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Two Chinese scientists have published a comprehensive examination of the many flaws of He Jiankui, the now-disgraced Chinese scientist who attempted to genetically alter two infants using the cutting-edge CRISPR technique.Although familiar with CRISPR, He did not posses the ability to definitely do what he claimed—make two children resistant to the HIV virus. In the days after He’s unusual scientific rollout on YouTube and in front of the World Summit of Human Gene Editing, concerned voices grew into an international chorus condemning He’s work as sloppy, improperly focused, and unethical....

Media Platforms Design TeamPopular Mechanics’ readers know that Ford Motor Company is on a roll with new product introductions. Our archives are filled with recent reviews of new models ranging from the B-Segment Fiesta to the XXXL F-Series Super Duty and the luxurious new Lincolns. But auto show after auto show, something was conspicuously missing from Ford’s corporate announcements: new Mercury models. For more than two years, executives deflected questions about the brand going away....

Houseplants are on the rise, especially among millennials, and scientists are starting to look at how they could do more than just look nice. One idea from the University of Tennessee: houseplants as sensors detecting environmental problems inside the house.Genetically engineering houseplants would allow them to react to problems like “mold, radon gas or high concentrations of volatile organic compounds,” says Neal Stewart, the lead author of a paper exploring the concept, in a press statement....

Airlines have been the targets of scammers for generations. The days of Catch Me If You Can are long gone, but the dream of conning airlines into giving you free service lives on in the hacking done by one Przemek Jaroszewski, who makes fake QR codes that gets him into airlines’ swankiest lounges. View full post on YoutubeJaroszewski is an unlikely scammer, given that he works on the other side of the fence as the head of Poland’s Computer Emergency Response Team....

China got the world’s attention today by announcing the China Space Station (CSS), a new orbital station for the 2020s, will be open for international cooperation and experiments from researchers across the globe. Alongside this announcement, China also released an oft-overlooked handbook that details the CSS’s architecture and operation.Some of the contents has trickled out, but the nearly 30-page document contains among the best available info about what CSS will look like and how it’ll work....

Media Platforms Design TeamHow do you describe your work? Biofuels are alternative energy made from the conversion of natural oils into fuel. The biggest problem with biofuels, however, is where we are getting them. Waste vegetable oil is used, but it’s not a sustainable source. Soybeans aren’t a very efficient fuel because using them that way takes away food and land resources. Why algae? [Using] Algae doesn’t require arable land, and they can be grown in a variety of environments....

NASA studied “nuclear thermal propulsion systems” during the Cold War, but shelved the idea because it wasn’t necessary.Nuclear-powered spacecraft could send humans to Mars faster and allow them to abort a dangerous mission and return to Earth.NASA has already hired a company to start working on a new NTP engine design.To accomplish what will be the greatest human spaceflight triumph since Apollo 11—sending astronauts to Mars—NASA is looking to a blast from its nuclear past....

Symbols, from flags to traffic signs, have long been one of humanity’s most unique inventions. And now, a growing body of evidence suggest that it even extended to our ancestors, the Neanderthals.Archaeologists have found 27 incised stones that they have been marked intentionally for a greater purpose. A team headed up by Anna Majkic of the University of Bordeaux, France has studied one piece of flint in particular excavated from an archaeological site known as Kiik-Koba in Crimea....

When you’re making huge bubbles, the secret is in the polymer and detergent mix.The extremely micro-thin film that encloses bubbles affects how big they get and how they affect their surroundings.The thickest bubble film is when it’s still on the bubble wand.Scientists from Emory University have published new research on the secret to making very, very big bubbles. They’ve been able to create bubbles nearly 6 meters across using an optimized mix of polymer strands of different lengths....

Staying in shape is hard. Unless you’ve been blessed with a flawless metabolism, you likely have to live off of a restricted diet and workout all the time.The BodyBoss 2.0 Portable Home Gym makes working out far less painful, by allowing you to take a fully-functional and streamlined gym wherever workout inspiration strikes, and it’s currently available for over 15 percent off at just $150.View full post on YoutubeLet’s face it: One of the hardest things about going to the gym is actually going to the gym....

In January 1945, just months before Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War Two, George S. Patton famously declared the M1 Garand as “the greatest battle implement ever devised.“The accolade is well-deserved. This semi-automatic rifle served American troops in the fields of Northern France, the coasts of Okinawa, the dry heat of Africa, and the oppressive humidity of the Philippines. And in more ways than one, the M1 Garand helped win the bloodiest war in human history....

The U.S. Navy believes it will reach its goal of a 355 ship fleet by the 2050s, or sooner if it can get the money and industry is capable of handling the workload. That’s the official word from the office of the Chief of Naval Operations in a document prepared as part of the 2019 fiscal year Federal Budget. The larger fleet is meant to help reduce the pressure on the existing fleet to keep pace with roles and missions, especially as Russia wields its own fleet more aggressively and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy continues rapid growth....

While Boston Dynamics’ bipedal robot is busy doing backflips, researchers at the University of Tokyo have been taking a different approach to figuring out bipedal robot motion. With the aid of a quadcopter for a head, the Aerial-Biped has been able to sidestep the hardest part of learning to walk: the risk of falling down. Why walk when you could just fly? As a party trick, essentially. The Aerial-Biped isn’t designed to walk as its primary means of locomotion but rather to simulate gaits that are beyond the scope of current bipedal robots....

It’s an age-old argument among garden experts: is it better to plant a tree in spring, or fall?That’s something of a trick question, because the answer is both. Fall is a good time because a freshly planted tree can put its energy into root growth, not foliage, and establish itself before winter. But spring is also a fine time to plant, and offers one big advantage, say tree experts we spoke with: much better selection....

Ninety-five percent is a big damn number. That’s why it seemed inherently suspicious when, about a week ago, Public Health England posted a new report comparing the risks of vaping and smoking, inspiring lots of headlines with its claim that e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than ordinary ones. It seems too good to be true, because it probably is: Researchers writing in the respected British medical journal The Lancet today have cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of the U....

Here’s a video clip of an entire battalion of Russian T-80U main battle tanks in a live-fire exercise. The clip is short on details but the exercise appears to take place somewhere in western Russia. A typical Russian tank battalion has 31 tanks—3 companies of 10 tanks each, plus the battalion commander’s tank. The clip appears to show the entire battalion in action. The tanks, advancing in line formation, are spread out horizontally....

The Top Gun sequel is finally happening. Rumors had circulated that greatest flying movie ever made would be getting a sequel. Tom Cruise ratcheted up the excitement yesterday by posting the following image to his Instagram account, with the hashtag #Day1 to indicate the first day of filming the new movie, called Top Gun: Maverick.InstagramSo how might a Top Gun movie look this time around?Well, 32 years have passed since Maverick and Iceman played volleyball and flew fighter jets....

The U.S. Navy is preparing to enter the world of robotic warships.For safety’s sake, robot ships need to be able to converse with human sailors on other ships.The technology will require not only understanding human speech but also interacting with humans.The U.S. Navy is embarking on an effort to turn at least some ships of the battle fleet into unmanned, robot warriors. One problem with unmanned ships: they must still interact with civilian ships, particularly in congested waterways....

Concrete is probably as close to a wonder material as we’re ever going to get. It’s extremely strong, cheap, versatile, and long-lasting. The Romans used it to build many of their oldest surviving structures, and it was so crucial that people spent hundreds of years trying to recreate the recipe after it was lost to history.But concrete does have one big weakness: fire. When concrete is heated to extremely high temperatures, it can actually explode....

Farewell to the Fusion. Ta-ta to the Taurus. Say so long to the Focus and Fiesta. Yesterday Ford made the dramatic announcement that it would kill off all of its car models except the Mustang in the coming years and would get 90 percent of its sales from “trucks, utilities, and commercial vehicles” by 2020.This sounds like shortsighted foolishness. Think back to the first time Americans fell head-over-heels for bigger vehicles and ditched their sedans for SUVs—but then changed their minds when gas prices shot up....