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The idea for the space elevator is over 100 years old, when Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, conceived of a structure so large that its tip would become orbital. It’s now become a mainstay of both science fiction writers and those who hope to find a cheaper way into space—the ISEC Space Elevator Conference draws a sizable crowd people each year eager to talk about to the feasibility of such a structure....

Media Platforms Design TeamLAS VEGAS — From its mid-engine layout to its superb suspension tuning, the 2000 Porsche Boxster was a poster child for balance and restraint, and is possibly the unlikeliest donor car for an exercise in excess. Flash forward to its descendant, the Boxster F5 986 GTS, which is loaded to the gills with performance, audio-visual and gaming mods to satisfy the most obsessive gear-heads and geeks. Dyno’d at 400 hp and clocked with a zero-to-60 time of 3....

Ramjet missiles, due to their use of abundant air, are the ideal propulsion system for high speed aircraft, missiles, and other objects.Nammo has finished tests of its new ramjet engine.Missiles and even artillery shells will see big speed and range gains with ramjets, allowing those with them to out-range those without. Missiles and artillery shells are on the cusp of a major breakthrough, thanks to research into ramjet engine technology. Norwegian company Nammo has finished the first phase in its testing of ramjet engines that will mean big increases in both speed and range to tactical missiles and even howitzer shells....

Russia is reportedly developing a new generation of wing-in-ground-effect vehicles inspired by monster craft developed during the Cold War. The new Orlan craft will be a descendant of the so-called ‘Caspian Sea Monster,’ a now defunct vehicle that flew across wavetops at speeds of up to 400 mph. Russian State Media reports that the Orlan, currently under development, will be ready by 2027. “The state armament program for 2018-2027 includes the Orlan research and development work, which stipulates the construction of the wing-in-ground-effect craft....

Footage used by the Russian government to prove U.S. forces were working alongside the Islamic State was actually taken in 2016 from an entirely different engagement. Even worse, some of the footage was taken from a video game.Early on November 14th, the Russian Ministry of Defense posted messages on social media in Russian, Arabic, and English describing “irrefutable evidence” that U.S. forces were saving, not attacking ISIS forces. According to the Russian MoD, Washington planned to “recover their combat capabilities,”, so they could be used elsewhere in the Middle East as proxy forces on the Americans’ behalf....

Philip FriedmanI keep seeing stickers from recognized audio brands on unrelated electronics. Does that mean these devices have premium sound, or is it just a marketing stunt?The badges are everywhere: on laptops, tablets, and phones. Some from brands with real audio cred: Altec Lansing, Harman Kardon, Bang & Olufsen. Other brands are familiar, but mysteriousyou may have heard of Dolby, SRS, and Creative, but do you know what they do? The explosion of celebrity-endorsed headphones has pushed product labeling to a new level, too....

Of the five Twin Mustangs left in the world, two are on display in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Another is a gate guard at Lackland AFB in Texas. One is currently undergoing restoration. And one—just one—is, at long last, ready to fly. More than a decade of labor and an untold amount of money has gone into the restoration of airframe 44-83887 under the leadership of master aircraft restorer Tom Reilly of Douglas, Georgia....

Despite what you heard, the Amish aren’t against technology. Communities adopt new gadgets such as fax machines and business-use cell phones all the time—so long as the local church approves each one ahead of time, determining that it won’t drastically change their way of life. So it is with the Amish horse-drawn buggy. You might have thought the technology inside this 1800s method of transportation stopped progressing right around then. Instead, buggy tech keeps advancing, and buggy makers have become electricians and metalworkers to build in all the new tech you can’t see under the traditional black paint....

The first starlight might have lit up the cosmos just 250 million years after the Big Bang—a blink of an eye in cosmic time.Astrophysicists have been working to pin down exactly when gases compressed to spark nuclear fusion for the first time, producing light and heat and igniting stars. A new study to be published in Nature this week suggests the first stars could have formed earlier rather than later. The finding comes from two of the most advanced telescopes working today: the internationally funded Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), both in Chile....

Niskayuna, N.Y. — A panel of energy experts here at GE’s Niskayuna energy research center are emphasizing that there’s no silver bullet for the future. “We need ’em all,” says Jim Rogers, CEO of Fuke Energy Corp. That means nuclear, wind, new and cleaner coal plants (perhaps including carbon sequestration), and greater all-around efficiency. As one panelist pointed out, wind power now costs 4 to 6 cents per kwh and solar costs around 25 cents per kwh—yet with efficiency gains it could cost just 2 to 4 cents per kwh....

In November 2016, Nintendo released its pint-sized NES Classic, a mini version of its original home console that came fully loaded with its best games. The next year, Nintendo followed up that retro console success with the SNES Classic.With Sony also joining the miniaturization party, it seemed inevitable that Nintendo would continue onward to the N64 and GameCube, but Nintendo doesn’t seem particularly interested in the idea. So it has fallen to fans to create the mini gaming world that could have been....

A new paper guesstimates how long it would take for tribbles to fill the USS Enterprise on Star Trek.The math of population growth is more than just exponential.Spock calculates the population of tribbles in the classic episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles.“Physics undergrads at the University of Leicester have made a growth equation for the Star Trek universe’s infamous troubling tribbles—purring balls of fluff that rapidly multiplied aboard the USS Enterprise in a classic 1967 episode....

Media Platforms Design TeamMonsters vs. Aliens (2009)Media Platforms Design TeamWhen Susan (Reese Witherspoon) is transformed into a 49'11" giant on her wedding day, she’s recruited by the U.S. military to stop an alien invasion. Monsters vs. Aliens marks DreamWorks Animation’s first foray into the growing 3-D revival. Monsters vs. Aliens is the first CGI film to be produced in 3-D (CGI movies like Disney’s G-Force wereconverted later after the fact). According to Ed Leonard, CTO of DreamWorks Animation, the film took approximately 45....

A man named Tinker clutches an HDMI cable as he bumps through the crowd milling in front of the stage at Family Karaoke, a joint on Dallas’s east side. A former Marine, Tinker has a solid but not overly muscled frame. Less weight lifter than baseball infielder. He has a voice that belongs on a live-fire exercise. It booms, even over the thrump of the techno blasting from two speaker towers on the stage....

Media Platforms Design TeamA minor furor has been raised after yesterday’s about privacy issues regarding Flash cookies. These cookies are small pieces of information stored and accessed by Adobe Flash, the browser plug-in used by sites ranging from YouTube to Farmville. As the reported, some users are going so far as to sue companies that use these innocuously named tracking tools, which most people never even knew existed. If you are concerned about your privacy online, it’s worth learning about how Flash cookies work and what you can do to control them....

Computers, like humans, all eventually become old and slow. That inevitable truth won’t help you fix the problem though. And even if you don’t want to actually go out and buy new hardware—a new computer, a bigger hard drive, additional RAM, etc.—there are a few things you can do that will get results. First, do all the stuff you probably already know you should do: Close a few of those browser tabs....

Media Platforms Design Team(Archival image courtesy of Grant McCune Design)Before the days of computer-generated graphics (fighting Transformers! scowling sabertooth tigers!), filmmakers such as George Lucas relied on tiny plastic models to lure us into a world of X-Wings, Death Stars and Millennium Falcons. Back then, it took a lot of time and a lot of imagination to trick the eye into believing that the fate of the Rebellion rested in a small piece of plastic....

Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile launch, September 2017.Getty ImagesThe major powers in North Asia are locked in a new arms race, one designed to give them the ability to strike their neighbors quickly and with little advance notice. China, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea are all busy developing or purchasing cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges of a hundreds if not thousands of miles. Although most missiles are conventionally armed, some can and do carry nuclear weapons....

A Belgian Air Component F-16 fighter was destroyed and a second plane severely damaged after two maintainers accidentally triggered another jet’s Gatling gun. Two other Belgian Air Force personnel on the ground were treated for injuries. The incident took place at Florennes Air Base in the afternoon of October 11. Two maintainers working on Belgian Air Force F-16AM fighter jet accidentally fired the plane’s M61 20-millimeter, six barreled Gatling gun. The 20-millimeter cannon rounds struck another F-16AM sitting nearby that was fueled up and prepared for flight....

Shure SE110 ($120) | shure.comMedia Platforms Design TeamPositives: These audiophile-quality earbuds use sound-isolating attachments to fit different ears.Negatives: Pricey. To switch between calls, you’ll need an adapter that costs $50.Test Results: The SE110s had the highest marks for sound quality, with a nice, clear midrange. Testers were less impressed with Shure’s over-the-ear fit, finding it a bit awkward.SkullCandy iPhone FMJ ($80) | skullcandy.comMedia Platforms Design TeamPositives: A built-in mic makes it easy to take calls....