Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2014 i Popular Mechanics

Nuclear Power: Phaseout or Revival? Nuclear power could be facing its demise. Political opposition and cheap natural gas are preventing the U.S. from investing in new power plants. Meanwhile the nuclear infrastructure is aging beyond repair, and in June 2012 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from renewing licenses until the commission evaluates the risks of storing spent fuel. Four reactors were retired in 2013—the first closures in 15 years—and at least a dozen more reactors may be at risk of closure. Proponents are counting on low-input, mass-produced, small modular reactors to revive the industry, but SMRs don't exist yet in the U.S. Here are three possible scenarios for the future of nuclear. BY SARAH FECHT TECH WATCH / A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO … Navy Wave…

AS MUCH AS I LIKE MOTORCYCLES, I'M not about the black-leather, tough-guy, motorcycle-gang image that seems to have strong appeal here in America—you know, that "Yo, bro" kind of thing, riding into town and making noise. There's nothing wrong with that, but I've always admired the British and European version of motorcycling, which celebrates bikes as a superior and—certainly in the '20s and '30s—a faster form of transportation. That's why I like the Brough (pronounced bruff) Superior, a legendary British motorcycle built from 1919 to 1940. During that time Broughs were the best bikes you could buy and were associated with wealthy, well-educated people. When George Brough split off from his father's motorcycle company, he called his bikes Brough Superior, so people would know they'd been improved. He was something…

IN 2012 RADIATION EXPERT Robert Emery examined a research paper in his office at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston that declared a health crisis was at his door. Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman claimed they could link 14,000 American deaths to fallout from Japan's March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Mangano, the executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP), holds a master's degree in public health; Sherman is an adjunct professor of environmental studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. "Public health means prevention," Mangano told POPULAR MECHANICS. "It means removing any potential harm from our world." Mangano and Sherman tallied the number of deaths in about 100 U.S. cities in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima accident, compared with the same time…

If you intend to build and fly a drone recreationally, you face only a few restrictions, which come to you courtesy of the Federal Aviation Administration. Just make sure your unmanned aerial vehicle flies within your line of sight, less than 400 feet above the ground, during the day, and more than 3 miles from any airport. (You'll be in even better shape, according to the FAA's recommendations, if you choose an operating site far from noise-sensitive and densely populated areas such as parks, schools, and hospitals.) These rules, detailed in FAA Advisory Circular 91-57 and published in 1981, were written for model aircraft, but for now the FAA is applying the same rules to UAVs (see "Drone Skies," September 2013). It gets more complicated when individuals or companies want…

People choose wood–plastic composite (WPC) or even plastic lumber (PL) over wood because they want the finished project to resist rot, wood-eating insects, harsh sunlight, and mold and mildew, and they never want to paint it. So, do these materials deliver? In many respects, yes. But are they maintenance-free? No material is. Though many of these products carry 25- to 50-year warranties that protect against things like rotting, splitting, peeling, and insect infestation, we've seen these decks fade, buckle, and harbor mildew in certain conditions—especially the stuff that contains wood fibers. But, generally speaking, WPC and PL decks don't require the annual makeover that wood decks do, and most last for decades with little more work than soap and water rinses. Expect to pay around $3 per linear foot for…

AHA! I'LL RACE YE TO THE BOTTOM! HEY, THIS ISN'T AN OCTOPUS'S GARDEN! 1620: Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel, a Dutch engineer, covers a rowboat in greased leather. A dozen oarsmen row beneath the surface of the Thames, breathing through snorkel tubes. 1775: David Bushnell builds the Turtle, the first submarine used in combat. The wooden vessel uses a large screw to attach to the hulls of ships and affix a time bomb. 1863: The French Plongeur is propelled by a compressed-air engine, not human power. The ship's size (due to 23 internal air tanks) limits dives to 33 feet. 1900: John Holland wins a U.S. Navy submarine design competition. The USS Holland is the first to use gas and electric power, and becomes the standard sub during WWI. 1915: A German…

Inspiration By Design LEGO'S LATEST BUILDING BLOCKS TARGET FUTURE MAKERS AND ENGINEERS. When I played with Legos as a kid, I ignored the instructions and followed my instincts, stacking the tiles to create futuristic landscapes. Lego Architecture Studio ($150) is for freestylers like me. While other sets in the architecture series give detailed plans for creating models of landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Guggenheim Museum, this 1210-piece collection consists of classic white and clear blocks, slopes, and plates for awakening your inner Frank Lloyd Wright. The package includes a 272-page primer on architectural design, and even a few construction tips. But what I like best about the set? No instructions. — DAVID AGRELL UPGRADE / OFF-ROADING Surf and Turf At PopMech we believe ditching the pavement means…

I'M STANDING AT THE EDGE OF A FIELD in southern Florida, strapped to another man in a harness of aluminum tubing and nylon webbing like a pantomime horse. I'm in front; veteran paragliding pilot Paul Czarnecki is in back. It's early morning, and the air is calm and quiet except for the roar of the 15-hp two-stroke engine strapped to Czarnecki's back. Behind him, 230 square feet of ripstop nylon lies spread out in an arc. "Let's go!" he says. I can feel him pressing forward in the harness as we both start to run. Then we slow down, the wing pulling up into the air behind us like a kite. Now it's overhead, and we surge forward again, the engine roaring louder, the lift of the wing making me…

HEIGHT: 5 FEET 5 INCHES WEIGHT: 238 POUNDS NAME: ROBOSIMIAN This robot, built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, walks like a spider but can climb and manipulate tools like an ape. NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL) NAME: CHIMP CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY NATIONAL ROBOTICS ENGINEERING CENTER The arms of the Carnegie Mellon University Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform have treads for traveling on all fours. HEIGHT: 5 FEET 2 INCHES WEIGHT: 400 POUNDS The robot looks relaxed behind the wheel of the all-terrain vehicle—one three-fingered hand gripping the wheel, the other clamped to the roll bar overhead. One mechanical foot hovers over the accelerator. The bipedal robot has the aspect of a laid-back teenage driver, flouting the rules of every driver's-ed teacher in the world. The casual pose is…

BEST MINI TILLERS USING COMPOSITE LUMBER Bluetooth RADIO Still attached to an oscillating sprinkler? There are better ways to keep your grass healthy while also using less water. A well-tended lawn is desirable and, for many American homeowners, essential. But recently it's become a target of sustainability advocates, and for good reason. Not only are fertilizers and pesticides required to maintain that lush green carpet, a lawn also needs water—and lots of it. In fact, turf grass is the largest irrigated crop in the U.S. On a hot summer day a typical 3000-square-foot lawn can gulp as much as 360 gallons. That kind of water use can be costly. One Texas homeowner—whose water rates were nearly three times the national average of $2 per 1000 gallons—calculated that he spends up…

TRANS FLUID CHANGES SERVICE EXTRAS Window fix or don't fix Most headlights are made of polycarbonate plastic, which is durable and scratch-resistant. But over time polycarbonate clouds over, mostly due to UV rays that degrade the outer layer of plastic. Fortunately, there are plenty of products on the market designed to help you restore your car's 20/20 nighttime vision. To test the latest brands, I headed over to the Town & Country salvage yard in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Mike, the guy behind the counter, proudly showed me our shared name on his work shirt and loaned me the dirtiest, cloudiest headlights in the lot; I promised to return them clean. Back in the PopMech garage, I polished half of each headlight with a different product to demonstrate what I…

TEST DRIVES TOP TECH HOT RIDES LASER HEADLIGHTS, embedded 4G LTE connectivity, an in-car Domino's Pizza app—there was plenty of automotive news at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas. In fact, more carmakers parked themselves at this most recent CES than in any previous year. But the biggest auto-tech announcement came from Google: Android for the car is coming. With Audi, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, Google has created the Open Automotive Alliance, which will start integrating the Android OS into infotainment systems—those do-everything screens in our cars—this year. What exactly this means for car buyers, though, is still unclear. According to Brad Stertz, Audi's corporate communications manager, we probably won't see a screen that looks like an Android smartphone's in 2014. "I think…

Bre Pettis MakerBot Danielle Applestone Other Machine Co. Yancey Strickler Kickstarter Ben Kaufman Quirky Beth Comstock General Electric Chris Anderson 3D Robotics Christy Canida Instructables Palmer Luckey Oculus VR Jim Newton TechShop Matthew Burnett Maker's Row Tanya Menendez Maker's Row Eric Wilhelm Instructables Limor Fried Adafruit Industries Ayah Bdeir LittleBits Mark Hatch TechShop The people listed here are changing the world of innovation, the kind that happens in garages, at kitchen tables, and in shared workshops. POPULAR MECHANICS readers have always been passionate about tinkering and invention. But now, as never before, DIYers are being empowered to design, manufacture, and market their creations. Call it the maker movement, a fresh industrial revolution, or the new innovation economy. By any name, this is a great time to be an innovator—and we're…

HOBBYIST DRONE LAWS SMART-GADGET USER DATA Video podcasts on TVs I'm a cycling enthusiast, and when the weather is bad I use a bicycle trainer in my apartment. But riding to nowhere has always felt pointless. This got me thinking about how I could use my pedaling to produce electricity. By driving a generator with the movement of the back wheel, I figured I could run a lamp or charge my phone. Realistically, this wouldn't do much to cut my utility bills (or carbon emissions), but it would give my indoor riding a sense of purpose. Besides, I was curious to see what the project involved. To skip ahead a bit, I ended up rigging my bike to a 24-volt, 200-watt electric motor, which I modified slightly to generate electricity…

A mini tiller/cultivator is surprisingly powerful for its size. Full-on rototillers used for sod busting large areas have engines five to eight times the size of those found on minis, but they're too much for working in small beds for flowers and vegetables or for uprooting weeds without damaging adjacent plants. Mini tillers excel at small-scale tilling and are great for turning compost. We gathered seven machines, some with traditional two-stroke engines and others powered by four-cycle powerplants. Then we went to work in a farm field at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., turning ground that first saw a plow in the early 1800s. It was a tough test, but one that provided reliable data to go along with the rewarding aroma of freshly tilled earth. BY ROY BERENDSOHN…

The only thing frequent fluid changes harm is your pocketbook—assuming, of course, those changes are performed properly. Frequent changes increase the chance that you or an absentminded mechanic might pour incompatible ATF into your car, strip out a transmission pan bolt, or incorrectly install a new gasket or filter. I always recommend following the manufacturer's suggestions to the letter: The safest course is to change the fluid and filter as specified in the owner's manual. That said, the life of transmission fluid is highly dependent on operating temperatures. Frequent stop-and-go driving, towing, or snow plowing heats up the transmission and shortens fluid life. Those extreme cases are also usually covered in the manufacturer's service schedule, so, again, just follow the instructions. If you're still worried about the life of your…