Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Popular Mechanics

I’ll say right off the bat: It was my fault. I’m the one who left the key fob on the roof of the car and then drove away. Okay? I did that. But. If I may: I would contend that the car should not have been able to operate when the key fob—the thing that is required to start the engine—was sitting on the roof of the car. Key fob technology is not new—in 2002, Cadillac became the first U.S. manufacturer to come out with a fob that allowed you to start your car without inserting a metal key into the ignition. It was progress for humankind, I guess—except that the key was kind of a nice safeguard against you getting into your car, driving 20 miles through the rain…

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made it pretty clear he wants to die on Mars (just not on impact!). He believes we should be a multiplanetary species, and SpaceX has been marching toward that goal since its founding in 2002. Every new rocket engine, every launch, every trip to the International Space Station is not just a business transaction but also an opportunity to upgrade SpaceX’s engineering savvy and expand its portfolio of launch capabilities. Because before Elon can retire overlooking Olympus Mons, the company is going to need to get a lot of people and payload into space. That’s why, before the year is out, they hope to launch what will be the most powerful rocket on the planet: the Falcon Heavy. It will be a challenge unlike any…

A recent text from my boss: “Did you get my email? Thanks.” ¶ I’m terrible at email. I loathe checking my inbox, so I just don’t do it. The promise that chat apps such as Slack will finally replace the majority of my email exchanges does make me optimistic. As of last year, Slack had more than 1.5 million subscribers. Still, more than 3.7 billion people in the world have email accounts, and it seems like 3 billion of them email me every day. But traditional email providers and independent companies have come up with algorithms that, along with some behavioral changes, can help get my inbox back to its original purpose: efficient communication. Even if you’re not as hopeless as I am, they can help you too. YOU: Are…

BARNABY WAINFAN, technical fellow and aerodynamicist, Northrop Grumman Use this template. Start by folding the paper in half down the center of the plane. Cut along the perimeter to get a perfectly symmetrical aircraft. Now fold: First, the wings, down along line No. 1. Then grab the tail in the center and fold it in the opposite direction along the same line, so it extends above the wings. Next fold down along line No. 2. At the seam where the wings meet use a piece of Scotch tape to hold them together. Add a standard paper clip beside the nose to balance the weight of the thinner nose with the plane’s wide wings. Last, fold the flaps up along line No. 3. After a test flight, troubleshoot by adjusting those…

JIM WILDE, professor of civil engineering, Minnesota State University, Mankato EVERY YEAR the American Society of Civil Engineers holds a national competition that challenges college students to build a concrete canoe. It has to float, obviously, and that rule remains even if the canoe breaks in two. Wilde has led student-entry efforts at MSU for the last three decades. This is the most basic form of construction: a handmolded craft in which concrete is applied to a simple hull form. 1 / Design a basic hull form or use an existing form on a CAD program. 2 / Print cross sections of the hull at regular intervals onto paper templates. Transfer these templates to pieces of plywood. 3 / Cut out the cross sections from the plywood using a jigsaw…

WET COOKING Lower Temperature + High-Sided Pot The pot requires a tight lid so precious cooking liquid isn’t lost to evaporation. DRY COOKING Higher Temperature + Low-Sided Pan More meat surface is exposed to the heat element, maximizing browning.…

In approximately two years, your 32-inch television will be as thin as a matchstick, as clear as real life, liberated from wires, and cost $400. And it will be a direct descendant of these. LG SIGNATURE OLED 4K WALLPAPER ($8,000 for 65-inch; $20,000 for 77-inch) It measures 0.15 inches, including the wall mount. That’s thinner than the drywall screws you’ll use to hang the mounting bracket. How’d they...? LG put all the ports, speakers, and circuitry in the soundbar-like appendage, which connects to the display with a single flat cable (which you could run behind your wall, for full minimalist effect). And 4K with HDR means that the visuals are the best you can get in 2017. This isn’t the first TV to get thinner by externalizing hardware. But with…

Joost Janssen is not an assassin. Real assassins don’t tend to respond to interview requests. But he is a close second: a Navy SEAL for 13 years, and currently an instructor at BUD/S, the school that SEAL candidates attend. He’s also the military advisor for American Assassin (September 15), a brutal thriller about a CIA recruit whose fiancée is killed in a terrorist attack. That man is trained by a legendary operative played by Michael Keaton, and Keaton was trained by Janssen. 1 START SLOW. Janssen says one of the mantras of SEAL training is “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” People trying to learn combat skills aim to be quick— especially actors who want to seem lethal. But the jerky, stuttering movements of someone trying to go too…

After some early-1800s trade wars, Baltimore asserted its manufacturing authority by converting grain mills along the Jones Falls waterway into textile mills, eventually producing more than 80 percent of the country’s cotton duck (sailcloth), which was later sewn into tents for the Union Army. By the 20th century, Baltimore was a manufacturer of chrome, copper, and steel products, and is credited with the first ready-mixed concrete in 1913. These two modern makers give new life to the city’s oldest raw materials. THE MAKER ARVAY ADAMS HIS COMPANY THIS SPORTING LIFE Like most kids, I didn’t realize the history that surrounded me while I was growing up. It took moving away and then returning to connect to the cultural importance of our early sporting life, particularly the underrepresented teams of the…

Even at 84, Willie Nelson still spends about 150 days a year on the road (again). At the helm of the Honeysuckle Rose, his tour bus, are Gates “Gator” Moore and Tony Sizemore, who’ve split Willie’s driving duties for nearly 40 years. Calling from a hamburger joint in Nebraska, they offered their tips on driving without GPS. PREPARE TO OVERSHOOT TONY: If I know I have to get off on Omaha Street, I study the map for street names just beyond Omaha. That way, if you see ’em fly by, you say, “Oh, I missed it, I have to go back.” ASK FOR DIRECTIONS TONY: I’ve never been afraid to call ahead. But asking for instructions is an art. GATES: People say, “Head out on Main.” Which way is out?…

OTHER WEARABLE SAFETY TECHNOLOGY SPIDI NECK DPS TEX VEST A reflective vest with a neck cushion that inflates when the tether is pulled in a fall. HÖVDING CRASH-INFLATED BIKE HELMET A collar triggered by abnormal movement to form an inflated helmet around the neck and head. WATER WINGS Heath starts the countdown: 3...2...—Stop! I want to be surprised by the blast. Besides, the counting makes me nervous. Then, bang! The vest under the black all-weather jacket I’m wearing inflates in 25 milliseconds. Tremendous pressure pushes on my chest, shoulders, ribs, kidneys, and back. It’s not a pleasant sensation, but in a real accident, it’s a pain I’d be happy to feel. Heath works for Alpinestars, a highperformance protective-gear company on the motocross circuit. The controlled explosion he just caused around…

For decades we’ve listened for messages from intelligent life without success. “But what if other civilizations are also simply listening and not transmitting?” asks Vakoch, who founded METI in 2015 and is the former director of Interstellar Message Composition for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. METI targets stars that are only ten to 20 light-years away in hopes of establishing dialogue that can take place over mere decades, and not thousands of years. Using optical and radio transmitters, it sends pulses that convey basic math and physics. “We’re likely to have those in common with extraterrestrials able to exchange radio signals,” he says. The program also repeats its message to the same star over the course of months. “This repetition is a prerequisite for confirming credible signals in our SETI…

Liquid is the heat transfer agent: The heat source heats the liquid, the liquid cooks the meat. Uses less expensive cuts from the most exercised parts of the animal, like the shoulder and shank. The connective tissue, fat, and sinew holding the muscles together require longer, slower cooking to melt into gelatin, yielding tender meat—and flavorful cooking liquid. Braising uses a large cut as centerpiece, and the cooking liquid gets cooked down into a kind of sauce served as accompaniment. EQ UIP MENT Le Creuset Pot: the standard All-Clad Rondeau: expensive, but also useful for roasting and deep-frying 2-oz ladle (for skimming) spider strainer or perforated skimmer (for lifting meats and removing vegetables) INSTRUCTIONS Step 1: Sear the Meat Meat must start out totally dry. Surface moisture prevents browning and…

Fat-washing is similar to milkwashing, only instead of taking flavors out of booze, you put them in. This works because alcohol is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic, so it can bond to both water-based aromatics (fruit infusions), and oil-based ones (chemicals in bacon). CASHEW-BUTTER RYE → Spread about . inch cashew butter on a rectangular baking dish and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to let it firm up. Pour about 1 inch rye over that and refrigerate for about an hour. Pour off the rye and run it through a coffee filter to remove any last globules of oil. —Colleen Hughes, Haberdish, Charlotte BACON BOURBON Cook bacon over medium-low heat until crispy. Let cool. Mix about 4 oz of fat and a 750-mL bottle of liquor in a deep plastic Tupperware.…

HAND-CRANK MIXERS connect you to the task, says Brian Smith, owner and instructor at Ample Hills Creamery. “That’s what we use in our ice-cream-making classes. I love the community aspect of making it the oldfashioned way, taking turns churning.” To make ice cream, layer a cup of rock salt and ice between the coffee can and the paint can. Pour the cream into the coffee can and crank for about ten minutes or until the cream thickens to soft-serve consistency. M ATERI ALS □ two 3/4-in. x 2-in. x 2-ft oak boards □ one ¼-in. x 2-in. x 1-ft oak board □ one ½-in. oak dowel □ one unused 1-gal paint can,handle removed □ four ¼-20 x 1 ¼-in. round-head bolts and nuts □ two ¼-in. x 1 ½-in. washers…

At a little before 7:30, on the evening of April 27, 2014, Helen Greer looks out through the screened-in back porch toward the river. “Don,” she says, “don’t you think you should come look at this?” Her husband of forty-one years appears at her side and looks to the south. From this spot at the northern edge of the small River Plantation subdivision, near Mayflower, Arkansas, he can see the homes of his neighbors and beyond, the cone of Pinnacle Mountain rising above the pine and hickory woods along the banks of the Arkansas River. It is the way the clouds are moving that is upsetting Helen. She asks Don, “Don’t you think we should go to the safe room?” Don squints at the sky above the treetops and the…

DeWalt DWE7491RS RIP CAPACITY: 32 ½ inches LIKES: Cuts extremely well and has excellent stability. Its blade guard and riving-knife assembly are locked and unlocked by a lever located conveniently along the table’s left edge. A simple, separate shark-fin riving knife can be used when the guard is too big for narrow rip cuts. We appreciate the antiglare surface on the tape ruler that measures the distance from the blade to the fence. DISLIKES: It’s very loud. $500 Hitachi C10RJ RIP CAPACITY: 35 inches LIKES: The Hitachi ripped through Douglas fir, leaving a nearly glue-edgequality surface. Blade height and angle setting adjust smoothly. Great small features: rack-and-pinion fence, a leveling foot on the fourth leg, and a springrelease throat plate. The only machine with an electronic brake to halt the…

The new Lego Boost sets combine traditional Legos with a smart tablet, so kids can build and operate automated Lego robots. You can make a guitar that plays sound effects, a cat that purrs and interacts with you, or a robot that you can make move and talk. The projects are animated using an icon-based coding app, which teaches kids basic coding commands and concepts. To test the new smart Legos, we enlisted the help of two extraordinary young men: Carson Huey- You, 14, who graduated from Texas Christian University this past May with a degree in physics, and his brother, Cannan, 11, who graduated from high school the same month. So, once again: Carson graduated college at 14, Cannan graduated high school at 11. Read on. CARSON: When we…

Last summer, two men attempted to fix the busted reel used to wind up and store a pool cover. Although the reel was mounted barely an inch over a filled swimming pool, those idiots—my brother, Mickey, and me—decided not to empty the pool. Instead, we wrapped a 120-volt wired electric drill in layers of garbage bags. Our horrified family gathered as we awkwardly attempted to drive a series of screws without accidentally dunking the drill and electrocuting ourselves. That nightmare is why I was so interested when I heard about Nemo Power Tools, a Hong Kong–based company run by entrepreneur Nimo Rotem. This year, Nemo is launching an expanded series of handheld power tools that are completely waterproof— and, in my case, idiot-friendly. They power through any type of water,…

Tesla, SpaceX • KEY DONATION: $5,000 to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2015 • TWITTER: “Good grief, I’m not ‘working’ for Trump. I’m trying to provide advice that helps take things in a more positive direction.” 2/15/2017 • INSIDER’S VIEW: “Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, next only to the bankers, speak Trump’s language. It’s all about these weird, exceptional, crazy people. ‘The world’s been standing in our way.’ ” —Technology think tank fellow • ASSESSMENT: After months working with the administration, withdrew from advisory boards after the president withdrew from the Paris climate accord. Founders Fund, Palantir Technologies • KEY DONATION: $1 million to the Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC • INSIDER’S VIEW: “Who has held the most power since Inauguration Day? The Thiel operation would be the obvious front runner…

DISASSEMBLY REPORT DIRT BIKE MODEL: 2016 HONDA CRF250L PRODUCED: THAILAND TIME TO DISASSEMBLE: 13 HOURS, 0 MINUTES NUMBER OF PARTS: 1,302 NOTES: In a car, you control the throttle with your foot and shift gears with your hand. On a motorcycle it’s the opposite. And with good reason—even if you could fit a carstyle shifter on a bike, it would be way too dangerous to take a hand off the handlebars to operate it. That pretty much sums up two-wheeled motor vehicles, vis-à-vis the fourwheeled ones: The same main parts are there, but configured for a smaller, lighter, riskier space. Which makes the engineering all the more fascinating. Hop on the bike. Make sure the engine stop switch (29) is in the run position—it’s a kill switch for emergency situations,…

1 / Ferrari 488 GTB $249,150 ?The 488 replaces one of the all-time great modes of human transportation, the 458 Italia. Yes, the 488’s turbocharged V-8 is smaller. But it’s more powerful. From a mere 3.9 liters comes 661 horsepower, which is how standstill to 124 mph takes just over eight seconds. And like its predecessor, the 488 is responsive and guttural, insistent that if you don’t experience driver euphoria, you have problems unrelated to turbocharging. That’s why, for us, the Ferrari remains the standard. 2 / McLaren 570GT $201,450 ? You get the impression that McLaren got really mad when its first modern road car, the MP4- 12C, was critiqued as vaguely antiseptic. The 570 is wild, recalling an era when a supercar was supposed to terrify you. With…

2018 Honda Odyssey The driver’s kid-hauler. Modern minivans all look more or less the same: V-6-powered boxes with sliding doors, Capri Sun–resistant upholstery, and a customer demographic that only dances at weddings. Thus, the new Odyssey strives to stand out, to be so slick and convenient that even the most minivan- averse ex-Brooklynite will want to put one in that leafy driveway. I drove the excellent Chrysler Pacifica back-to-back with the Honda, and I can say, yes, the Odyssey is better to drive. This is the minivan to get if you want a vehicle that’s fun, in the sneakiest way possible. Honda claims zero to 60 in the low six seconds, which is about as quick as the righteous IROC I drove in high school. (If you can’t relive your…

1 / Start with a piece of wood about 16" x 5". 2 / From the outside edges at one end of the board, measure in . inches. Draw a line from each mark to the corner at the other end. Use a jigsaw to cut down the lines, creating the tapered bottom end of the bootjack. 3 / At the wider top end, measure and mark 1 inch in from each outside edge. Find the center of the width of the board, then mark a point on the center line 5 inches in from the top. 4 / Place the coffee cup (or any similarly sized round object) just above the 5-inch mark you made and trace a circle. MATERIALS scrap wood, roughly 16" x 5", plus more wood…

TO TRULY experiment with DIY cocktail creation, you’ve got to start with nothing, and a new product called Technical Reserve is the most scientifically composed bottle of nothing you can buy. Flavorless, odorless, and colorless, with zero impurities and tremendous solvent capability, the neutral 191.2- proof (95.6 percent ABV) spirit is an azeotrope: a perfectly balanced mixture of ethanol and water that cannot be separated by further distillation. It’s a highalcohol blank slate. “Technical Reserve doesn’t impart flavors. It extracts them,” says Ronak Parikh, head of growth and operations. “We think of it as a tool.” There are lots of ways to use it. We made tinctures. Unlike bitters—hugely complex botanical mixtures including bittering agents like wormwood and gentian root that take weeks to make—tinctures are concentrated notes of a…

AN ICE-CREAM sandwich always feels impossibly light when you first draw one from the box at the bottom of the gasstation freezer. You weigh it in your fingertips on the way to the cashier. It barely registers. There is nothing meaty or substantial about its component parts; the cheapo ice cream blown light with air and the reliably damp chocolate wafer have no appeal on their own. But stack the former between the latter, create a single nest deck and freeze, then wrap in a mysteriously opaque freezer paper, one that unpeels from the resultant confection like the untroublesome membrane of a summer’s day, and you have the commercial- grade ice-cream sandwich, the inarguable king of small, pleasant treats. The ice-cream sandwich works. While you may have brand preferences, that…

BIG QUESTIONS. ANSWERS YOU CAN’T FIND ON THE INTERNET. Ostentatiously whizzing on your lawn, refreshing as it might be, may or may not be good for the grass depending on your approach, but we can tell you one thing for sure: It’s unlikely to help your reputation with neighbors, postmen, or wandering Girl Scouts. Urine, as it happens, contains a number of beneficial nutrients commonly found in commercial fertilizer. “It has a fair amount of nitrogen, a little bit of phosphorus and potassium, which are all needed for a healthy lawn,” says Owen Duckworth, associate professor of biogeochemistry at North Carolina State University. Don’t reach for that zipper just yet, though. Urine also has a high salt content, which, as anyone with a dog, a lawn, and insufficient will to…