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After years of testing, laser weapons are starting to make their way into the U.S. military, on armored vehicles, helicopters, and boats. The appeal is obvious—lasers are invisible, silent, and most importantly incredibly cheap to fire. They’re a clear choice for jobs like taking down drones, so long as they’re strong enough to get the job done. And if you had any doubt, just watchi this test video of the 30-kilowattAdvanced Test High Energy Asset or ATHENA from Lockheed Martin:View full post on YoutubeThe footage is from a test in New Mexico last month, where ATHENA took out 5 unnmanned drones during target practice....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhere’s my jetpack? It’s a question so synonymous with pop futurism that it’s inspired a , a , and numerous annoyed letters to Popular Mechanics (sorry). The fact is there are working jetpacks. But one isn’t coming to the mass market to handle your daily commute anytime soon.TV TropebookThe idea has actually existed since the 1920s, when science-fiction pulp magazines imagined jetpack-wearing heroes. (James Bond would don his famous jetpack in 1965’s Thunderball....

Why is our gas grill so hard to light?—Larry R., Tallahassee, FloridaFirst, find out whether it’s a gas-flow problem or a spark problem. Try to light the gas as you would normally, but instead of pressing the piezo igniter button, use a long match or a long-reach butane lighter. If the grill lights and burns properly, you’ve got an ignition problem. It could be a worn-out spark module, a loose wire or other connection, a dead battery, corrosion or dirt on the igniter tip, or cracked porcelain on the igniter element....

The 2016 Nissan Leaf.NissanFor all the excitement in recent years about electric cars, the percentage of new car sales going to EVs in 2015 was less than one percent. With 25 plug-in models now on the market, the question is: What will it take for mainstream car buyers to make the leap from internal combustion to electrons? One obvious answer is: longer driving range.For the past five years, the world’s top-selling EV has been the Nissan Leaf, a compact hatchback that through late 2015 only provided about 80 miles of real-world driving range....

Buick introduces two higher-performance models in its four-door sedans for 2008, the LaCrosse Super and Lucerne Super. Both offer more powerful engines, plus ride and handling upgrades that promise to put more fun in Buick driving and remove some of the brand’s image as a “doctor’s car.” Super is a Buick name from the past, last used on the brand 50 years ago. —Jim DunneBuick LaCrosse SuperMedia Platforms Design Team LaCrosse Super comes equipped with a 5....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-sale Date: Summer 2013Base Price: $32,500 (eligible for $7500 Federal Tax Credit and $2500 California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project); 36-month lease terms of $199/month and $999 due at signingCompetitors: Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus EV, Honda Fit EV, Toyota RAV4 EVPowertrains: AC electric motor, 117 hp, 147 lb-ft; 24-kwh lithium-ion battery pack, direct drive, FWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 122/108 mpgeWhat’s New: Fiat has electrified the 500, ditching internal combustion in favor of a 117-hp electric motor powered by a 24-kwh lithium-ion battery pack....

Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: NowPrice: $42,810–$49,800Competitors: Acura RL, Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Cadillac STS, Lexus GS350, Infiniti M37, Mercedes E-ClassPowertrains: 3.7-liter V-6, 304 hp, 279 lb-ft; 3.5-liter turbocharged V-6, 365 hp, 355 lb-ft; six-speed auto, FWD or AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 17–19/25–27 What’s New: Freshened for 2013, the MKS is Lincoln’s biggest passenger car, offered with front- and all-wheel drive. It shares its structure, adaptive suspension, and powertrains with Ford’s Taurus....

Replace the Bundled Music Player With TuneWikiAndroid’s bundled Music program is fairly weak and clunky. Our suggestion: Ditch it and pick up TuneWiki off the Android Market. It’s easier to use than the bundled Music program, and has a lot more features (such as a fun karaoke function that searches for lyrics online and runs them with your song as it plays). Of course, you can download TuneWiki to any iPhone, but only if it is jailbroken and unlocked (which would void its warranty)....

Media Platforms Design TeamWe’ve been waiting for Apple to jump into the smartwatch world and hearing unending rumors that this will be the year. And now, if the company’s patent applications are to be believed, we could be getting a look at the design of the iTime smartwatch.The device will have a small touchscreen similar to an iPod Nano that can be docked into the strap, turning it into a smartwatch....

Media Platforms Design TeamLike many in the gaming community, we at PM were eagerly awaiting the launch of Assassin’s Creed, a gorgeously rendered new action title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Along with stunning graphics, it promised some of the most sophisticated artificial intelligence ever programmed into a mass-market game. Pedestrians, once mindless of your actions, can now react and help or hinder your assassin, Altair, as he runs through crowded city streets....

Most of the planet’s spacefaring countries have set up a semi-permanent habitat in the International Space Station, but China is insistent on doing its own thing. China’s Tiangong project is a work in progress, with the first iteration, a prototype called Tiangong-1, that spectacularly fell to Earth after China’s space agency lost control of it.The second iteration, Tiangong-2, is still a work in progress. A small section of the station is already in orbit, and a pair of astronauts visited in 2016, but right now it isn’t designed for long-term habitability and has sat unoccupied for two years....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn the future, dementia will be a puzzle. It will be curable, and the cure will come from Restorers—people from the Ether Institute of Telepathic Medicine who gather up the memories of people suffering from dementia.This is the world of Ether One, a new game from White Paper Games that is available on Steam. The premise sounds simple until it doesn’t: You, a Restorer, must plunge into the dementia-strewn memories of Jean Thompson, a 69-year-old woman (the Institute has scanned her brain to create 3D renderings of those memories)....

Fifty years ago, on June 3, 1965, Ed White floated out of the hatch of his Gemini space capsule, and became the first American to walk in space. He trailed Russian Alexey Leonov, the first spacewalker, by two and a half months. Both spacewalkers remained tethered to their spacecraft with umbilicals carrying life-giving oxygen as well as vital communications links to their crewmates and the ground.We’ve come a long way in 50 years....

If you have a Vizio smart TV, now would be a great time to disconnect it from the internet. The company will soon my paying a $2.2 million fine to settle charges that it used its TVs’ “smart” features to spy on owners, collecting their watching habits and selling the information to advertisers on the sly. From the FTC: According to the agencies’ complaint, starting in February 2014, VIZIO, Inc. and an affiliated company have manufactured VIZIO smart TVs that capture second-by-second information about video displayed on the smart TV, including video from consumer cable, broadband, set-top box, DVD, over-the-air broadcasts, and streaming devices....

Step one for saving energy is to install a programmable digital thermostat. In winter, dropping the indoor temperature 1 degree at night and during work hours can cut heating costs up to 3 percent, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Doing the reverse with the a/c in the summer can save 6 percent per degree. And, points out AIA small-projects expert Louis Smith, “You can do it with a screwdriver....

If your property is equipped with an automatic lawn-sprinkler system, it’s been busy all summer keeping your grass lush and green. Related Story9 Lawn Care Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)But now, as temperatures start to drop, it’s time to put the system to rest for the winter. Before the first frost appears, it’s important to drain all water from the system to prevent ice buildup, which could burst water-supply pipes, and damage sensitive valves and fittings....

Popular Mechanics: Who is the book’s intended audience?Andres Duany: This book is for regular folks—elected officials and citizens at all levels of planning. These are technical issues, but they’re not very difficult. To decide the location of a bike trail, or whether to allow solar collectors on roofs, citizens have to become utterly empowered, to realize: I am local government. To a great extent, everyone has experienced good and bad urbanism....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s that time of year again, when rampant speculation from fanboys, “inside sources” and journalists alike (over)anticipates another Apple product launch. On June 9, as everybody who follows this stuff knows, Steve Jobs is set to unveil the 3G update to the iPhone. (We’ll be live on-hand with all the details.)Now there are plenty of theories about how AT&T’s HSDPA network will effect the iPhone 2.0: Will the high-speed connection make the cellphone bulkier?...

All eyes are on Europa right now, with a dedicated NASA mission headed there in 2022, and the European Space Agency launching a more general Jupiter moon probe that will have a couple encounters with Europa that same year.But if these orbiters are the first step toward more widespread exploration of the ocean moon, they may reveal a giant complication. Like 50 foot spikes of ice jutting out from the crust of the moon....

If you missed the super blue blood moon everyone was talking about this week, don’t fret. You’ll have more chances within the next year to see cool lunar sightings—though you’ll be waiting until 2037 for all three factors to line up at the same time.A quick refresher on all these names: Last night much of the world saw a lunar eclipse, when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon and our planet’s shadow falls on Luna....