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Researchers at Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico have designed a new type of phosphorescent cement that could illuminate highways or bike paths without using electricity. The development could have tremendous implications for cycling safety.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost half of all cycling accidents occur between 4 PM and midnight. Current safety techniques, including bright clothing and flashing lights attached to bikes, all requires proactive measures on the part of the cyclist....

Media Platforms Design TeamAt two miles long and roughly a city block wide, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will become the world’s largest welcome mat on January 20. Those who wish to stand witness to the swearing-in of America’s first African-American president are being told to come–one and all. But how will officials manage what some have speculated will become the largest gathering in American history? The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating a team of 58 public agencies whose overlapping jurisdictions are woven across the district like a spider web....

Ever since a camping trip to Acadia two summers ago, when I squeezed four human adults and the camping gear for four human adults into my 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, I’d been wanting to buy a roof rack. This summer, I finally pulled the trigger with Barricade’s textured black steel rack. Before it arrived, I’d have to figure out how to get out the Torx bolts, already part of the Jeep’s frame, that would be repurposed as mounting points....

Something is missing in your life. And it’s probably not a heavier workload on the job. Nope, you need something fun for your car–like the snorty growl from dual exhaust pipes. Okay, it’s not like anybody really wants an exhaust system that makes car alarms go manic or requires the girlfriend to wear earplugs. But upgrading an exhaust lets you hear the magic under the hood. And to us gear heads–that’s music, man....

Media Platforms Design TeamNo sooner were we lauding the rare instances when automakers celebrate their past achievements than Jaguar dropped this bombshell: The British carmaker will be building six perfect recreations of their legendary Lightweight E-Type (aka, “Special GT E-Type cars”), which were originally built between 1963 and 1964. Jaguar originally intended to build 18 of the race-ready vehicles, but ended up trimming production down to a dozen. The new versions will inherit the unused serial numbers reserved for the unbuilt cars, and will be constructed to the exact specifications of the originals, down to the aluminum 3....

NASA successfully hot-fire tested a 3D-printed combustion chamber for a rocket engine. The successful test is the latest in a series of advancements in 3D-printed rocket technology from both private companies and public research groups. The engine project is the work of three NASA centers across the country: Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia; and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2015, material scientists at Glenn developed a powdered copper alloy that engineers at Marshall used to 3D-print the space agency’s first full-scale copper rocket engine part, a lining for the combustion chamber....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team Nokia has finally joined the touchscreen party, and only a year and a half late. Today, Nokia announced its new 5800 XpressMusic phone: the company’s first keypadless touchscreen phone. We had some time to play with the XpressMusic yesterday, which runs on the Symbian Series 60 platform and is scheduled to hit shelves early next year. Our verdict: While it certainly has a lot of room for improvement, it also contains a number of very compelling features....

The international ITER tokamak has begun construction and plans to start turning on in 2025.Bringing in parts for the 25,000-ton reactor required building a special heavy-duty road.ITER is the biggest tokamak fusion reactor project, but far from the only one.Could nuclear fusion finally be right around the corner … in 2035? The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, is a 30-year-old project started by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev....

Media Platforms Design TeamWhat are they going to stick Bluetooth in next, a toothbrush? Absolutely, though Oral B was smart enough not to use the dreaded B-word when marketing its new electric toothbrush, the Oral-B Triumph with Smartguide. The rotating brush head transmits information to a small display—the Smartguide—showing how long you’ve been brushing, which of four modes you’re in (for example, a softer mode for sensitive teeth or a feverish scrub for stain removal), and, most important, whether you’re brushing too hard....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf you believed that well-meaning fellow from The Graduate, you probably envisioned a future paved in polymers. For the next big thing in automotive manufacturing, I’ve got one word for you: Glue.Due to stricter worldwide emissions and fuel economy standards (and the subsequent drive towards lightweight construction), weld-intensive metals are being replaced by aluminums and composites which are more easily fused together using adhesives. That assembly process is creating a sea change in how automotibles are designed and built, and more importantly, how the resulting structures are held together....

Russia has announced the existence two new nuclear-tipped missiles, including a previously secret nuclear-powered cruise missile. Unlike regular cruise missiles, which are powered by liquid fuel and gasoline engines, this missile would be powered by a nuclear chain reaction. Another missile, Kinzhal, is a hypersonic weapon designed to attack aircraft carriers and other well-defended targets.Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly announced the existence of several new nuclear weapons systems, including the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, the Kanyon long-range nuclear torpedo, a nuclear-powered cruise missile, and the Kinzhal hypersonic missile....

CHICAGO — In addition to unveiling two new versions of its 2008 Vue SUV here at the Chicago auto show, Saturn introduced the 2008 Astra, a new line of front-wheel-drive compact sedans that the company will offer in three-door and five-door hatchback versions.Set for introduction to the U.S. market in the fourth quarter of this year, the Astra is offered in two trim models: the XC and XR. Standard powertrain is a 1....

Researchers at the University of Michigan are working on a way to make renewable diesel fuel from algae. A new $2 million grant from the Department of Energy will help those researchers successfully develop a method to harvest algae and turn it into fuel that doesn’t contribute to climate change.This is, of course, far from the first technology to create environmentally-friendly diesel. Industries have been converting corn and soybeans into fuel for years now, but those methods have plenty of downsides....

You know the old stage saying from magicians: Nothing in my hat, nothing up my sleeve, and whoosh—out of the empty hat pops a rabbit, or a flapping pigeon or whistling mini-locomotive. The startled faces in the audience are the kinds of faces most people would make when told that Air Co. is making vodka out of air and water. No grain, no yeast.Air + water = vodka. Magic? Not quite....

In theory, the free throw is a gift. The shooter shoots with no elbows thrown in his direction, no seven-foot-tall man trying to block the shot, and no screaming crowd (unless he plays for the visiting team). So what makes this solo shot so choke-worthy? In the spirit of March Madness, we break down the anatomy of this seemingly simple shot. Body Mechanics"The lift that you have as a free-throw shooter starts from the feet," says Bruce Kreutzer, a shooting specialist at the Mark Price Basketball Academy in Suwanee, Ga....

“I just handed him the biggest hammer we have, and a crowbar,” the University of Washington engineering student tells me as he peers down into the dark deep-water basin. “He’s going to go down there and try to hammer the fin straight.” So it goes at the 2017 International Submarine Races (ISR), where ridiculous on-the-fly DIY repairs are the name of the game. We’re at Carderock Naval Warfare Center, a Navy complex along the Potomac River in Maryland with some of the largest pools in the world....

Media Platforms Design TeamSo this is what a pirate’s sword feels like.I wrap my hands around the straight iron blade. It’s probably a 17th-century rapier, I’m told, but it’d hard to know for sure. The handle is missing, and though I can see and feel its fuller groove, a layer of sea shells and some sort of hardened concretion cover the blade’s finer details. “That’s either calcium carbonate or coralline,” Texas State University archaeologist Fritz Hanselmann tells me as he takes the blade and places it in a makeshift holder his crew had just MacGyvered from a metal CD rack, rebar, and scraps of a yoga mat....

Media Platforms Design TeamBizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern: Collection 3 (2008)Media Platforms Design TeamIn just three short years, restaurateur and food critic Andrew Zimmern’s unique travelogue Bizarre Foods has eaten the world by storm and catapulted the gutsy gourmand to become the de facto face of the Travel Channel, along with network stars Anthony Bourdain and Bridget Marquardt. Armed with his teflon tastebuds and cast-iron stomach, Zimmern provides a stark contrast to No Reservations’ Bourdain in his approach and appearance....

Scientists have described the hours immediately after the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact struck the coast off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.The force of the impact formed large mounds of earth around the crater, sparked fires, and sent waves crashing toward shore.The impact forever altered the course of life on Earth and gave rise to a tenacious class of animals: mammals. Rock cores pulled from the famed Chicxulub crater off the coast of Mexico have revealed what the dinosaurs’ last day on Earth would have been like 66 million years ago....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis is the roadster that second generation land speed racer Mike Cook, Jr. drives. It’s a C/Blown Gas Roadster (C/BGR) and is capable of speeds over 225 mph on the salt.>RELATED STORIES* FIRST LOOK: British Steam Car Hits Road for 170 MPH at Bonneville* COMPLETE COVERAGE: Follow Daily Galleries From Speed Week 2008!Media Platforms Design TeamThis is know as a “Phantom Truck,” since Chevy never made a “Cab Over” pick-up truck....