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With gas hitting a national average of $4 a gallon, everyone’s been talking about how to improve fuel economy–myself included, be it for taking summer road trips or avoiding goofy (and expensive) gas-saving gadgets. But how do we know if the fuel economy we’re getting is accurate, whether we’re driving an unmodified car–or one equipped with a supposed miracle product? On the road, most drivers just read the trip odometer and divide by the amount of gas they purchase....

Media Platforms Design TeamDETROIT — Rumors abound on details of the new, hyper-speed Corvette, so it’s time for a reality check. Here’s what we hear from the largest Corvette dealer in Michigan. —Jim Dunne1.Chevy will offer manual transmission on the new ‘Vette.Verdict: False Word is that the blown engine is too strong for any of GM’s manuals, so the uber Corvette will only come in automatic. It’s a reversal of precedent—the automatic transmission proves stronger here than the manual....

CBSEarlier this week, news broke that Quentin Tarantino, known especially for bloody films like Kill Bill and 2015’s Hateful Eight, was in the early stages of possibly directing a new Star Trek film. Although there are no details about what the film would be about, one major Star Trek actor is ready to join the bridge if Tarantino’s film becomes reality. Patrick Stewart who famously played Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation told The Hollywood Reporter that “one of my dreams is to work with Tarantino…if he is going to direct something to do with Star Trek and there was a possibility of dear old Jean-Luc showing up again…I would embrace it....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe Popular Mechanics office is buzzing this afternoon because we found out PM has been nominated for the Magazine of Year award from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). Magazine of the Year is the most prestigious award ASME gives out; think of it as the magazine equivalent to the Academy Award for Best Picture.ASME selects publications for fulfilling their overall mission and showing excellence across all platforms, from print to web to tablets....

Owner: Christoper Smith / Location: Pinehurst, North Carolina / Purchased From: McBrayer Chrysler / Dodge of Aberdeen, NC / Purchase Price: $25,000 (bought new) / Mileage: 158,742 Months Owned: 29Back in high school, I was interested in all the Japanese sports cars that were out around then. But my parents had to be on board. That ruled out the rear-wheel-drive stuff. The Mitsubishi 3000GT and the Dodge version, the Stealth, though, were front-wheel-drive if you didn’t go for the twin-turbo versions....

The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is at its highest levels in hundreds of thousands of years and as matters get worse, it’s more crucial than ever to find a way to reverse it. A study released earlier this month presents a novel idea with what to do with the gas humanity can’t seem to stop making: Turn it into something useful. Specifically, high-quality carbon nanotubes.The main cause of global warming, carbon dioxide is a heat-trapping gas that is released through using fossil fuels and processes like deforestation....

Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents are starting to field high-tech gear that gives them an advantage over many government troops—and puts U.S. soldiers in danger. Stolen equipment including night vision goggles, aiming lasers, and communications headsets are making the Taliban more deadly, particularly at night. According to The New York Times, Afghan government forces have repeatedly claimed that they lost valuable night vision devices loaned to them by Coalition forces. In 2016, Afghanistan’s 215th Corps failed to return 49 sets of night vision goggles to U....

A new video on YouTube shows a how U.S. troops train to operate against enemy mechanized forces, in this case Russian tanks. U.S. soldiers at a base in southern Germany have several aging armored personnel carriers modified to impersonate Russian tanks, giving units the ability to train against opponents that kinda, sorta look Moscow’s finest.View full post on YoutubeThe vehicles in question are M113 armored personnel carriers. Introduced in the 1960s, the M113 was a “battlefield taxi” designed to pick up troops and deposit them at the front line....

Most Ferraris need no explanation of their purpose. A 488 GTB exists so you can lose your license. The 488 Spider is for losing your license with the wind in your hair. The 812 SuperFast is for going, you know, super fast.It’s practical but it’s a Ferrari. Those two words don’t normally coexist.The GT4C Lusso, though, tends to confound people. It’s got four seats, two transmissions, and a hatchback. It does 208 mph but it’s not a track car....

Media Platforms Design TeamEditor’s Note: For live updates about Hurricane Sandy, check out , or . The New York Times’s feedGoogle’s live crisis mapLet’s be clear: A major storm is coming to the northeastern United States. It’s going to cause havoc. It’s going to destroy things. And it’s probably going to kill some people.But beware the hype. Here’s what we know now.How Strong Will It Be?It’s difficult to imagine Hurricane Sandy—or Frankenstorm, if you prefer—becoming the “worst storm in 100 years” for the northeastern United States, as some forecasters are calling it....

The words “aerial ferry” may seem like some kind of weird, futuristic device, but it actually describes a very old piece of tech.Professional tinkerer and thought-provoker Tom Scott recently took a trip to the Newport Transporter Bridge in Wales to get an up-close look at the structure. The bridge isn’t new, but it’s remarkable because there are so few left in the world doing what it does.View full post on YoutubeThe Newport Transporter Bridge was built to cross the River Usk, and it does so by essentially ferrying a platform that’s suspended from the top of the bridge via long cables....

The cutest thing you’ll see today is a seal wearing a hi-tech sensor that looks like a tiny hat purely for scientific research.French researchers have been tagging seals on the Kerguelen Islands for more than two decades to gather data about our oceans including temperature fluctuations and current patterns.While not technically a hat, this hi-tech sensor that’s been glued to the elephant seal’s head (in accordance with ethical standards) comes stock with an antenna for collecting data about the ocean....

Ever since its unprecedented disaster in 1986, Chernobyl has been a site of morbid fascination across the world. The surprise success of this year’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl led to renewed interest.Nobody will be able to stay within the control room for very long, due to the heavy radiation. But rogue tourists have already been visiting for years.It’s one of the most infamous rooms in the world: Chernobyl’s Reactor 4 Control Room....

Above, Arlington National Cemetery during the 2016 Wreaths Across America Day.This Saturday, December 15, is National Wreaths Across America Memorial Day, when hundreds of thousands of holiday wreaths are laid in tribute to U.S. veterans. This year, more than 1.8 million wreaths will be placed by two million volunteers at 1,640 locations worldwide. According to Amber Caron, WAA’s director of communications, children accounted for nearly one-third of the volunteers last year....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhether you live in a renovated Victorian or a modern raised ranch, one thing is certain: Maintenance never stops. Of course, you could hire the local handyman to make repairs and put his kids through college. Or, you can tackle problems when they appear—and before they get out of hand. To help out, we’ve assembled 14 shortcuts for household woes that start at the roof over your head and end at the floor under your feet....

Shovels are all well and good for your driveway, but when it comes to serious snow removal, you need a much more intense tool to get the job done properly. Sometime that tool comes in the form of bigger shovels, plows and backhoes and the like. But the most robust snow maneuvers don’t rely on scoops of metal to get the job done. They use jet engines. View full post on YoutubeIf you know even the least bit about how a jet engine works, you can probably figure out why it might be a good tool for the job....

China Defense Blog has republished a series of photos depicting life on one of China’s most modern ships. The photos show a world not too different from western navies, albeit with more spartan living conditions. Hefei, a Type 052D guided missile destroyer, is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Displacing 7,000 tons, Hefei has a Type 346 phased-array radar system for detecting aerial threats. It’s equipped with 64 HQ-9 “Red Banner” missiles, roughly comparable to the SM-2 standard surface-to-air missile system, eight YJ-62 anti-ship missiles, a single 130-millimeter dual purpose ship gun, two close-in weapon systems, and six anti-submarine torpedoes....

View full post on YoutubeJust in case the phrase “jumping without a parachute from 2400 feet up” doesn’t drive home the insanity of Gary Connery’s record-setting wingsuit jump, here’s a new angle of the dive. The cameraman jumped from the helicopter just after Connery (and did indeed wear a chute).This view from on high shows exactly the scary scene Connery was looking at before deciding that yes, he would jump out of this helicopter....

The first man to conduct a space walk, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, has died at 85 years old.Leonov took his famed walk through space on March 18, 1965, paving the way for decades of exploration to follow.On Friday, Roscosmos tweeted a tribute to the fallen cosmonaut, touting his many achievements.The first person to walk in space, Soviet-era cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, has died after battling a long illness, according to a statement from Russia’s Roscosmos space agency....

Warning: Some Spoilers AheadBody of Lies, Ridley Scott’s grisly take on the post-9/11 Middle East, follows CIA superagent Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he tries to bring down fictional terrorist leader Al-Saleem. The film is chock-full of spy movie standards: exotic locales, double-crosses and tense prisoner exchanges. But even though the film follows a standard spy-thriller plot, experts tell Popular Mechanics that the technology featured in the film is much closer to reality than the farfetched gadgets Q routinely devises for James Bond....