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Someday, popping a pill after you’ve become sick may seem like a thing of the past. Scientists have just genetically retooled human cells to act as micro disease sentries and drug factories inside the body. The cells constantly monitor for a specific disease and then produce anti-inflammatory drugs at the moment they’re needed.We can enable the body to prevent diseases and design a world of new molecular prostheticsFor the new research that appears this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the disease in question was psoriasis, a little-understood genetic ailment in which the immune system attacks healthy skin cells, causing itchy, scaly patches....

Within the next five years or so, we’re going to see a whole slew of new electric vehicles—Volkswagen alone says that by 2022 it’ll have 27 models based on its new MEB electric platform. Rivian pledges to have its electric pickup and SUV on the road in 2020. But for 2019, EV offerings in the U.S. will continue to grow slowly, as manufacturers ramp up their programs and play catch-up to Tesla and Jaguar at the high end and Chevy and Nissan on the affordable side....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/xnVNNR6CEOE?version=3&hl=en_US[/youtube]In the new movie Flight, Denzel Washington plays an intoxicated pilot who performs a miraculous inverted flight to save an airliner from crashing. PM looked into plausibility of the sequence and found that at least theoretically a pilot could have pulled off the feat, even if it would’ve taken an almost superhuman reaction time. But there was another detail in the movie we didn’t address: Since the pilot wakes up hungover and snorts cocaine to cut through his fatigue, could the coke have helped him land the plane?...

The CDC reports that more than 8 people are killed each day in the United States due to distracted driving. But what can we actually do about it? Despite increased police enforcement and a flock of scary commercials, we’ve grown to be inseparable from our smartphones, on the road or not.Why HUDWAY? Why Now?The makers of Kickstarter’s HUDWAY Glass set out to tackle this growing epidemic by inventing a gadget that is both universally usable and affordable....

Media Platforms Design TeamModern cars rely on sophisticated computers to operate their engines and internal electronics. To access these computers, owners typically need to use a scan tool—a device that can cost thousands of dollars. By using an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch as a window into a car’s computer, the offer the kind of diagnostic info that usually requires a trip to the mechanic to retrieve. The intuitive interface allows DIYers to view trouble codes, turn off the Check Engine light and monitor every electrical signal that goes through the computer in real time....

The government has all kinds of secrets, but only a true conspiracy theorist might suspect that “psycho-electric weapons” are one of them. So it’s odd that MuckRock, a news organization that specializes in filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with state and federal government bodies, received mysterious documents about mind control, seemingly by accident. Journalist Curtis Waltman was writing to the Washington State Fusion Center (WSFC), a joint operation between Washington State law enforcement and the federal government to request information about Antifa and white supremacist groups....

A WELL-LANDSCAPED YARD HAS A LOT in it that doesn’t have to do with land: walkways, fences, arbors, perhaps even fountains. The book Hardscaping is a guide to integrating these features into the landscape. In its 192 pages and six chapters you learn how structures, materials and even furnishings affect the appearance of a landscape and the way people interact with it. The book begins by explaining how to take an inventory of the existing area mapped on grid paper and then how to use line, shape, colors and textures to bring about the effect you want....

In a world littered with shortcuts, the feeling of gratification that comes from a well-done DIY project is hard to beat. In fact, taking the time to make something yourself by hand and doing it right is what we’re all about. Knob Creek® stands behind the same philosophy by taking no shortcuts when it comes to distilling their small batch, full-flavored whiskey.Popular MechanicsThis summer, we’re teaming with Knob Creek to bring you a three-part guide to building your own home bar, where you’ll be serving your favorite spirits to friends and family for years to come....

Tires are just about the most important part of your car. If they’re in bad shape, the car’s ability to accelerate, stop, and turn in all conditions is greatly compromised. Everybody knows to replace tires when the tread gets down to the wear bar, but what about when they get too old? The rubber in tires deteriorates over time due to UV and environmental exposure. The resulting “dry rot” leaves tire structure brittle and leads to sidewall damage and eventual failure....

Media Platforms Design TeamI’m willing to bet that drivers only think about headlights during one of two events: when for some reason they can’t see at night, or when an oncoming car blinds them. Like the alternator, these critical pieces are overlooked—until they don’t work. And that’s a shame, because for the gearhead, there’s a lot of interesting tech behind the glass. Like, for example, did you know that an HID headlight is like a lightning bolt in that a glowing arc of electricity illuminates the fixture?...

Iran launched missiles against targets in Iraq hosting U.S. forces.No Americans were killed or wounded in the attacks.Satellite imagery suggests that Iran’s missile strike was calculated to deliberately avoid U.S. casualties. Today, at 1:30 a.m. Iraq time, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. forces. The missiles were targeted at Iraqi military bases hosting American forces. No Americans were reported harmed in the attacks. The barrage was a remarkably bold response to the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani....

The Israeli military shot down a Syrian attack jet that strayed into Israeli airspace. The Syrian Arab Air Force jet briefly crossed the border between the two countries before it was shot down by a Patriot missile. Meanwhile, an Israeli F-35 Joint Strike Fighter mysteriously popped up on an aircraft flight tracking website, a strange development considering the stealthy aircraft is normally undetectable.The former incident took place on July 23rd. According to CNN, the Israeli Defense Forces tracked a Syrian warplane taking off from the T-4 military airfield....

Junkyards are awesome. Besides being full of interesting and potentially useful machines, junkyards are an essential part of the automotive ecosystem. One of the largest junkyard chains, LKQ Pick Your Part, has salvage yards in 17 states plus Quebec. In 2014, the company recycled about 2.5 million gallons of gas, along with a half-million gallon of oil and antifreeze, and about 750,000 tons of steel. On top of that, there are all the parts—alternators, air conditioning compressors, whole engines, you name it—that get reused rather than manufactured anew....

An update to the Microsoft Service Agreement—which applies to services like Skype, Xbox Live, OneDrive, and more—includes a prohibition “offensive language on [Microsoft] services.” Spotted by Jonathan Corbett at Professional Troublemaker, the modified rules also outline Microsoft’s right to review your content as part of an investigation and potentially forfeit credits and subscription time attached to an affected account, including Xbox Live Gold membership time.A summary of the update, posted on March 1st and going into effect on May 1st, describes the changes as follows: In the Code of Conduct section, we’ve clarified that use of offensive language and fraudulent activity is prohibited....

Media Platforms Design TeamA Virginia Tech team might have the answer to the lunar base construction challenge: build a dome of moon rock bricks using the material that’s already there.Going under the name “Masons of Regolith,” the seven Virginia Tech students used a kind of volcanic ash similar to regolith from moon rocks to build bricks that could lay the foundation of a moon dome. Doctoral student Eric Faierson says the simulated regolith (which came from NASA) is volcanic ash mixed with other materials to mimic moon rock....

Move over, Nintendo 3DS: There’s a new Switch in town, and it’s coming for you. Nintendo just introduced the device with which it plans to finally bury the 3DS: the Nintendo Switch Lite. The revised version of the popular handheld and home console hybrid is a smaller riff on the current Switch model with fewer features at a budget price, and it’s hitting stores September 8.The Nintendo Switch Lite is meant to be used as a cheaper, highly portable version of the more expensive original Switch, with all the bells and whistles integrated for TV play stripped out....

Media Platforms Design TeamMy dad’s watch reminds me that while time passes, things built with care can endure. (Photograph by Jeffrey Westbrook/Studio D)One of my earliest memories is of my father’s watch, on his wrist, as he mixed concrete in a wheelbarrow. We were building a backyard goldfish pond in Long Island, N.Y.–it was a typical 1960s project. I stood not much taller than the side of the wheelbarrow and stared at the slurry he was mixing with a No....

Ready for a riddle series? In the coming weeks, Popular Mechanics will present progressively harder “knights and knaves” puzzles. These logic puzzles take place on an island with two types of people: the knights, who always tell the truth, and the knaves, who always lie. American mathematician and musician Raymond Smullyan named this type of puzzle in his 1978 book What Is the Name of This Book? You might remember a knights and knaves puzzle from the 1986 fantasy film, Labyrinth....

The Buran Space Shuttle and the Energia Rocket in the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 22, 1999.Francis Demange//Getty ImagesOn November 15, 1988, the Soviet Union’s Buran spaceplane lifted skyward, joining NASA’s space shuttle as a new breed of reusable spacecraft. But with the USSR on the brink of collapse, that hopeful first launch would be the orbiter’s last. The future also looked grim for the Energia rocket that propelled Buran into space....

Attention, humans: your beds are dirtier than chimpanzees’, according to a new paper from North Carolina State University. Chimpanzees sleep on treetop beds which they make each night. Humans sleep in what is virtually their own home-ecosystem: “human beds often contain a subset of the taxa—or types—of organisms found in the home," says Megan Thoemmes, lead author of the study. “For example, about 35 percent of bacteria in human beds stem from our own bodies, including fecal, oral and skin bacteria....