Cardboard See a Car's Inner Workings With This Homemade GearboxPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonA custom gearbox built out of cardboard lets you see all the inner workings. A modern automobile needs hundreds of parts all working in perfect harmony. Each component is remarkably complex. Just take
Space Why Aren't There More Habitable Planets? Blame Red DwarfsPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanEven if a planet is in the habitable zone, a young star can wreak havoc on its atmosphere. One of the most exciting discoveries in astronomy over the last several years has been the explosion in exoplanet
NASA NASA Is Preparing for a Fake Asteroid ImpactPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonAt an upcoming planetary defense conference, NASA, FEMA, and a collection of other agencies will attempt to defend the Earth from a hypothetical asteroid. As far as deadly apocalypse scenarios go, perhaps
Coral Reefs New Atlas Captures Conditions of Nearly One-Fourth of World's CoralPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanThe atlas will make it easier to study the conditions of the threatened environments from afar. An international team of scientists has created the world's first global coral reef atlas. The atlas, created
The Best Doorbell CamerasPopular MechanicsThey’re peepholes you can see through from anywhere. And they could even help you stop package thieves. Are packages getting stolen off your doorstep? Do you have a nosey neighbor that spends a little
The Best Doorbell Cameras for Keeping an Eye On ThingsPopular Mechanics - By Jackson LanglandThey’re peepholes you can see through from anywhere. And they could even help you stop package thieves. Are packages getting stolen off your doorstep? Do you have a nosey neighbor that spends a little
Play buttonNew York City This Tiny Device Can Detect Nuclear ArmageddonPopular Mechanics - By Dan DubnoA new sensor—small enough to fit in pockets and cheap enough to fit in budgets—will help law enforcement locate dangerous materials before terrorists can use them. The train ride was as uneventful as dozens
Autos When Are Self-Driving Cars Actually Coming?Popular Mechanics - By Anthony AlanizWe've been promised a future in which machines do the driving for us. When will they be ready? And when the time comes, will we be ready? Back in the 1950s, George Jetson's flying car was the transportation
Play buttonGenes This Is the First-Ever Simulation of an Entire GenePopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonA group of researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory have used a supercomputer to create a simulation that features more than a billion atoms. A group of scientists have created the world’s first
Rivian Ford Invests Half a Billion in Electric Truck and SUV Start-UpPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanRivian has been in the works for a decade. Ford might hopes to give it a final push. Ford has invested $500 million into Rivian, an electric-car start-up. The investment marks Rivian's growth over a decade
Autos Chalk It Up to the Constitution: Court Rules a Common Parking Enforcement Technique Is Unreasonable SearchPopular Mechanics - By Alexander StoklosaMarking a parked car's tire using chalk to track its time in a parking space could henceforth require a warrant. UPDATE 4/24/19: A clarification: The court's decision that chalking is unconstitutional
China Chinese Hypersonic Vehicle Could Be Model for a Future Weapon SystemPopular Mechanics - By Kyle MizokamiThe hypersonic vehicle appears similar to an American hypersonic weapon development project, HAWC. Images on Chinese social media appear to show a hypersonic test vehicle that is a likely prototype for
Military History Russia Launches Belgorod, the World’s Longest SubmarinePopular Mechanics - By Kyle MizokamiThe Belgorod will carry out underwater spy missions and launch Poseidon nuclear torpedoes. Russia launched the world’s longest submarine today, the special mission submarine Belgorod. Designed to support
Chicago, IL You Can Drive This Trash Robot With Just an Internet ConnectionPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonAltruBots are designed to let anyone chip in and help clean up our world's waterways. Do you live near a river? Is it clogged with trash? If you’re like most people, you’ve probably answered yes to both
Play buttonScience Scientists Made Bubbles of Sand, and That's a Big DealPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonA group of scientists proved that sand can form lava lamp-style bubbles, which could have applications in geology and pharmaceuticals. A group of researchers have created bubbles out of sand for the first
Space NASA and France Find Evidence of MarsquakesPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanWorking together, two space agencies find evidence that has eluded scientists for years. French scientists have discovered what they believe to be the first known evidence of a Marsquake. While scientists
U.S. Navy U.S.: China Won’t Find Japan's Lost F-35 Before We DoPopular Mechanics - By Kyle MizokamiThe American and Japanese governments are marshaling forces to recover the missing stealth jet. Here's a worry question about Japan's missing-and-presumed-lost F-35 fighter jet: What if China finds it
Google Maps Google Maps Adds Electric Charging StationsPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanDriving an electric car in the U.S or U.K just got a whole lot easier. Google Maps now can make one of the more irritating aspects of owning an electric car just a little bit easier. The service now only
Audi The All-Wheel-Drive Originator: 1989 Audi 200 QuattroPopular Mechanics - Popular Mechanics Editors"With a good set of winter tires, it’s a tank on the snow." I left Bosnia in 1993, and the first car I bought in America was an Audi 4000S. I loved it, but I wanted a Quattro, which was more rare. Three
Tesla Tesla Claims Fully Automated Autopilot Upgrade Will Be Fail-SafePopular Mechanics - By Clifford AtiyehHow much of this announcement is hype and how much is tech that's ready for market, we won't know right away, but they've got our attention. Tesla’s fullest realization of Autopilot—a completely automated
Play buttonSpace Japan Is Testing Earth's Asteroid Defense SystemPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanIn order to figure out how asteroids explode, JAXA fired a projectile at one. From the giant comet that once wiped out 75 percent of life to the equally intimidating sucker that once killed off Téa Leoni,
Play buttonSpaceX SpaceX's Explosive 'Anomaly' Could Delay the U.S.'s Return To Crewed SpaceflightPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonThe U.S. hasn't launched a crewed space mission for nearly 8 years—and now we might have to wait a bit longer. SpaceX has not had a very good week. Initially things were looking good with the successful
Military This Flying Chinese Aircraft Carrier Looks DangerousPopular Mechanics - By Kyle MizokamiDon’t get too excited. It’s actually just a kite. Some Chinese kite enthusiasts built what could be the world’s first aircraft carrier kite. The kite, made to resemble China’s first domestically produced
Hornets The Blue Angels Are Switching to “New” Jets in 2021Popular Mechanics - By Kyle MizokamiThe world-famous acrobatic team is transitioning from older Hornets to newer, but not exactly new, Super Hornets. The Blue Angels are getting new jets for their 75th anniversary—kind of. The Navy's flight
Technology Welcome To the Customized Mechanical Keyboard LifePopular Mechanics - Alexander GeorgeIt’s durable, completely personalized, and, unlike standard keyboards, a joy to use. The tools we use most often should, ideally, be of the highest quality possible, making your most repeated actions and
Science Scientists Discover Gigantic Prehistoric Cat in a Neglected Museum DrawerPopular Mechanics - By David GrossmanThe ancient African apex predator weighed more than a ton. Larger than a tiger, lion, or polar bear with a skull comparable with a rhinoceros, this ancient predator cat, known as Simbakubwa kutokaafrika,
Subaru It's National Park Week, and You Know What That Means: Road TripPopular Mechanics - By Clifford AtiyehWhat better way to celebrate Earth Day and National Park Week than by planning your own adventure drive, we say. This week, the country's 419 properties that are part of the national parks system are a
Play buttonConcorde Why The Concorde Is Such a Badass PlanePopular Mechanics - By Sam BlumThe long, strange, luxurious saga of flying faster than the speed of sound. The pointy-nosed plane barreled down the French tarmac and into the air. The crowd of 200,000 spectators that gathered near runway
Play buttonAutos Here’s How an Oil Catch Can Works, And Why You Might Want OnePopular Mechanics - By Brian SilvestroHave a direct injection motor? You might want to see this. Oil catch cans are simple devices that can greatly benefit direct-injected engines. They prevent oil and other contaminants from causing buildup
Copper How Sonar Discovered a 16th Century Shipwreck by AccidentPopular Mechanics - By Avery ThompsonA team of scavengers discovered one of the oldest known shipwrecks, filled with tons of copper, entirely coincidentally. A team of salvagers trying to find old shipping containers has made a discovery
