Media Platforms Design TeamWhen he needs a little help to beat a murder charge, Det. Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) finds a powerful friend in New York City Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe). But soon the mayor needs a favor, leaving Taggart in no position to refuse, and sending him deep into a world of intrigue, power, and corruption.Broken City is on Blu-ray April 30, and PopMech is giving away 10 copies of the film....
Researchers at Deakin University in Australia have created an incredibly absorbent sponge material that could be used to clean future oil spills. If anything like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill happens again, this new super sponge could help prevent major damage and save billions of dollars. “Everyone remembers the Gulf Coast disaster, but here in Australia [spills] are a regular problem, and not just in our waters,” says Ying “Ian” Chen of Deakin University, an author of the research paper detailing the findings in Nature Communications....
Self-driving cars face more than a few problems before they become mainstream, but one you may not have heard of is the trouble of black paint. Over one-sixth of all cars sold globally are in black, they’re hard for self-driving cameras to see. The problem is apparent to anyone who has worn black on a hot summer day: Dark colors absorb light. Self-driving cars typically rely on what’s called LIDAR, which sends out short laser bursts to measure distance and take stock of what’s ahead, but if those bursts are falling into a black paint job then they’re not much use to the car or anyone else....
Ah, yes, the allure of the Limited Edition, a title that manufacturers have applied to cars, gadgets, and sneakers. It sounds like a cheap tactic to charge extra for a flashy paint job and a few extra features, but at a time when gadgets, like cars, have all adopted the same black, white, and gray color scheme, a dose of color is welcome. Take Jawbone’s red Jambox, for example.Sonos, despite making arguably the best wireless speaker system you can buy, has been no different, offering only black or white....
Media Platforms Design TeamAt a site near Reno, Nevada, Tesla has broken ground on a site that appears to be the location of its much-hyped “gigafactory,” an enormous manufacturing complex intended to crank out lithium-ion batteries for Tesla cars. But Elon Musk’s car company is still saying that the location of the factory is not decided.What gives? Bargaining and politics. The states of the Southwest that have been vying for the factory, and the jobs it would bring, are still competing to offer the best package of incentives to lure Tesla....
Last year marked the first time in 12 years that the United States has led the world in number of orbital launches. There were 29 launches into space from U.S soil, compared to 20 from Russia and 19 from China.The rise stems entirely from the private space industry, in particular SpaceX. Of those 29 launches, 18 were SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. All 29 American launches were successful, while the historically reliable Russian Soyuz-2 experienced a computer failure....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe first withdrawal from a Barclaycash machine, at the Enfield branch of Barclays Bank, 27th June 1967. (Photo Credit: B. Marshall/Fox Photos/Getty Images)Over at Smithsonian Magazine, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie has a fascinating history of the ATM. As it turns out, the technology dates back to the 1960s, though they didn’t look much like what we use today.Enfield’s in London claims the first ATM, which opened in 1967. But the Bankograph—an after-hours machine to deposit checks and cash—predated it by seven years....
Media Platforms Design TeamHTC announced the Windows version of the HTC One, its flagship Android phone. The Windows model, with the unfortunately long name “HTC One M8 for Windows,” sports the same specs as its Android counterpart, including an aluminum body, a lowly 4-megapixel camera, a 5-inch full HD screen, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. It will be available only on Verizon.Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, unveiled the phone at a small event in New York....
Move over, Star Wars. Around the same time that Han Solo was declaring the superiority of a blaster by your side, Russian engineers were working on a real laser pistol for cosmonauts to carry, another piece of the secret Soviet arsenal of space weapons.According to multiple Russian sources, the laser-powered handgun for cosmonauts originated at the Peter the Great RVSN academy, which trains engineers for the nation’s strategic missile forces. The school’s museum carries a copy of the gun, and at least one other surviving artifact was exhibited at the Innovations and Inventions Expo in Moscow in 2011....
Two California hikers who went missing for five days credited strict food rationing and a LifeStraw for saving their lives. Rescuers were able to locate the pair after tracking their footprints and seeing their campfire. The experienced hikers had originally been out with a group before getting separated and lost. They were airlifted to safety after being found in a canyon between two waterfalls, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office....
These two newly discovered stars locked in a death spiral are a throwback to something not seen since the early universe. A new study of the spectacular find, via researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, appears today in Nature Astronomy. The stars, located about 7,800 light years away, are in what’s called a Wolf-Rayet stage. That’s when massive stars begin to shed their hydrogen, burning certain elements in their atmosphere like carbon and nitrogen....
A team in Russia has fitted dairy cows with VR headsets showing summery green scenes year round.When cows are happier, they may produce more, better quality milk, which can offset the effect of negative emotions in their daily lives.Technology like VR, robots, and drones is revolutionizing dairy and cattle farming.Interesting Engineering reports that dairy cows in Russia are sporting virtual reality headsets that decrease anxiety and may increase their milk production....
A leaked PowerPoint deck and memo indicate the Trump Administration may be considering the construction of a government-built and -operated 5G wireless network, according to Axios. The documents call for the creation of the nationwide network within three years, despite the ongoing development of a privately-held network currently under construction by companies such as like Samsung, Intel, Nokia, and Huawei. Since the release of the initial documents, the Trump administration has reached out to Recode to say that the leaked documents are out of date....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe minivan market is a shadow of its former self. Many former owners have abandoned the trusty but frumpy minivan for hipper pastures–like three row crossovers. Manufacturers like GM and Ford have left the segment as a result. But Chrysler, Honda and Toyota, the leaders in the market, remain. Now, Toyota has launched an all-new Sienna at the LA Auto Show–a van they hope will deliver a little more fun, style and tech than the typical family hauler....
Decades ago we developed the Popular Mechanics Axiom: A product’s imperfections don’t usually invalidate it. Unless a tool or machine is so badly designed and built that it’s completely dangerous or cantankerous, it has something to offer. That sounds lenient, but it’s a fact of mechanical life that there are no perfect products; any tool will have features that annoy some users but please others. A product may have a large number of annoying features early in its development cycle....
Media Platforms Design TeamQuantum VentWhat:Price:Info:Reviewer: Running jacket $100 180s.com Tyghe Trimble The Details: It’s not Marty McFly’s jacket from Back to the Future II –but it’s a lot more than a nylon windbreaker. The Quantum Vent Jacket ($100) from 180s www.180s.com is a jacket designed specifically for runners who want it all –a warm and wind resistant material that’s also breathable and, most importantly, that can adapt to the varying body temperatures of an outdoor workout....
Media Platforms Design TeamPeace one day, war the next: It’s the life of a combat pilot. And because Operation Odyssey Dawn—the U.S.-NATO effort to curtail Muammar Gaddafi’s suppression of a revolt in Libya—so far relies exclusively on air power, American airmen are again at the sharp edge of history. PM spoke to U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle and A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”) pilots to see the unfolding operation from their perspective....
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently investigating an outbreak of E. coli that is currently affecting sevent states across the country. According to Time, the CDC, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, are working with multiple states to figure out the cause of an E. coli outbreak that has affected 17 people over seven states....
Elon Musk just tweeted out another crazy idea. But unlike his recent city-to-city rocket venture, this one could be both practical and essential. In response to a tweet asking whether he could rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid with solar, Musk said, basically, yes. He proposed using SolarCity, a subsidiary of Tesla, to bring solar power infrastructure to Puerto Rico, where most of the island is still without electricity after Hurricane Maria hit several weeks ago....
After 50 years, scientists have proven one way 2D liquids are demonstrably different from 3D liquids.Fluid dynamics is a huge field, with enough chaos to generate some very old problems.Scientists like to study 2D liquids because they’re both simpler to model and easier to examine under a microscope.Scientists have solved a 50-year-old mechanics problem that could change how statisticians run simulations and draw conclusions. The question is this: Is a 2D liquid different from a 3D liquid?...
