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A San Francisco-based designer is creating custom N95 respiratory masks that will help protect against the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). The masks are specially printed to match the lower portion of your face so that facial recognition features on smartphones will still work while you’re using the mask.Danielle Baskin, the designer, says she won’t begin production until the global mask shortage is under control.Amid a worldwide shortage of N95 respirator masks to protect Chinese citizens from exposure to COVID-19—the disease caused by the novel coronavirus—a San Francisco-based designer has come up with a gimmick that won’t just shield you from pathogens, but will also make you look like a walking art installation....

Since 2012, the Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars near a place called Mount Sharp.The robot has found chemical traces that could indicate this place was watery billions of years ago—and could have supported life.NASA can’t say whether there ever was life on Mars, but new evidence of organic compounds reinforces the idea that Mars was habitable.NASA’s flagship Mars rover, Curiosity, has been combing the surface of Mars for signs of life for almost six years....

Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator fusion reactor is a truly impressive piece of technology. After over a million man-hours of construction and nearly a decade of preparation, the super-computer optimized nightmare of cyberpunk wires and tubes was finally turned on, and its initial test was a success. The $600 million stellarator—a meticulous design that’s much more complex than typical donut-shaped reactors—only created plasma for the merest fraction of a second when first tested in December of last year, but that was enough....

Popular Mechanics Show: The Nuclear Option id=“audioplayer1” data="/cm/popularmechanics/audio/player.swf" type=“application/x-shockwave-flash”> Nuclear Energy Provides Practical Baseload Powerby Patrick MooreWhen I helped found Greenpeace in the 1970s, my colleagues and I were firmly opposed to nuclear energy. But times have changed. I now realize nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy growing demand for energy.Nuclear power plants are a practical option for producing clean, cost-effective, reliable and safe baseload power....

Russia’s oldest bombers could become platforms for firing hypersonic missiles, allowing Moscow to strike targets from long range while slipping under anti-missile radars.According to a report in Sputnik News, the Tu-22M3 Backfire could be modified to carry four Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” air-launched ballistic missiles. Introduced in 1978, the Backfire is a large, swing-wing nuclear-capable supersonic bomber with a combat range of approximately 3,400 miles. Most of Russia’s Backfires are 30 years old or older and were recently refitted with the new SVP-24 Gefest digital sighting and navigation system....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhen Samsung talks new devices, the tech world pays attention. President and CEO JK Shin didn’t waste time at Samsung’s press conference in Barcelona and began breaking down the Galaxy S5. Shin was joined shortly by Samsung’s Jean-Daniel Ayme to discuss some of the changes to the company’s flagship. Across the Atlantic, at a press event in New York City, we were able to get our hands on Samsung’s newest offerings....

A new single molecule can absorb the full spectrum of sunlight and turn it into valuable hydrogen.Freeing hydrogen to use as fuel is a major science holy grail in the 21st century.Costly, corrosion-resistant rhodium molecules can hopefully be swapped for something more economical.Scientists have discovered a molecule that can absorb more of the full spectrum of solar energy than ever before. The same molecule is also an effective catalyst to make clean energy in the form of hydrogen....

Boeing scored a $12 million dollar contract to transition the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron to newer jets. The Blue Angels, who have been flying the F/A-18 Hornet since 1986, are moving up to the bigger F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The Blue Angels currently fly a mixed bag of older Hornet fighters. They’ve got three of the oldest F/A-18A model, 10 of the newer -C models, and three two-seater models....

The only active ship in the United States Navy to sink another enemy ship in combat is more than 200 years old. The title falls to the wooden frigate Constitution, as the USS Simpson, a guided missile frigate just thirty years old, has been retired from the fleet. One of the very first ships of the young U.S. Navy, Constitution was launched in 1797 and saw action in the First Barbary War, when the United States went to war against North African pirates....

The U.S. Navy’s latest ship, the USS Little Rock, is trapped in Montreal. Thanks to fast-moving ice, a short stay in Canada could last as long as four months until the ice melts and allows the Little Rock to join the rest of the Navy at sea.The USS Little Rock is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship built by Marinette Marine on the shores of the Menominee River in Marinette, Wisconsin. Designed to operate off coastlines and in shallow water, littoral combat ships can carry out anti-submarine, anti-mine, anti-surface, and amphibious warfare missions....

The Q’eswachaka bridge is a traditional Inca rope bridge rebuilt by locals in Peru every single year. They use grass woven into cords to complete the structure over the Apurimac River in three days total.The basic idea—based on centuries-old Inca building techniques—is that the grass is woven into rope, which is then woven into larger cords, which is then woven into the cables that make up the basic formation of the bridge....

What is the barista doing with all that hissing and banging going on behind the counter? It’s a basic but invisible process that makes espresso, which is so delicious on its own and the base for lattes and macchiatos.The basic idea is to force near-boiling water through finely ground coffee. But it’s a process:• “Dosing” the coffee, or, filling the handled basket with the right amount of grounds.• Leveling it, or making the top flat, and then “tamping” it, which means pushing down the grounds with a metal circle....

Media Platforms Design TeamMany drivers cheered last week when federal regulators fined General Motors $35 million, a civil penalty for the automaker’s failure to recall millions of Chevy Cobalts, Saturn Ions, and several related models. But while GM certainly behaved badly in this instance, those cheers may have been misplaced. That’s because we’re creating a culture that encourages recalls where they might not be necessary. (). And—surprise—that cost will be passed on to the car buyer....

If you’ve ever taken a picture of a spinning propeller with a digital camera, or even just seen one, you’ll know that they have a tendency to come out weird. Instead of capturing the hazy sort of visual buzz we see with our eyes, cameras will capture some weird, surreal jumble of a thing that isn’t even physically possible. Media Platforms Design TeamThis GIF was created using an online graphing calculator called Desmos by Imgur user Hunter5625....

Ducati Street Fighter and Street Fighter SMedia Platforms Design Team Unlike the other bikes Ducati has been making for years, this Italian motorcycle manufacturer is now producing some rides that don’t require a spine of steel and titanium wrists to enjoy. And that’s largely because most of their buyers are, yes, getting older and don’t go for hardcore street bikes like they did when they were a bit more spry. To that end, the mighty Streetfighter and Streetfighter S position the rider upright....

Decoded /// 2009To Cure /// Blindness and BlistersFor researchers, it’s not all about finding genes to build a better racehorse–though this is certainly one spin-off. Horses suffer from more than 90 inherited diseases, such as infertility, inflammatory diseases and muscle disorders, making them good models for studying human conditions. Horses, for example, have more keratin genes than pigs or humans–possibly for hoof formation. Mutations in keratin genes have been linked to pachyonychia, a disorder in which individuals develop abnormally thick nails and painful blisters on the hands and feet....

Media Platforms Design TeamThe death of my computer hard drive was a mystery. There was no 5-foot drop onto concrete. No unfortunate plunge into a pool. No fire. No thief. No… anything. One day, it just simply, tragically decided to stop working. And when it went to the grave, it took with it years of photos and all sorts of half-done documents, and perhaps the only existing evidence of the album I attempted to record a decade ago in my college dorm....

Media Platforms Design TeamI saw this useless rim on the tire machine at my local shop. Regular washing of the car might have kept salt and road dirt from eating away at it. (Photo by James Westman)I’ve seen plenty of corroded steel rims leaking air past a rust-curdled bead seat surface. Guess what? Alloy wheels can corrode and leak air just like steel ones do. Today, alloy rims are no longer limited to the rich and famous – even small, inexpensive cars are coming with alloys as standard....

Over the summer, the biggest news on the Martian surface was the massive dust storm. Growing to eventually cover the entire planet, the storm presented a major challenge to NASA’s ongoing exploration of Mars. A new look at the storm’s events show NASA’s Curiosity rover relying on an unexpected source: a tiny actuator which was able to keep it powered and functioning through the worst of the dust.Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012 and has been roaming the planet ever since....

A brutal fire has caused mass evacuations and at least two deaths in northern California, growing to 44,450 acres by Friday morning. Containment of the fire, known as the Carr Fire, has dropped from 6 percent to 3 percent.One man who died was a private bulldozer contractor who was killed while “working on an active section of the fire,” according to a statement from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) made on Twitter....