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Most of a superhero’s go-to powers are out of your reach. You will never have laser eyes, or an adimantium skeleton, or super speed, or ice breath. But you can make up for that with gadgets, just like everyone’s favorite bat-themed hero, and an absurdly effective grappling hook like this sure seems like the place to start. This grappling hook and repelling device was designed and built by a YouTuber who goes by “The Hacksmith” and who looks a little bit more like Captain America than Batman....

U.S. Space Command believes China is developing anti-satellite weapons.Chinese anti-satellite weapons could be used to target U.S. satellites in wartime.Although the U.S. government is working out a “playbook” to protect satellites, the best defense against satellite warfare could be the threat of retaliation.The commander of U.S. Space Command warns that China would likely target U.S. spy satellites in a future conflict and is very likely developing lasers designed to do exactly that....

The deepest parts of the ocean are tough places to live. There’s no light, the pressure will crush almost anything, and the temperature is impossibly cold. It’s remarkable that there’s anything alive that far down, yet somehow life finds a way.Recently, scientists probing the Mariana Trench—the deepest part of the ocean—discovered perhaps the world’s deepest fish swimming in the depths. Researchers from the University of Hawaii, Newcastle University, and the University of Washington discovered the fish swimming at over 26,000 feet below the surface, or over 5 miles down....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team While LED lights have longer lives, generate less heat and use less power than incandescent bulbs, their practical applications are still limited (chances are, you don’t know anybody with an LED-lit house). That’s because they’re expensive, with lots of tiny bulbs racking up large price tags. Furthermore, their sterile white light can make a home feel like a DMV office. But for flashlights–particularly the tiny drawer-size variety–LEDs are perfect–bright, long-lasting and more durable than shatter-prone incandescent bulbs....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt seems Nissan has the cure to all that ills your family: the Forum Concept minivan. Because families spend so much “together time” in their vehicles, Nissan designed the Forum to meet the needs and desires of grown-ups and kids alike by incorporating features and technology to enhance precious “quality time.” What that means, we have no idea. From a practical standpoint, the Forum provides a glimpse of what Nissan minivans could become, at least from a styling and feature set perspective....

📱Name: Pixel 4 | Display: 5.7 inch Full HD+ (2280x1080) | Battery: 2,800mAh |Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 | Storage: 64GB, 128GB | Camera: 12.2 MP and 16MP telephoto lens | Price: $800-$1000 (depending on model) Google Pixel 4Google Pixel 4Now 20% OffPre-Order NowEvery phone wants to be the future—it’s good business. Create a feature everyone wants, and you become the Next Hot Thing. With the Pixel 4, Google tried to take a few steps into the future....

A gorgeous new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows what a galactic collision looks like, as two galaxies merge and become a single galaxy known as NGC 5256, or Markarian 266.Markarian 266 is 350 million light-years away from Earth, located in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear), and it has been in the process of colliding for some time now. Astronomers have been studying the collision for decades....

A new Star Wars movie means new Star Wars ships, which means new builds to work on and perfect. The Last Jedi has only been out for a few days, but it is already inspiring YouTubers to recreate their own versions of the worlds brought forth by Rian Johnson. PeterSripol has created an RC version of Kylo Ren’s soon-to-be-iconic TIE Silencer.View full post on YoutubeIt takes some trial-and-error to get the Silencer flying, especially with all the back-loaded weight....

Media Platforms Design Team"It’s not a heap, dad. It’s a classic." That’s harder to justify when your classic muscle car won’t start. Nothing like a high-compression V8 combined with a battery that hasn’t seen a charge for a month and a half to make for slow cranking. Add in the indifferent, low-energy spark and incorrect ignition timing caused by worn-out points, and you’ve got an engine that won’t fire–oh, and wet spark plugs too....

Winter might feel far off, but when that first snowstorm hits, the last thing you want is to discover an issue with your heating system that you could’ve addressed sooner. Everyone knows proper maintenance is key to prolonging the life of any machine, and your home’s HVAC is no exception.If you aren’t sure exactly how to prepare your HVAC system for winter, fear not: We’ve compiled a handful of key tips and to-dos from the indoor comfort experts at Trane Residential to check off this fall....

I’m riding shotgun in a Ford Crown Vic when the driver, Greg Haas, pulls alongside the car in front of us. We’re doing about 30 mph. “Excuse me!” Haas calls over to the other driver, “Where is Walmart? You know Walmart? We’re looking for values!” Then he abruptly pulls out a pistol and starts firing. His gun isn’t real, any more than the bright red Glock that I’m holding just beneath the window, but damn if the adrenaline doesn’t start ripping once I raise my piece and join in the ambush....

Among the homes lost to the still-raging Camp Fire was that of legendary guitar builder Wayne Charvel, who produced guitars for Van Halen, ZZ Top, and Deep Purple. Inventor of the “superstrat” and pioneer of aftermarket guitar modifications, Charvel helped define the flashy look and punchy sound of an entire era of hard rock and metal. His shop was tangible proof of his legacy, filled with one-of-a-kind guitars in progress and vintage and homemade tools....

Ever wanted to control a giant crane? Hackers might be able to help you out. Cybersecurity experts at Trend Micro have shared an upcoming paper with Forbes that details the various ways in which commercial cranes are extremely susceptible to hacking attempts. The main vulnerability, the paper states, is that many cranes are controlled with devices that use ancient, proprietary wireless protocols. These protocols tend to contain vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit since they were designed at a time that safety was a higher priority than security....

Every now and then a car company will invite a few journalists to some frigid northern test facility to drive some new model that’s in the throes of cold-weather testing. And while it can be illuminating to learn how they keep the tires from shattering at 20 below, those testing grounds are normally off-limits to the public, and the cars there are months or years away from production. But Jaguar’s near-Arctic proving grounds, in Arjeplog, Sweden, is different....

A new molecular eye is letting government scientists continue their study of saltwater lithium-ion batteries.Research on lithium-ion batteries only gets bigger by the day, from fire safety to durability.Saltwater batteries could avoid many of these issues, but only more research will bear that out.Scientists from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) have used a new “molecular eye” to watch chemical reactions inside a battery in real time for the first time....

Media Platforms Design TeamIn less than two weeks, Mercedes will unveil its all-new GLK, a crossover vehicle that will join the G, GL, ML and R-Class in the company’s rapidly expanding stable of utility vehicles. Though it’ll be labeled as a concept, the Vision GLK Freeside is very “close to series production,” according to M-B. The GLK will feature a 168-hp, 2.2-liter four-cylinder Bluetec turbodiesel, which meets even the most stringent emissions standards here in the States, as well as a seven-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters and 4Matic all-wheel drive....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Droid 2 carries that all-new Android 2.2 operating system, while the Droid X carries 2.1. Both have 1-GHz processors and 512 MB of RAM. The main differences are the size, the keypad, the camera and, according to our test, speed. Browser Test When opening the stock Android browser and navigating to popularmechanics.com, the X beat the 2 by nearly 5 seconds. We then opened Google.com and TheOnion....

In the lead-up to this year’s Toy Fair, Hasbro has given Popular Mechanics an exclusive first look at four of its upcoming foam-flingers. Whether you’re looking for a powerful and practical Rival blaster or something more along the lines of a straight-up minigun, you’ve got some good options coming down the pike.Open GalleryOf the four, the N-Strike Elite Titan CS-50 is the most extreme. With a 50-dart drum (and 50 darts to fill it) this full-auto, flywheel-powered monster has a spinning barrel to make it all the more menacing....

Thursday was a special day for Pluto. On July 12, the dwarf planet crossed the plane of the solar system for only the second time since its discovery. It will be another 161 years before it does so again. The opportunity provides scientists a unique chance to look at Pluto using telescopes from Earth.View full post on TwitterAll the major planets all have orbits that line up nearly perfectly. They all orbit on the same plane, which astronomers call the “ecliptic....

Within a decade, Russia might take its ball and go home. The country says it wants to leave the International Space Station by 2024 and turn its ISS modules into a new, Russia-only space station.Yuri Koptev, the head of manned spaceflight at Roscosmos, said in a statement released to the media that the country wanted to “secure access to space for Russia.” Though the station has been functioning (mostly) normally despite sanctions from the United States over the situation in Ukraine, international relations have dimmed prospects of the station’s future....