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Media Platforms Design TeamGeneral Motors said that it lost nearly $1.15 billion in the quarter that ended September 30. It is no longer a public company, but GM is reporting its results as part of a policy of public accountability, as the U.S. government owns more than 60 percent of the automaker following GM’s government-assisted Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. Under terms of the government bailout, GM has until 2015 to repay $6....

Media Platforms Design TeamA Washington, D.C., court yesterday issued a ruling that will change how Internet users access, pay for, and experience the web, in a move many are calling a blow to free speech and the open internet. in came down against net neutrality, establishing that the FCC does not have the authority to force Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally.The rulingVerizon v. Federal Communications CommissionThe appeals court’s decision wasn’t based on an opposition to net neutrality in principle, but rather on the legal footing of the FCC’s case....

In Postdam, Germany, mass transit has quietly passed a technical milestone. Siemens has successfully demonstrated the world’s first autonomous tram.While autonomous cars are still being aggressively tested, they will not be able to handle high passenger volume by design. Siemens is hoping that by exploring autonomous light rail vehicles (LRVs), they are presenting an option that could be immediately integrated into major cities. The Munich-based multinational believes that eliminating the human component could make trams and trolleys cheaper for passengers....

More than 30 years after twisters tore up the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, scientists are still studying the footage and data collected in those storms. Tornado chasing – the art of following and recording a storm – is actually a very valuable research tool. Brian Jewett, a veteran storm chaser and research scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a specific interest in small-scale weather phenomena such as severe and winter storms, enlightens us to a life on the chase....

Rigid airships were largely abandoned after the Hindenburg’s 1937 crash and an increased military preference for planes. But they could make a comeback as cargo vessels. Rigid airships could potentially use far less carbon dioxide than boats. And a solar-powered airship could use jet streams to fly across the globe in record time. But there’s the challenge of efficiency. Any potential rigid airship built to handle the world’s supplies would have to be the largest rigid airship ever built....

Media Platforms Design TeamFifteen years ago, the auto industry was forced to drop CFC-based refrigerant R-12 because of its liability for ozone depletion. They switched to non-CFC-based R-134a, which, as it turned out, also provided a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas liability. How much better is R-134a? Carbon dioxide has a global warming rating of 1. R-12 has a rating of 12,000. In other words, one pound of R-12 has the equivalent effect on global warming as 6 tons—12,000 pounds—of CO2....

That last-minute dash to the gate could soon become a marathon for some passengers in China. Beijing International Airport announced that it is building the world’s biggest terminal, one that will cover 7.5 million square feet and handle 125,000 people each day. Alternatively known as Daxing Airport, it’s slated to be completed in 2018.The “mega-airport” a collaboration between the French airport design firm ADPI and noted British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. It’s located 30 miles outside of Beijing and will serve as the city’s hub for international flights....

The U.S. Navy learned a bitter lesson in 2000, when the USS Cole was attacked in Aden Harbor by Al Qaeda.The service is looking to the CUSV boat drone as a way to provide harbor security against terrorist attack.The drone is equipped with a heavy machine gun, in case verbal warnings are not enough.One of the most important but generally overlooked missions of the U.S. Navy is port security. While incidents in peacetime are generally rare, the 2000 terrorist attack on the destroyer USS Cole remains a real danger....

Philip FriedmanThe door lock is a marvelous marriage of simplicity and complexity. Both its function (to restrict access to a building or room) and operation (insert key, twist key, open door) are simple. But it’s the complex internal mechanics that allow the lock to work the way it does. The pins, grooves, and cylinder must all align perfectly with the proper key or the cylinder won’t turn, the bolt won’t throw, and the door won’t open—that’s the whole point....

Media Platforms Design TeamStudents at Carnegie Mellon University’sEntertainment Technology CenterReel Women International Film FestivalGive Kids the World Village (ETC) were recently selected to receive an award at the for their animated short, “The Big Surprise.” The film includes fully rendered characters and an interactive theater, including mist, lighting effects and bubbles, all created for the , a non-profit resort for children with life-threatening illnesses. The project is one of the many ongoing projects at ETC, a graduate program that explores the way digital, robotic and computer-related technologies shape our world....

One of my favorite construction tricks is to build boxes out of birch plywood as a way to avoid complicated framing jobs in tight spaces. I use the boxes in many situations, but they are particularly handy for making use of the generous cavity behind a knee wall, the partial-height structure built where a roof slopes down through a room. Since a knee wall usually doesn’t carry any structural load, it’s easy to cut a large opening in it....

Acquiring tools is a lifelong process. You probably started as a teenager with some screwdrivers, a wrench set and a hammer—but a welder is one of the last things you add to the collection, if you ever even own one at all. They require workshop space, money, and the specialized skills to properly weld.It’s understandable if you haven’t gotten to that point yet in your building and tinkering. Fortunately for all the non-welder-owning makers, YouTube celebrity mechanic Colin Furze recently released two videos that show you how to make an awesome, fast go-cart with nothing but a simple tool collection....

Media Platforms Design TeamDEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 1/10AGES: 4+BUILD TIME: 2 HoursPARTS COST: About $20MATERIALS · Two pieces 3 x 15-inch foam board· Two pieces 3.5 x 18-inch foam board· Two pieces 3 x 3-inch foam board· Two 3 x 3-inch mirrors· Duct tapeAssemble this eye-spy device with your kids, and in a short time, your little ones will be peeking over your neighbors’ fences and around bedroom corners. Hey, no one said espionage was ethical....

The all-knowing supercomputers we carry in our pockets are pretty futuristic when you think about it, but they don’t have the same sort of whiz-bang sci-fi flair you see in the movies. If you’ve got an old CD case, some tape, and a knife you can fix that by turning your phone into a DIY hologram projector . The principle isn’t new, but this DIY method makes it more accessible than ever....

Ken Pomeroy has a pet peeve when it comes to predicting the NCAA men’s basketball tournament: He hates picking No. 1 seeds to make it in the Final Four. But that’s how this weekend’s semifinals turned out, and, naturally, that’s exactly what his Web-crawling, data-mining, Pythagorean-based custom software spat out. Statistics have never been more scrutinized in sports–or employed on the playing field–but Pomeroy, a 34-year-old meteorologist for the National Weather Service, is really doing a number on this year’s college hoops championship....

Media Platforms Design TeamGreat Falls, Mont.—Like most Americans, the citizens of Great Falls don’t spend much time thinking about the nuclear missiles resting in silos dug into the surrounding high plains and mountains. Residents here seem more protective of their favorite trout streams and more worried about bears than about the local arsenal of nuclear weapons. “They’ve been here more than 50 years,” says one taxi driver. “So what’s the big deal?...

Media Platforms Design TeamA few months back, we explained how to brew a Belgian white ale, complete with mash made by sparging, stirring, boiling and straining the grains. The Belgian was delicious–light and fruity with a hint of vanilla–but the process, cleaning included, took nearly a full day. There’s a faster way: Skip the mash and use dry malt extract to brew an equally delicious beer in half the time with half the mess....

Media Platforms Design TeamIt’s a Texas treasure trove. Buried in the ground outside Austin in a place called Buttermilk Creek Valley, professor Mike Waters of Texas A&M University and his team have found more than 50 well-formed tools and thousands of incomplete artifacts that they dated back more than 15,000 years. According to Waters’ research, published , this is the strongest evidence ever unearthed that predates the Clovis culture—a 13,000-year-old technological culture that was at one time considered to be the first in North America....

At least two U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles launched in Saudi Arabia overnight failed during an attack by Houthi militants. One missile appears to have failed shortly after launch, while another abruptly turned around after launch and exploded on the ground. The Patriot missiles were launched in response to incoming missiles launched by Yemeni rebels.According to reports, seven Burkan 2-H short-range ballistic missiles were launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen at targets across Saudi Arabia....

To test out norovirus transmission, researchers at North Carolina State University took an, erm, unique tactic. Rather than infecting human or animal patients with the common food contagion and seeing if the virus could be transmitted by human vomit, they created a machine that had a mini-stomach, esophagus, and face and let it rip. Essentially, the puke bot was rigged up in a plexiglass box, and shot a green, norovirus filled slurry out the machine’s mouth....