at a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals what may be a more pressing concern: crashes on the ground....

Media Platforms Design Team Former film giant (now digital middleweight) Kodak just launched a handful of cameras today at CES. Amongst the new digital imaging devices was an interesting take on the digital video camera. Following in the footsteps of the enormously popular Flip video cameras, Kodak last year announced the ZI6, a pocket-sized video recorder that was the first to offer HD resolutions at a dirt-cheap price. Flip followed suit later in 2008 with its own HD pocket videocam, and now HD video is no longer just a plaything of the well-healed....

Media Platforms Design TeamEver wonder what becomes of all the tools we test after we’re done with them? Sometimes our back room overflows with table saws and cordless drills, but happily, it doesn’t stay that way. In most cases we get to oversee their donation to a charity, giving these hard-working pieces of power equipment a second life.The manufacturers who have been good enough to submit their tools to our scrutiny are also good about volunteering their equipment to a worthy cause, regardless of whether or not they were happy with the review....

POPULAR MECHANICS contributor Ben Hewitt will keep readers updated online as he researches a series of print articles for the magazine on alternative-energy technologies–using his own home as a test lab. Hewitt and his family live off the electrical grid in northern Vermont; in the coming months they will be experimenting with ways to improve their lifestyle, while reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. – The EditorsIt’s been a while since I responded to any questions/comments, so that’s the order of the day....

At 4:57 a.m. EST this morning, Elon Musk tweeted out the first images of the Falcon Heavy’s completed first stage at Cape Canaveral, all three rocket cores bolted together in a row. Each booster has been test fired individually, and after affixing the second stage and completing full assembly of the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX plans to stand that 230-foot sucker up for a static fire test of all 27 Merlin rocket engines before the end of the year....

You pull into your driveway, take a loving look at the new convertible and realize: Buying it was the fulfillment of a dream. It’s been great fun driving it this summer and fall, but winter is approaching and there’s no way you’re going to drive it on snow and subject it to corrosive road salt–so you face the problem of storing it until late next spring.A 2- to 4-month driving season followed by eight to 10 months of storage is something many car enthusiasts go through every year....

Tesla Energy’s distributed energy software, Autobidder, is similar to automated stock traders. Elon Musk’s rapidly constructed South Australia battery farm is run with Autobidder.Distributed systems let individuals share the “leftovers” of things like computing power and energy.Could your next electrical bill be payable to Elon Musk? A Tesla Energy software asset called Autobidder may allow customers and providers alike to exchange energy capacity.Tesla says Autobidder is what runs its new and very successful battery farm in South Australia....

Considering they’re receptacles we carry on our backs and use to house our valuable belongings on the regular, we ought to give backpacks a lot more thought. And it doesn’t matter whether you commute every day or just tote bags whenever you travel, you need a sturdy one that won’t give up on you when you’re rushing for the next train, and you need to trick it out with organization accessories so your stuff won’t be a heap of tangled mess....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen the Soviets were thinking about landwar in the late 1970s, they struck upon idea: How about strapping as many rockets as possible to a T-72 tank chassis, and using it on the battlefield? Thus, the TOS-1 Heavy Flamethrower System was conceived. If you’re confused by the “flamethrower” bit in that designation, it’s understandable. The TOS-1 (and its more modern variant, the TOS-1A) look nothing like traditional flamethrowers, either handheld or tank-mounted, used in World War II and other conflicts....

Molten lava that poured into the ocean during the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea’s 2018 eruption kicked off a massive algae bloom. Unlike harmful red algal blooms, green algae forms the base of the ocean food chain and promotes growth in marine ecosystems. Half of the world’s oxygen supply comes from algae, or phytoplankton.Kilauea volcano’s 2018 eruption devastated Hawaii. Lava tore through neighborhoods and farms, destroying more than 700 homes and covering 13 square miles of land in slabs of dark volcanic rock....