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Bosch Rotary HammerMedia Platforms Design TeamHow it works: This SDS rotary hammer is basically a hammer drill on steroids. Unlike hammer drills homeowners may be familiar with (i.e. regular drills adapted to bore in masonry), this tool is a masonry drill that’s adapted to bore in wood by virtue of a switch that converts it from very demanding masonry boring to less-demanding wood boring. Simply turn the switch back and forth to toggle between the two drilling modes....

A recent missile attack against the Saudi capital may not have been intercepted by American-made missiles after all. New analysis of last month’s attack on Riyadh’s international airport shows that the warhead may have evaded missile defenses. The report highlights the complexity of missile defense—a crucial issue as one missile war is being fought in the Middle East and a second threatens in northern Asia.Back in November, we covered a relatively underreported missile war between Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels and a coalition of Middle Eastern countries....

Like Earth, our Twin planet Venus’s origins began around 4.5 billion years ago, in a gyrating cloud of dust, rock and rubble. In many ways, the two planets are similar—in size, density and gravity. Both have iron-rich cores, mantles filled with churning molten rock, and thin, rocky crusts that cover their surface. Scientists suspect that, at one point, the surface of Venus looked a lot like Earth, with plate tectonics and shallow water oceans....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe 210-ft USS Trayer naval simulator sits inside a facility carefully crafted to appear, feel and smell like a dockside pier. The Navy established the training facility to prepare personnel for large-scale disasters. >CLICK FOR MORE: The Navy’s Disaster Simulator in Action - Slide Show –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> align=“center” style=“padding:1px; background-color:#333333; font-size:8pt; font-weight:bold;"> RELATED STORIES* PLUS: 4 Fronts for Pirate-Navy Battle as U....

Tuesday morning, President-Elect Donald Trump sent out a tweet expressing dismay at the cost of the ongoing process to build a new pair of planes to serve as Air Force One. (Perhaps not coincidentally, this was shortly after Boeing’s CEO expressed concerns about Trump’s trade policy.)View full post on TwitterTrump spokesman Jason Miller expanded on the statement during a call with reporters. Per the Washington Post: “I think this really speaks to the president-elect’s focus on keeping costs down across the board with regard to government spending....

Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $100 to $140Price Difference Relative to Similar Products: $20 to $30Description: Heavy-duty insulated coveralls designed and built for cold outdoor work in construction, farming, ranching, telecommunications, vehicle maintenance, timber processing, and other demanding occupations. Made in America.I’ve been wearing Carhartt’s famous workwear since the late 1970s, but I didn’t own a pair of the company’s insulated coveralls until a few months ago. If ever there was a winter where they’ve come in handy, this is it....

Last December, the Earth had a very special visitor. According to NASA, a tremendous fireball exploded in the atmosphere, the second-largest in 30 years and the largest since the Chelyabinsk incident of 2013. The space rock exploded almost 16 miles (25.6 km) above the Earth’s surface with an impact energy of 173 kilotons—10 times the energy released by the nuclear bomb dropped over Hiroshima. That’s around 40 percent of the power of Chelyabinsk....

Astronomers have found so many planets around other stars that at this point, the discovery of new planets feels almost routine. But the universe is a big place, and now astronomers have found the first planets outside the galaxy. A group of researchers from the University of Oklahoma spotted the planets using an astronomical technique called microlensing and found evidence of potentially trillions of planets, ranging in size from Earth’s Moon to Jupiter....

Hand tools are notoriously tricky things to improve. Many changes to hammers, pliers, and utility knives, for example, don’t make the product better—they just increase its complexity and cost. Every once in a while, though, some talented designers get it right. That seems to be the case with Crescent’s Pass-Thru Adjustable Wrench Set (now $20).The company took its storied 8-inch wrench and, where the hanging hole would normally be in the end of the handle, it put a pass-through socket drive....

A fungus observed inside Chernobyl is a radiation extremophile that could inspire new technology. Removing radiation and even turning it into energy could help clean disaster sites and enable spaceflight.The fungi use high amounts of melanin to both resist radiation and turn it into energy.Scientists have discovered that a longtime fungal resident of the Chernobyl complex could actually “eat” radiation. In an upcoming paper, scientists will share the results of growing the fungus on the International Space Station....

The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) is in the process of engineering what it calls the “Personal Heating Dexterity Device” to help warm the hands and fingers in cold conditions.Because hand coverings greatly reduce dexterity, the research team came up with a way to warm the hands without gloves. The researchers tested forearm and facial warming devices in cold conditions to see if increased blood flow to those areas, above the hands, would also increase blood flow to the fingers (it did)....

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking for someone to develop a new autonomous underwater drone that can manipulate objects on the seabed floor, all without input from a human operator. The so-called “Angler” drone could be useful for all sorts of tasks, from tapping underwater communications cables to salvaging missile debris. A notice on the U.S. government site Federal Business Opportunities posted by DARPA says the agency is looking for “an autonomous undersea robot capable of transiting large distances and physically manipulating objects on the seabed with no communications or human intervention....

A ship that washed up on Japanese shores carrying eight men.Hironori Asakawa/Kyodo News//APSomething eerie has been washing up on the western coast of Japan: ghost ships. Over the past month, at least four ships, some with dead bodies, have been washing ashore in Ishikawa and Akita prefectures. One of these ships contained eight skeletons, while other ships had living crew members that were rescued.This is nothing new for Japan’s west coast....

DETROIT – Honda is officially calling the Accord Coupe a “concept”. But at the press conference today, senior vice president of American Honda, John Mendel, called the car a “glimpse into the future of the most important car in our lineup.” Indeed, the next Accord will look very much like this car when it hits showrooms this fall with a 2008 model. He said the next Accord will “make the same quantum leap forward” as the Civic made last year....

If you like pictures of Mars, NASA has good news. The agency has announced that mission’s rover will carry more cameras into space than any other, twenty-three.“Camera technology keeps improving,” says Justin Maki of JPL, Mars 2020’s imaging scientist and deputy principal investigator of the Mastcam-Z instrument, in a press statement. “Each successive mission is able to utilize these improvements, with better performance and lower cost.“The twenty-three cameras are only the latest chapter in the consistent progress NASA has made on the ocular front....

Media Platforms Design TeamElectrohydrodynamic thrust, a phenomenon most often seen in student science fairs, may be the key to silent, efficient, and undetectable lightweight aircraft, according to published in the . new researchProceedings of the Royal SocietyAlso called ionic wind, electrohydrodynamic thrust was first recognized in the 1960s. Ionic thrusters are simple in design: They feature one thin copper electrode, known as an emitter, and one thicker tube of a metal-like aluminum called a collector....

Media Platforms Design TeamWith the current generation of GPS-enabled, accelerometer-equipped data systems that can track every shuffle, shake, and jive on a car, you might think that chassis tuning has been reduced to a simple game of achieving the right numbers with the test equipment. Yet the human factor still makes a difference: When finalizing the tuning for ride and handling, automakers still use a driver to get the best results....

NASA has selected nine finalists for its Mars 2020 rover naming competition.The names were selected from over 28,000 “Name the Rover” essays submitted by students from around the world by August 28, 2019.Rover enthusiasts can cast their ballot for the final name here. NASA has released a list of nine finalists for their Mars 2020 rover naming contest. Over 28,000 names were submitted by elementary, middle school, and high school students from around the world....

NASA is busily working on a repair system for satellites that can send robots out to do jobs too hazardous for humans. But the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) will need a good set of eyes to help control the repair. That’s where the Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot (VIPIR) here comes in. VIPIR will be a new addition to RRM, which is currently undergoing testing at the ISS. Its imaging system includes a 1....

Rocket fuel is iconic, and it’s dirty. It’s responsible for some of the most stunning images in human history, but the way we make fuel is also what’s holding rocket technology back. This contradiction lies at the core of Phase Four, a company currently developing its sole product: the RF thruster, a rocket thruster powered by plasma instead of traditional gases. It’s already got customers, including NASA, which is testing a Phase Four prototype and hopes to send it to space....