Popular Mechanics articles from August 2006

Popular Mechanics archives from August 2006

Safety at home.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... Your article ("Public Defenders," June 2006) proves that we are running scared and throwing a lot of money at a threat we can't eliminate entirely. We have a difficult task because somewhere out there is an unknown terrorist totally dedicated...

Lawyers in a Box.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... In his article "Lawyer in a Box" (June 2006), Glenn Reynolds almost had me agreeing with him, until I read that he is a lawyer. During 38 years of working in manufacturing, I have witnessed far too many frivolous lawsuits--and, recently, the...

Free service.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... Your article on building a pond ("Trickledown Theory," June 2006) didn't mention that homeowners should check with their utility companies before digging. I received a "pond" for my birthday. My husband called the local utilities and they...

NASA's heat ray: the carbon and silica compounds that will protect the CEV during re-entry were heated up to 5000 F by NASA's arc jet, a room-size blowtorch that's cooled by more than 1000 water lines.(TECH WATCH)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... When--or if--NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) flies to the moon and back, it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere faster than the space shuttle, at some 25,000 mph. "There's no material out there that can do that without burning up some," says...

Asteroid protection jacket.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The latest plan to thwart a doomsday asteroid is simple: Fight asteroid with asteroid. French astrophysicists propose "parking" a small asteroid, about 100 ft. across, in orbit near Earth. The tame asteroid would be deflected to shatter...

Wheel innovation.(TECH WATCH)(scooter launched)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Piaggio, the Italian company behind the legendary Vespa scooter, has released a three-wheeled scooter called the MP3. The unfortunately named vehicle is not a portable music player, but rather one of the safest scooter designs to hit the...

Hot gems.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Physicists in Japan used a highly focused laser to blast 200- to 250-nanometer-wide holes in a pure sapphire crystal, with the resulting microexptosions reaching about 900,000 F. The scientists say the temperature increase--about a billion...

Black gold.(TECH WATCH)(gabbro discovered)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... A deep-sea drilling expedition has struck pay dirt almost a mile below the ocean floor. Actually, it struck gabbro, a hard, black rock that forms from cooling magma deep in the Earth's crust. The expedition marked the final voyage for the...

CSI: caveman.(TECH WATCH)(skull fracture)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... People in Neolithic Britain had a roughly one-in-14 chance of taking a blow to the head hard enough to fracture their skull, according to a survey of 350 skulls dating from 4000 to 3200 B.C. Most of the blows were caused by a blunt object like...

Tattoos for the indecisive.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Scientists have developed a permanent--but removable--tattoo by encapsulating special dyes in microscopic beads. If it's not true love after all a single Laser treatment can split open the polymer beads and allow the FDA-approved dyes to break...

Rocket shield: the Trophy system intercepts rocket-propelled grenades before they reach their target.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... There's a promising defense against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), one of the biggest threats to American troops in Iraq. But don't expect it on the front lines anytime soon. In a demonstration earlier this year, the Trophy Active Protection...

Heavy metal talker.(TECH WATCH)(2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... HUMANITARIAN ROBOTICS was the theme of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, held in Orlando, Fla., which attracted more than a thousand leading roboticists from around the world. But the primary goat in building...

Resident astronaut: mankind's long journey to Mars starts in the North Dakota badlands.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... An ambitious team of about 40 student engineers from a five-college consortium has designed a prototype Mars spacesuit, which is currently being tested in the rugged badlands in western North Dakota. But these aren't your average recipients of...

Book of life closed, again.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... SCIENTISTS HAVE finally completed sequencing the entire human genuine: The results for the last chromosome to be decoded (Chromosome 1) were published in the journal Nature in May. So disease and unhappiness are finally things of the past,...

Hunting hurricanes: there's no stopping the next monster storm, but a new fleet of planes might tell us which way the wind is blowing.(TECH WATCH)
August 1, 2006... Weather forecasts can save lives during hurricane season, and the most accurate forecasts call for multiple flights through the eye of a storm. "We cannot live without aircraft data," says Richard Knabb, a meteorologist at the National...

Nail dominance.(UP GRADE)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Framing hammers might be the brawny cousins of Haw hammers, but the Stewart Hammer ($35) has an added dose of brains. The front mounted claw is no gimmick--it boosts leverage for extracting nails. And the revolutionary 28-ounce head (24-, 22-,...

Hybrid.(UP GRADE: WISH LIST)
August 1, 2006... Green thumbs are fine and all, but can they open a beer? Leatherman's Hybrid ($75) pruning multitool crams a slew of features, both gardening-centric and everyday-useful, into an 8.7-ounce foldable package. A thumb-accessible safety, lock keeps...

Zoom to spare.(UP GRADE: WISH LIST)
August 1, 2006... It's getting tougher for compact digital cameras to stand out from the crowd--nearly every current model has the lens quality and image resolution to deliver print-worthy snapshots. But, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ1 ($350) is one of the smallest...

High and dry.(UP GRADE)
August 1, 2006... Sometimes a specialized piece of gear can turn out to have wide appeal The Outdoor Research DryComp Summit Sack ($59), basically a waterproof stuff sack with shoulder straps, was created to help break speed mountaineering records. But it's...

Disaster survival kit.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)
August 1, 2006... A joint effort by the American Red Cross and Target, the First Aid and Emergency Preparedness Starter Kit ($30) is a smart way to brace for hurricane season. The modular kit--the red box containing first-aid supplies detaches from the larger...

Pushbutton backup.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)
August 1, 2006... As an alternative to burning files to an ever-growing stack of CD-Rs, Maxtor's OneTouch III Mini Edition ($150 for 60GB, $200 for 100GB) backs up your hard drive with the push of a button. This pocket-size external hard drive, which is powered...

Farm-fresh ants.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Ant Farm ($20) pays tribute to five decades of amateur insectaria sold by Uncle Milton Industries. The company's founder, Milton Levine, invented the Ant Farm after watching ants march through his...

STX-250 X-Band.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)
August 1, 2006... The STX-250 X-Band ($199) is the first one-handed cordless band saw. With a 21,000-rpm motor, powered by a rechargeable 18-volt NiCd battery, the blade cuts through steel channel and copper pipes without the need for a vise. For more precise...

HD-DVD vs. DVD.(UPGRADE: PM LAB TEST)(high definition digital video disk)
August 1, 2006... With all the talk about a format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, we wondered: How much better are hi-def discs than standard DVDs? On paper, HD-DVDs sound great--720 to 1080 lines of resolution versus 480 lines for DVDs. But many new DVD...

A visit to NASA's undersea lab: will robotics allow physicians to save lives in extreme environments? PM medical expert Dr. Ken Kamler travels to the ocean floor to investigate.(SCIENCE: ROBOT SURGERY)
August 1, 2006... One morning in April, I pulled up to a nondescript gray stucco duplex that fronted a canal in Key Largo. From the outside, the structure looked like an ordinary Florida condo, but if you peered over the fence into the covered portico, you could...

China's secret war: a spate of recent spying cases opens the lid on China's aggressive military buildup. What's most troubling: it is based largely on U.S. technology.(NATIONAL SECURITY: CHINESE SPYING)
August 1, 2006... On a hot Florida day late in 2005, Ko-Suen "Bill" Moo was preparing for the endgame of a covert operation he'd been orchestrating for nearly two years. He had arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 5 am on Nov. 7, as the city was recovering from the...

Long-term, test cars: we welcome a couple of Korean mainstream family vehicles to the fleet.(AUTOMOTIVE)(Product/service evaluation)
August 1, 2006... first report HYUNDAI AZERA LIMITED A five-passenger entry-luxury sedan complete with wood trim, a leather-swathed interior and all the expected essentials for under $30,000? Pshaw, you say? No really, we say. Well, how good could it...

Break the econo-mold: Saturn continues to shed its dowdy image and offers a fun-to-drive roadster as proof.(NEW CARS)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Saturns librarians anymore. Thanks to the Sky, there's more to Saturn than straight-laced cars. Basically a mechanical clone of Pontiac's Solstice, the Sky's body has no Pontiac sheetmetal at all. Inside, the steering wheel and instrument panel...

Pony express: Shelby GT500.(NEW CARS)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Entry to the exclusive 500-hp club just got more affordable. For $42,000 you can buy a Ford Shelby GT500. This very special Mustang has a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 that makes exactly 500 hp at 6000 rpm and 480 lb.-ft, of torque at 4500 rpm. The...

Saturn.(Detroit Spy REPORT)(new car in 2008)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 1. Saturn's "Europeanization" continues. The 2008 Vue is going to share its platform with a model from Opel, GM's German-based subsidiary. While the cars have similarities, their sheetmetal--especially doors--is different. Interestingly, the...

Chrysler.(Detroit Spy REPORT)(Sebring gets a new look)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 2. Chrysler will put a smiley face on the Sebring. Horizontal grille bars with upward curves at the ends contrast with today's straight bars. New, highly intricate wheel spokes upgrade the side appearance. At the rear, the greenhouse ends in a...

Chevy.(Detroit Spy REPORT)(pickup launched)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 3. Chevy introduced its Tahoe last fall, and will unveil the Silverado pickup from the same platform this fall. The windshield is nicely laid back for a more spacious interior and improved aerodynamics. Finally, the cargo-box sides appear...

Cabin fever: Nissan Quest.(NEW CARS)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Shoppers who looked at the Nissan Quest minivan liked the swoopier-than-a-normal-minivan exterior. But they disliked the funky interior. Enter the revamped '07 Quest. After driving several new Quests on the back roads outside Nashville, we're...

Fortified: Suzuki M109R.(NEW CARS)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Suzuki Boulevards have been easy-to-ride, efficient cruisers. But none had the hairy-chested brawn you want in a true muscle bike. Until now. The torque from the M109R's 120-hp 1783cc V-Twin is ridiculous. To underscore its potentiaL, the...

Nissan's luxury.(Asia Spy REPORT)(Nissan Motor Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 1. Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, is playing it safe. The '07 G35 won't stray too far from the recipe that won it so much acclaim back in '02. The G35 retains the original's sporty looks and ride. A revised 3.B-liter V6 will make over 300...

A V8-powered.(Asia Spy REPORT)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 2. A V8-powered rear-drive Hyundai? Don't laugh. One's coming soon to a store near you. Our spies caught engineers readying this prototype for the 2008 model year. Expect this full-size luxury car, likely to be called the Equus, to emulate the...

The 2007 Honda.(Asia Spy REPORT)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... 3. The 2007 Honda CR-V is almost here, based on the Acura RDX. But the Honda gets a fuel-efficient four-cylinder instead of Acura's turbo. We won't get a hybrid version, though; our sources say it's too costly. The Fit will be Honda's next...

Why not one hundred mpg? Where's the magic carburetor? Where's the car that runs on water? Those are just fantasies--but listen up: a four-person car that gets 100 mpg really is possible. Today, with current technology. Here's how.(Cover story)
August 1, 2006... WHY CAN'T THE WORLD'S car companies make a vehicle that gets 100 mpg? Automotive technology keeps improving and people keep asking the question, but--as with fusion reactors and comprehensible phone bills--the reality always seems to be just a...

Smokey and the brisket: you will not learn anything useful about good barbecue from recipes in the back of women's magazines.
August 1, 2006... [1] Lump-style charcoal [2] Firebox damper door [3] Firebox with tight-fitting door [4] Smoke chamber with chimney [5] Stainless steel grill [6] Seasoned oak and apple wood [7] Dinner--in about 4 hours [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] barbecue,...

Honey, have you seen the remote? Intrepid reporter James Vlahos explores the raw, simple life of the American road, from behind the wheel of a 45,000-pound rolling castle.
August 1, 2006... MY LA-Z-BOY HAS A SEATBELT. My living room has wheels. I'm piloting a mobile McMansion--leather couches, cherry wood cabinets, flat-screen televisions, the works--across the desert south of Las Vegas. We're flying. The shower is doing 75 mph....

East river rescue: after a broken tramway left commuters stranded 200 ft. up, it took during action and ingenuity to get them down.(what went wrong)
August 1, 2006... * LOCATION /// NEW YORK, NEW YORK * EVENT /// TRAM MALFUNCTION * DATE /// APRIL 18, 2006 When passengers boarded New York City's aerial tram late one balmy afternoon in April, conditions seemed ideal for enjoying one of the...

Crash test: in the pursuit of private spaceflight, a group of Texas rocket enthusiasts aren't afraid to blow up a few engines.
August 1, 2006... IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT AT A BUSINESS park in a quiet suburb northeast of Dallas. The place is all but abandoned, the parking lot empty except for a cluster of cars parked around the corner. A late rain has slickened the black asphalt. A garage...

Space: not just government territory anymore.
August 1, 2006... When I was a kid, I enjoyed reading science fiction books about trips to the moon. In those novels--everything from Jutes Verne and H.G. Wells to Robert Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo--building spaceships wasn't something that the government...

The perfect pergola: an easy-to-build cedar structure that adds focus to any backyard space.(HOME JOURNAL)
August 1, 2006... Here's a structure that won't provide shelter from wind or rain, and is only marginally better when it comes to the midday sun. So, why build it? Because in the absence of walls and a roof. it defines an outdoor space without constraining it....

Lawn irrigation gets smarter: new controls reduce wasted water, make plants healthier and save money.(HOME JOURNAL: GARDEN TECH)
August 1, 2006... Automatic lawn irrigation systems are a wonderful luxury. In fact, they work so well that many people just forget about them, and that explains why you sometimes see these systems watering a lawn right after a rain. New irrigation controls...

Feeling drained.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q I want to replace the bathroom sink's drain-especially the flange, which is pitted and scratched. How can I loosen the old flange without scratching the sink? The flange is round and smooth, so it's difficult to get a grip on it. The other...

Ponds are nice, but not in a crawlspace.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q What is the fastest way to get water out of a crawlspace? Also, what can I do to prevent it from collecting? A You didn't indicate whether the floor in the crawlspace is covered with a concrete slab or whether it's just a dirt floor....

Editor's Choice Award.(hardware awards)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The National Hardware Show in Las Vegas is a hotbed of innovation, with hundreds of new products on display there recently. From those, we named 12 as Editor's Choice Award winners. Three are shown here. Look for coverage of others in the...

Disposal makes the sink stink.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q My wife poured the water she used to cook a chicken down the drain and through the garbage disposal. Now the kitchen sink stinks. I have tried cleaning the disposal with baking soda and a kitchen and bath cleaner, neither of which worked. Any...

Dripping ducts.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q I would like to resolve this problem before next winter. My air-conditioning ducts, both sheetmetal and flexible, run through my attic. Every winter I get a buildup of condensation in the ducts even though they are insulated. I suspect warm...

Bad idea on a roll.(NOW YOU KNOW)(painting the receptacles)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Color coordination is not more important than electrical safety, I'm talking about the practice of painting outlet receptacles to blend them into the walt. A friend asked me recently, "So what's wrong with that?" I removed a painted outlet to...

Apartment dryer woes.(exhaust systems)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q I live in a top-floor apartment with no dryer vent. The management does not allow us to cut through the wall to vent the appliance. All of the tenants use an indoor lint trap for the dryer exhaust. There is an exhaust fan in the bathroom...

Backyard Barn shed.(automobile designs)(Editorial)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Kimberton, PA My wife saw the shed she always wanted in the June 2002 issue of Popular Mechanics. I managed to avoid building it until you ran another shed story in October 2004. Then, armed with both issues, she cornered me. I was glad to...

Replacing a bad power steering pump.(CAR CARE: SATURDAY MECHANIC)
August 1, 2006... Your spouse has been complaining about the minivan being hard to steer Time to pick up a bottle of power steering oil on the way home. After you add the fluid, though, you notice a puddle of something under the engine. Within a minute of...

Cleaned out.(CAR CARE: Auto Clinic)
August 1, 2006... Q My dashboard Check Engine light came on and a scan tool said Code P0171 was stored on my car's computer. I checked the 02 sensor, mass airflow sensor [MAF], etc. All voltage and resistances were well within the factory specs. So, I took the...

Power surge.(CAR CARE: Auto Clinic)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q Can welding on a vehicle damage its electronics? I have heard that I should disconnect the battery, computer, alternator and other electrical components before welding. This was the policy of a company I used to work for that made and mounted...

Repair solutions online.(YOU NEED THIS)
August 1, 2006... Every car made since 1996 has an OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics] connector under-dash. It's where the mechanic plugs in his scan tool to check your car's health. A pro-grade scan tool can cost thousands. CarMD costs $90, which is close to what a...

Highlights from Tech Service Bulletins.(SERVICE TIPS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Does backing up and then moving forward a small distance cause your 2000-03 Mazda MPV to make clunking noises when you touch the brakes? Mazda Technical Service Bulletin [TSB] 04-001/03 specifies a different, revised guide plate for the pads...

Free as air.(suspension systems)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q I have a 1994 Lincoln Town Car with 161,000 miles. After parking the car I hear air venting from the air suspension system. After I restart the car, the air pump will run for 30 to 60 seconds. This started about three months ago. Is there an...

Setting limits.(caused engine damage)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q I inadvertently redlined the engine on my 4.0-liter six-cylinder 2005 Nissan Frontier for a very short time. Would this have caused engine damage? What would it take to ruin an engine? I have 7800 miles on it. I usually am very careful and...

Oil crisis.
August 1, 2006... Q I was changing my oil and put in a bottle of oil treatment--but I forgot to pour in any oil. I drove about a mile before the truck stopped when the engine seized. I've put in some tranny fluid and have been cranking the harmonic balancer...

Casting a wider net.(satellite Internet service )
August 1, 2006... Q I live in a rural area that is not serviced by cable and my local phone company doesn't offer DSL. I looked into satellite Internet service years ago and was disappointed to learn that it was slow, awkward and expensive. Are there any...

Squeeze play.(compressed files )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q Do I need to keep old compressed files after I've unpacked them? I've got tons of them stored in my downloads folder but I'm afraid to throw them away. A If you have the hard disk space, I'd say keep them. I tend to take all my temporary...

Make your PC boot faster.(Personal computer booting)
August 1, 2006... Computer chips are faster and memory is more powerful than ever, so why does it still take so long to turn your machine on? A messy desktop or intrusive software could be slowing you down. Here's how to clean house and pick up the pace. ...

Seeing double.(dupilcation of files)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Q After consolidating the music collection from my work computer onto my home computer, I now have over 50GB of music, much of which consists of duplicate songs. Is there any easy way to weed out the dupes? A I wish I could tell you...

Geophysicist.(words with Mike Poland )(Interview)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Mike Poland Big Island, Hawaii///Years on Job: 5 When Mike Poland arrived three months late for his post at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the 30-year-old had a doozy of an excuse: Mount St. Helens, where he'd been stationed, started...