Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamIn an attempt to make its lane departure and forward/rear collision alert system more discreet, Cadillac found that the best way to their driver’s minds is through the seat of their pants.Rather than grab the driver’s (not to mention the passenger’s) attention with an audible beep, Cadillac’s new XTS warns of wayward driving and potential impact by vibrating either (or both) sides of the lower bolsters. “The system,” an engineer told us, “works just like the motor [that vibrates] your cell phone; there’s a spinning rotor with a weight, only bigger....

Update, March 15, 2018: Monalisa Perez was sentenced to 90 days in jail for the accidental shooting of her boyfriend as part of a YouTube stunt, to be served in 10-day stints over the next three years. After Monalisa Perez accidentally shot and killed her boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz, while recording a stunt for their new YouTube channel, hand-wringers came out on social media to deride the young couple for being airheaded fame seekers....

Media Platforms Design TeamHONDA’S HAVING A FIT It’s simple: Honda has grown since its early days in the States. And so have its cars and their prices. So with the entry-level Civic now being more car and more money than many first-timers want and have, enter the Fit. The small five-door hatchback has a 109-hp Four and seats that flip, fold and disappear like magic (Honda calls them the Fit Magic Seat)....

The U.S. Air Force is investigating how to control unmanned drone from its latest fighter jets, the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and the F-15EX. The unmanned fighters would act as wingmen to manned fighters, scanning the skies for aerial threats. The program would also capitalize on the Air Force’s Skyborg artificial intelligence system and the new XQ-58A Valkyrie drone.Under the concept, future versions of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and F-15EX Eagle would be equipped with the hardware and software to control multiple semi-autonomous drones....

The dream of the “smart home” is tantalizing. What if your heat or A/C could turn on just ten minutes before you got home? What if your front door automatically unlocked when you were walking up? What if lights turned on and off as you walked from room to room? The reality? Busted and hilarious. Internet of Shit—a Twitter account devoted digging up the darker side of the fabled Internet of Things—dug up a truly wonderful and horrifying thread on Google support forums titled “Can’t sign in to Google calendar on my Samsung refrigerator....

A new concrete mix replaces 40 percent of cement with plentiful materials and byproducts.This formula reduces brittleness and “bounces back” more than traditional concrete.Using non-cement fillers may reduce environmental impact.Russian scientists have developed a new, more flexible form of concrete that could mean stronger, safer buildings and structures around the world, reports New Atlas. The secret is in the mix, where the scientists replaced 40 percent of the cement binder with plentiful, eco-friendly materials that increase the “give” and make the concrete both more ductile and elastic....

In the 2013 movie Europa Report, a crew of astronauts probes the ice of one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa, when (spoiler alert!) they run into lethal alien life. The scenario isn’t so far fetched, Arizona State University planetary scientist Jim Bell tells PM (at least not the part about looking for life on Europa).“It is, even more than Mars, the next closest place in the solar system besides the Earth where there could be not just life but complex life, because the ingredients are there,” he says....

For Tim Harney, a custom vehicle fabricator and designer, time spent working in his shop in Brooklyn, New York is his version of therapy. “When the world can be really messy, at least I’m figuring out something in there,” Harney says. Outside of his shop walls, Harney travels, ideates, and refocuses behind the two wheels of a motorcycle.Harney’s passion for bikes began at a young age, and today, he and his wife build, ride, and race them together....

It’s a cruel reality of liking cars. The few who will ever own something as fast as a Lamborghini or McLaren probably won’t be able to afford one until they’re older. But with age, the desire for swing-up doors and loud exhaust fades, replaced by practical needs, like trunk space and fuel efficiency. But no matter your age, if you’ve ever understood the appeal of driving something as outrageous as a Lamborghini, a sensible hybrid crossover doesn’t really cut it....

Japan and the United Kingdom are set to team up to create what would be the best air-to-air missile in the world, better than even the U.S. Air Force’s mighty AMRAAM. The missile is expected to become operational in the late 2020s, arming F-35 Joint Strike Fighters operated by both countries. It will be Japan’s first weapon developed with an ally other than the United States.Japan and the U.K. are both major military powers with their own bleeding edge research and development programs....

Media Platforms Design TeamOur ol’ pal,Jesse JamesMonster GarageHistory Of The Chopper West Coast ChoppersKen Juran of fame, hosts and narrates Discovery Channel’s tonight from 8 to 10 pm eastern time. In the 2-hour special, Jesse profiles the pioneers and the unsung heroes who revolutionized the custom chopper industry. He’ll explain when and how the chopper movement actually began (on the left coast, anyway) and why its popularity has grown significantly over the decades....

Many people in the electronics industry view the DigitalLife Show (going on now at New York City’s Jacob Javitz Center) as a sort of little brother walk-up to the Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Las Vegas every January. DigitalLife, however, offers one advantage that CES does not: This show is both open to, and meant for, the public, whereas CES is only for professional geeks. Popular Mechanics likes to attend and participate in both shows, and we have a soft spot for DigitalLife, since it is one of the few electronics expos that is big enough to attract big-name technology companies and yet small enough that you can walk the whole show in a day....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs the snowcapped peaks of the Colorado Rockies pirouette in the windshield, the g-forces begin to build. I am strapped into the left seat of an Adam A700, a snappy six-seat, twin-engine experimental jet, cranking it into a series of steep turns – left, right, left.I’m no jet pilot. Far from it, in fact. I’ve logged 1500 hours of flying time in small, single-engine prop planes, but that was some time ago....

As of October 29, 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe “holds the record for closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object,” according to NASA. Sounds impressive, right? And it is. Though it hasn’t had much competition. Over the last several decades space exploration has been focused on looking outward to the edge of the solar system and beyond. That is, away from the sun. Which is why the previous record for proximity to the suns has stood since 1976 when an American–West German joint project known as Helios 2 got within 27 million miles of our star....

North Korea’s most recent nuclear test was far more powerful than the U.S. government claimed. A new analysis of the 2017 test reveals it had an explosive yield of approximately 250 kilotons, or about fifteen times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The new estimate is dramatically bigger than previous North Korean nuclear tests, lending credence to claims that a thermonuclear device was tested.The 2017 device was part of a escalating series of nuclear tests, with each more powerful than the last....

Powermat Home & Office Charging Mat: $100Cellphones, iPods, cameras, Bluetooth headsets, portable game systems; the charging cords for all that gadgetry add up. Powermat purports to cut the cords–the charging mat uses magnetic induction to wirelessly power up to three devices that have been placed on the pad. Delivering power through magnetic induction isn’t really a new idea–it’s the same method of power transmission that’s long allowed electric toothbrushes to charge by merely laying them on a dock....

A California-based aerospace company is planning a launch from Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska (PSCA) on Kodiak Island sometime between March 27 and April 6, as reported by Space News. Alaska Aerospace Corp. which manages the launch facilities in Alaska, confirmed to Space News in an email that a suborbital launch called “P120” is taking place, the first commercial launch ever conducted from the Alaska spaceport.The U.S. Coast Guard also issued a “Local Notice to Mariners” on March 14, informing mariners of a rocket launch....

Dr. Robert Brewin, 32, is a senior scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratoryin Plymouth, England by trade, and self-described “keen surfer” on the side.In 2012, he had come across a paper detailing one of the major challenges of managing the health of precarious coastal ecosystems: a paucity of data about real-time water conditions. Shortly after, he and group of friends were driving up and own the beaches of Cornwall and Devon, known for their consistent and surfable breaks....

For generations, Texas has been a steady producer of fossil fuels like coal and crude oil. Now professors at Houston’s Rice University say that the state is uniquely positioned to shift entirely toward solar and wind energy. The state’s geography is particularly hospitable to renewable energy sources, says a new study authored by professors Joanna H. Slusarewicz and Daniel S. Cohan. They cite wind coming out of west Texas and the southern Gulf Coast, along with the abundant potential for solar energy throughout the state....

The U.S. Army just funded a startup developing a handheld radar system.The radar can “see” people through walls.The system bears more than a passing resemblance , in purpose and appearance, to the motion tracker from the film Aliens.The U.S. Army just awarded a quarter million dollars in funding to a startup working on a handheld sensor designed to detect people through walls. The Lumineye is a handheld device smaller than a tablet that uses radar technology to detect people, using radar waves that can pass through solid matter....