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Starting today and continuing intermittently until the 30th of June, the Navy is doing something that will knock out GPS signals in the Mojave Desert. They won’t say what that something is, though.The FAA has issued a warning to all “aircraft that rely on GPS,” (your bi-plane is fine) that once someone gets around 40,000 feet in the air on the 7th, 9th, 21st, 23rd, 28th, and 30th of June, between 9:30am and 3:30pm, their GPS will not work....

Have termites constructed the 8th wonder of the world? At the very least, a recent discovery in a remote region of northeastern Brazil has biologists shaking their heads in disbelief. When a tract of dry, thorny tropical forest was cleared to make way for pasture, a strange moonscape of single-story conical earthen mounds was revealed—200 million of them in fact, spaced at regular intervals as though manmade. Altogether, the mounds span an area as large as Great Britain, and yet somehow went undetected for 4,000 years....

Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster is now flying peacefully through space on its way to Mars, approximately. The car is no longer sending data back to Earth, but that doesn’t mean we know nothing about what it’s doing. Astronomers have been tracking Starman using a number of telescopes, and not only do we know where it’s headed, we now know how fast it’s spinning, too.Astronomers used the SOAR telescope in Chile to capture a timelapse of the Roadster hurtling through space, and used it to map its brightness over time....

High-end rotomolded coolers are great for keeping your food and drinks cold for days, but you need to know how to pack your cooler properly. Here are some easy tips to maximize ice retention and get the best performance out of your cooler.Pre-Cool Your CoolerLoading a warm cooler that has been stored in a hot garage or car will waste a significant amount of ice to just bring down the temperature of the cooler....

The Hubble Space Telescope’s main camera has been offline since Monday, June 19, according to NASA. While scientists aren’t precisely sure why Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) reported invalid data and suspended operation, Ed Ruitberg, acting Hubble Space Telescope operations project manager at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, says engineers have been working to uncover why two of the three detectors in the ACS went into standby—cutting Hubble’s observation capacity in half....

A team of biomedical researchers at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has just completed an invention 10 years in the making. It’s a 3D printer that can craft relatively simple tissues like cartilage into large complex shapes—like an infant’s ear. Using cartridges that are brimming with biodegradable plastic and human cells bound up in gel, this new kind of 3D printer builds complex chunks of growing muscle, cartilage, and even bone....

Having scrapped plans to build a new fighter jet of its own, Japan’s defense ministry has reportedly inquired to multiple international defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing, about collaborating on a new stealth jet. Sources tell Reuters that Lockheed Martin is planning to respond to Japan’s request with a formal proposal for a new fighter that “would combine the F-22 and F-35 and could be superior to both of them....

NASA is tentatively delaying the maiden voyage of its much ballyhooed Space Launch System (SLS) for the second time this year, saying it will not be ready for takeoff until perhaps 2020.The SLS has been in development since 2011. A heavy-lift rocket in combination with a crew capsule called the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the SLS lacks for nothing in ambition. NASA plans to the SLS to be 385 feet tall with it a liftoff weight of 6....

Scientists have boosted laser light so that it can enter the body to target cancer.While x-rays easily “see through” the body, lasers don’t, and converting them requires adding more excitation energy.The secret is using nontoxic silicon nanocrystals and molecule glues called ligands.Cancer radiation treatment may get a tune-up in the form of upcycled light beams powered by silicon. The process results in high-energy beams that combine the best of traditional x-rays and radiation therapy with the cancer-fighting potential of light....

The Hydrogen One, the first smartphone by the camera-maker Red, makes little attempt to imitate the iPhones and Pixels of the world. It’s big, heavy, and sturdy—Kevlar and aluminum—almost in defiance of its sleek competitors. With its giant camera bump smack in the middle of its back, the Hydrogen One doesn’t mask what it intends to be good at. This is a phone for photos and videos—in 3D. But to what end?...

Here at Popular Mechanics, we love riddles, brain-teasers, and logic puzzles so much that we decided to post one a week. Here is the first in a series of riddles of the week. Let’s start with a simple one that you might have heard before (don’t worry, this is just a warmup for the weeks to come).ProblemA farmer lives on a small plot of land next to a river. One day, he travels across the river in a small boat and purchases a fox, a chicken, and a bag of corn from a feed and supply store....

Nine months after its glorious debut, and eight months after its temporary, ignominious closing, Salesforce Transit Center and Park in San Francisco re-opens to the public today, Monday, July 1.On September 25, 2018, workers discovered two cracked steel beams supporting the bus deck of the $2.2 billion project, which, along with the neighboring Salesforce Tower, dominates the skyline and alters the economic and cultural landscape of one the world’s great cities....

The U.S. Navy could buy older civilian merchant ships on the cheap and convert them into floating arsenals. The concept, outlined in the U.S. Naval Institute, envisions adding dozens—if not hundreds—of multiuse missile silos to the ships to provide additional firepower to the Navy while it struggles to reach its 355-ship goal. The idea is an attractive one but has a number of issues under the surface. The heart of today’s U....

Engine: 3.8-liter V8, 523 hp and 524 lb-ft of torque / Transmission: eight-speed automatic / Fuel economy: 15 mpg city, 22 mpg highway / Base curb weight: 4,189 pounds / 0-60: 4.6 seconds / Top Speed: 190 mph / Base price: $138,980If you want to sell a big baller sedan these days, you need a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that makes between 500 and 600 horsepower. Mercedes-Benz AMG S 63: 4.0-liter, 603 horsepower....

Seven movies in, the Fast and the Furious franchise finds new ways to outdo itself. Now there’s this trailer for Furious 7 (out April 3), which outdoes the first over-the-top Super Bowl trailer for this movie and shows this might be the most ridiculous entry in the franchise yet.First off: Yes, a Vin Diesel-driven car still jumps between two buildings, knocking out what appears to be a series of Terra Cotta warriors....

Media Platforms Design TeamLou Chenot’s 1932 Duesenberg may be a work-in-progress, but it’s a favorite at all the shows he attends. Lou had to mold or fabricate everything from the tires to the glass lenses for this funtional model. He was a gracious host at his booth, answering questions all weekend about his models, which were the main draw for several attendees. style=“background-color:#333;">Media Platforms Design Team15 Photos from the Model Engineering Society’s Annual Expo –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –>RELATED STORIES* PLUS: 4 Questions for Star Wars Modelmaker Grant McCune* GALLERY: 10 Best Old-Is-New Steampunk Gadgets* LENO: Jay Predicts the Future ClassicsMedia Platforms Design TeamA close-up of the engine compartment of Lou Chenot’s 1932 Duesenberg....

The social spider Anelosimus studiosus has two types of colonies: docile and aggressive.After a hurricane, when prey populations become scarcer, the aggressive colonies are the ones that thrive.Researchers are looking into if this is the case with other invertebrate populations, that aggressive populations thrive but cooperative ones do less well. Hurricanes reshape terrain when they make landfall, but they could also be shaping up something else: animal behavior.In research published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, scientists from University of California Santa Barbara, McMaster University in Ontario, and the University of California Davis reported that after hurricanes ravage an area, the aggressive colonies of the spider Anelosimus studiosus tend to get a leg up....

It’s been 20 years since director Ron Howard made Apollo 13. In some ways, his latest film feels like a spiritual follow-up to that survival story. But while it is based on a true story of staying alive amidst treacherous terrain, In the Heart of the Sea (out December 11) has none of the triumphant spirit of Howard’s space adventure. If Apollo 13 celebrated the ingenuity and smarts of a few brave men, then this maritime drama acknowledges that sometimes those qualities aren’t enough to guarantee a happy ending....

Media Platforms Design TeamAs the national average cost per gallon of gasoline hovers around $3 (that’s 70 percent higher than a year ago­), hybrid vehicles, with their low emissions and high mpg ratings, continue to beckon American drivers looking to avoid draining their wallets. During the fuel crises of the 1970s, diesel-engine vehicles were the go-to alternative, and the 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit, boasting 52 mpg, was an attractive option for the economic minded....

Researchers at TU Delft University in the Netherlands have created a new compressible material using artificial intelligence.Thanks to the AI, the team was able to come up with the discovery without a single experimental test in the lab.While it’s not the first time that AI has helped materials scientists, this leap shows just how powerful artificial intelligence can be in research.Perhaps the science textbooks of the future will add a new step to the scientific method: “consult with AI....