Popular Mechanics articles from January 2004

Popular Mechanics archives from January 2004

The people place.(Automotive Hall of Fame)(Editorial)
January 1, 2004... As this year's Chairman of the Board of the Automotive Hall of Fame, it was my honor recently to preside over the induction of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2003. As the Grand Ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn, Mich., opened its doors, the...

Sea stealth.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... I was struck by the apparent connection to the July 1988 issue, which also featured a Navy fighting ship of the future. I served under Vice Adm. Joseph Metcalf III aboard his first command, the USS King County, AG-157 in 1958 to 1959, and was...

Car testing.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... I disagree with your constant reporting that the Chrysler PT Cruiser is underpowered. I have owned one for two years and I always have sufficient power to pull out, pass, merge onto a highway and keep up with the thundering herd. Just press...

Rolling thunder.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... Just what our neighborhood needs--more powerful stereos so the idiots can rattle the windows and dishes in our house more effectively, and blast us out of our cars in town. While I believe one has the right to listen to music, no one has the...

Reader Project Of The Month.(garden shed)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... I designed and built this barn for my lawn and garden equipment. The building measures 12 ft. wide x 18 ft. long, I partitioned off a 9 x 5-ft. room for my wife, Maureen, to use as a potting shed for her gardening needs. There is an overhead...

You're fired: 100 years ago: January 1904.(Time Machine)
January 1, 2004... Labeled as "an instrument of death," the new automatic magazine pistol, made in America, was able to fire off rounds quicker than any weapon outside of artillery. The 8-shot, 7-in.-long, 23-ounce weapon had "been known to kill a man two blocks...

Thin is in: 25 years ago: January 1979.(Time Machine)
January 1, 2004... Two prototypes of flat-screen TVs bad just been unveiled by Matsushita and Hitachi. Matsushita's TV weighed less than 1 1/2 pounds and had a 2.4-in. screen, The TVs wouldn't be available for a few years down the road, but the basic technology...

Wave knave: 75 years ago: January 1929.(Time Machine)
January 1, 2004... Miss America VII, designed and built from scratch in mere 17 days, had captured the world speed record for boats, with an average speed of 92.834 mph. The boat was driven by George Wood, brother of famous boat designer, builder and racer Gar....

Hairbrained: 50 years ago: January 1954.(Time Machine)
January 1, 2004... One of the more entertaining ads from the 1950s was this one for Wildroot Cream-Oil. The ad featured Fearless Fosdick--a character created by cartoonist Al Capp of "Li'l Abner" fame. Fosdick was Capp's parody of Chester Gould's "Dick Tracy,"...

Fearless Fosdick.(Cartoon)
January 1, 2004... I'M FOSDICK! I'M FOSDICK YOU FAKE!! EEK!!--ONE IS FOSDICK BUT THE OTHER IS "ANYFACE" THE WORLD'S TRICKIEST CRIMINAL-- ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] --HIS FACE IS SO ELASTIC, HE CAN MOLD IT INTO ANY SHAPE!! OH!--HOW CAN FOSDICK TELL...

High-altitude wildfire fighting.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The prankster's water bomb has matured into a new tool for fighting fires. Instead of low-flying helicopters and small planes pouring water over hot spots, Boeing has devised a way to use its C-17 military transports to bombard blazes with...

Americans and Russians put Chinese in space.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Russian and American aerospace rocket scientists played critical roles in the first successful launch of a Chinese astronaut. Col. Yang Liwei, shown here after orbiting for 21 hours on Oct. 16, flew in a Chinese-built capsule. But experts...

Hot air clears rain.(Technology Watch)(windshield clearing)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Wipers work fine in a shower, but as the intensity of the rain increases, they become less effective. Watching the wipers of his car struggle to keep up, Menachem Simonowits of Spring Valley, N.Y., conceived of the idea of using a continuous...

Japan eyes nuke shield.(Technology Watch)(nuclear weapons)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Fearful of the emerging nuclear weapons threat from North Korea, Japan has begun work on a missile defense shield, According to the trade publication Defense News, the shield would use the U.S. Global Positioning System to guide "kill...

First cloned horse is her mother's twin.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... After 328 attempts, Italian scientists succeeded in cloning a horse. Prometea (above) was created by fusing skin cells from a mare with an empty mare's egg. The now-fertilized egg was then implanted in the mare, which acted as the foal's...

Night vision system for suburban road warriors.(Technology Watch)(Raytheon Infrared Nightdriver)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Night driving is dangerous driving. Fatalities double between 9 pm and 6 am, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NIGHTDRIVER system projects an electronic black-and-white image on a head-up display. The...

Misfire nudges ISS.(Technology Watch)(International Space Station)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Glitches aboard the Russian Soyuz capsules that ferry crews to the International Space Station (ISS) continue to cause tense moments for NASA. in May, a still-unexplained guidance system failure misdirected a capsule nearly 300 miles from its...

Microfilm defeats digital cheats.(Technology Watch)(Kodak Reference Archive System)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Fears over the ease with which hackers can tap into computer files and change critical financial or legal information have revived what many believed was a dying technology: microfilm. The Kodak Reference Archive System, shown above,...

Navy plans a new class of destroyer.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The U.S. Navy has provided contractors with the first details about its next destroyer. Currently designated the DD(X), it will displace 14,000 tons, making it 5000 tons larger than the current Arleigh Burke class. Final specifications remain...

Speakers make every seat the best in the house.(Technology Watch)(Bose Cylindrical Radiator)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Acoustic engineers have found a way to amplify live music so that it sounds identical to everyone on stage and in the audience. Current technology produces a cone of sound (left).Within this cone there is a wide range of intensity. The Bose...

Buzzing shoes.(Technology Watch)(vibrating shoes for fall prevention)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... For the elderly, the prolonged bed rest needed to recover from a bone-breaking fall can lead to pneumonia, bedsore infections and death. A novel way to prevent this dangerous spiral is to use a new type of shoe that helps the elderly keep their...

Indonesia.(Planet Watch)(ocean current research)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have found that currents connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans are colder and deeper than originally believed. This discovery may one day help climate modelers predict the...

Army's next cannon.(Technology Watch)(Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Initial firing tests have started for the U.S. Army's next-generation artillery demonstrator, the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C). Unlike the Army's massive Crusader, which was terminated in 2002, the NLOS-C uses a 155mm cannon on a light...

California.(Planet Watch)(wildfires)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... What are believed to be the deadliest blazes in the state's history raged through California in late October, blackening more than 800,000 acres and leaving thousands homeless. Hot, dry Santa Ana winds were blamed for rapidly spreading the...

British Columbia.(Planet Watch)(floods)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... More than 800 people were forced from their homes by rapidly rising river waters in Squamish, Pemberton and Mount Currie on Oct.20.

The Arctic.(Planet Watch)(temperature changes)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Recently observed changes in Arctic temperatures and sea ice cover may be a harbinger of global climate changes, according to a recent NASA study. New satellite data are allowing researchers to more clearly see Arctic changes and develop an...

Vietnam.(Planet Watch)(flooding)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Flooding in late October inundated nearly 15,000 homes and damaged more than 7400 acres of rice fields in Quang Ngai province.

Year 2003 Silver Eagles.(A One-Time Only Dealer Cost Vault Invitation!)
January 1, 2004... Order brand-new, 2003 Silver Eagles Today... at our actual dealer cost! $6.75. The Historic High-Flying Silver American Eagles Since 1986, the first year of their issue, the Silver American Eagle series has established itself as the...

Future helicopters invade England.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... A star of the Helitech 2003 air show at Duxford, England, was the EzyCopter made by Yoshine Helicopters of Taiwan. Claimed to be the world's first personal light helicopter with a coaxial main rotor system, which replaces the tail rotor, the...

Mars attracts.(Space Shots ...)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... It was the closest Mars had been to Earth in more than 60,000 years. From a distance of 34.6 million miles this past summer, the red planet gave earthlings quite a show. For the joy of amateur and improvised astronomers, the planet's south...

Robots ride on mechanical slime.(Technology Watch)(RoboSnails)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Borrowing a page from nature, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge have created a robot that rides on a trail of mechanical slime. RoboSnails have a flexing rubber "foot" measuring about 6 in. long x 1...

Aerial legend retires.(Following Up ...)(Concorde)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The golden era of supersonic commercial transport came to a close on Oct. 24 when the last British Airways Concorde touched down at London's Heathrow Airport. A sleek technological marvel that crossed the Atlantic at Mach 2, the Concorde was...

Plans aloft for America's first high-altitude blimp.(Following Up ...)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... America's new fleet of airships, featured on the cover of PM's March 2002 issue, is poised to take off. The Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a $40 million design contract for a prototype of a high-altitude airship (HAA)....

The home network.(Networking)(LG Electronics HomNet)(Column)
January 1, 2004... If you're reading this column chances are you have a computer at home connected to the Internet. Are you ready for a refrigrator that's also connected? And how about an entire network of home appliances, all accessible over the Net, and all...

What is home networking?(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... A network is a group of 2 or more computers, printers or other peripherals connected together to communicate with each other and share resources. It allows your household to share files, Internet access, printers, CD-ROMs, hard drives and more....

SYLVANIA SilverStar high performance lighting.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
January 1, 2004... What if you could have more light when you need it most, like while driving at night? Brighter light is as easy as upgrading to SYLVANIA SilverStar"--the brightest, whitest, 100% street legal halogen headlights and fog lights. SilverStar...

Quaker State.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
January 1, 2004... Imagine trying to get your parts moving when it's freezing outside. That's what your engine has to face every year around this time. Fortunately, there's new Quaker State[R] Winter Synthetic Blend motor oil. It flows quicker than...

NVIDIA GeForce FX.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
January 1, 2004... Upgrading your PC? Make sure it has an NVIDIA GeForce FX graphics processing unit (GPU) or you may as well be buying a typewriter. The GeForce FX GPU delivers cinematic quality graphics for crisp DVD playback and blazing fast video games....

Wrangler Five Star jeans. Stronger. More comfortable. Guaranteed.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)
January 1, 2004... Looking for a long-lasting, comfortable pair of jeans? Wrangler Five Star Premium Quality Denim is designed for comfort and durability for work or leisure. Wrangler Five Star jeans have more room in the seat and thigh for added comfort and are...

Home vending.(Electronics)(Maytag SkyBox)
January 1, 2004... Hearing the sound of a can falling from a vending machine makes me happy. Maybe it's because when I drop my change in, I'm usually salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs. If you're the same way, you're going to be really psyched about Maytag's...

Dogfight.(Tales Of Aviation)(Reprint)
January 1, 2004... Editor's Note--Who better to spin a tale of aviation for PM readers than someone who lived it--Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, pioneer U.S. Army aviator and later President and General Manager of Eastern Air Lines. Rickenbacker, famous for his...

Valet karting.(Motorsports)(F1 Outdoors offers new service)
January 1, 2004... They'd even open the door for you--if the racing kart had one. Door service aside, valet karting elevates the bumble go-kart to a country club experience. The valets, in this case, are the folks at F1 Outdoors, located in East Bridgewater,...

Stopping rogue nukes.(Physics)(nuclear weapons)
January 1, 2004... Every so often nature surprises us by offering a simple solution to a seemingly impossible problem. After millennia of searching, surgeons found that a few breaths of nitrous oxide, a compound made from nitrogen and oxygen in the air, could...

Giant oil platforms.(Energy)
January 1, 2004... Just how much oil is left on our planet is a matter of considerable debate, and we re unlikely to learn the answer until the last well has been pumped dry. In the meantime, oil companies are going to ever greater extremes in their effort to...

2004 BMW X3 3.0i.(New Cars)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... It seems each time a company introduces a new SUV, it's bigger and heavier than the ones before it. Well, not at BMW. The company's new X3 is about the same size as a Honda CR-V or Ford Escape, but underneath the skin it packs the same BMW...

2005 Volvo S40.(New Cars)
January 1, 2004... The new Volvo $40 is the first Volvo car designed and built specifically for the U.S. market. Volvo plans a spring 2004 introduction and a starting price of less than $24,000 for the base $40 2.4i. There also will be a turbo T5 version. The car...

2004 Porsche Carrera GT.(New Cars)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Porsche has always made high-performance cars and, lately. SUVs. Porsches have always been relatively expensive too, with the most affordable Boxster costing around $50,000 and your basic 911 model about 10 grand more. Well, expensive takes on...

2004 BMW 645Ci.(New Cars)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Big luxury coupes used to be as chic as the bell-bottom pants on the owners who drove them. And the BMW's 6 Series coupe was one of the prettiest and most prestigious on the road. Well 2-doors, like bell-bottoms, are trendy again. So for 2004,...

2006 Lincoln.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Lincoln executives will give no details, but they promise that Ford's luxury division will produce a "flagship sedan" within the next two to 2 1/2 years. Insiders tell us that the Lincoln LS sedan chassis is the starting point for the new car....

2005 Saturn Relay.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Reports from GM indicate that Saturn will drop plastic body panels from its future vehicles and adopt the industry-standard steel as a body material. The change will not take place all at once but will start with a minivan, the Relay, due as a...

2007 Jeep.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Look for Jeep to break into new markets with a pickup truck and a car-based crossover. The pickup could have a beefed-up Wrangler chassis, or possibly borrow underpinnings from the new Dodge Dakota. The crossover will be more station wagon than...

2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.(Europe Spy Report)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Slated for debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit right after New Year's, the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is the replacement for the 456M. The car's name follows the Maranello-based maker's tradition of giving the engine...

The other American motorcycle.(Jay Leno's Garage)(Kiwi Indian Motorcycles)
January 1, 2004... I've always wondered what it would be like to own a brand-new 1946 or '47 Indian Chief motorcycle. But since Indian went out of business before I was in kindergarten, I guess I'll never know for sure. But thanks to Mike Tomas, of Kiwi Indian...

Surf'n' turf: amphibious cars are back--this time with high performance, sexy looks and clever technology.(Amphibians)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2004... When was the last time you pulled a waterskier--with your car? Civilian amphibious vehicles are nothing new, they've been around for over 100 years. Yet while some have been able to kick up light dust on land, all have performed miserably slow...

Small shooters, big guns: with the advent of digital technologies, camcorders can do more in much smaller packages.(Imaging)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Like most gadgets these days, camcorders are morphing into a new kind of consumer electronics category, The latest digital camcorders do much more than just record birthday parties and trips to the beach onto tape for future viewing, Of course,...

Pickups muscle up: the new-breed big pickups are powerful and sexy.(Comparison Test)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... Face it, real men drive pickup trucks. What other vehicle on the planet exudes as much raw machismo as a V8-powered full-sized pickup truck? And what other vehicle screams "USA" as quickly and loudly as a pickup? Ten years ago big pickups...

Duals in the sun: dual sports are the SUVs of motorcycles. We test four of the hottest to see how well they perform on- and off-road.(Motorcycles)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2004... The enchanting concept of a dual-sport motorcycle is that you can cruise down the highway till the pavement turns to dirt, then just keep on riding to the ends of the Earth, no matter how far away in how rough the terrain. "Go anywhere! Do...

3D home movies: get in the thick of your favorite movies with Sensio's 3D set-top system.(Home Theater)
January 1, 2004... Tired of the same old high-resolution DVDs? Want a little more zap in your home theater? Maybe it's time to go 3D. Yes, we mean that 3D, funky glasses and all. The stereoscopic technology that creates the illusion of depth is now available...

Chair caning: how to bring old chairs back to life with classic woven cane.(Shop Project)
January 1, 2004... If you find an old chair with its original cane seat, consider yourself lucky. Like most old pieces, it's a time capsule filled with the values, tastes and skills of an age long gone and, it's something to cherish. However, if you're really...

Installing a reverse-osmosis water filter: produce your own clean water right under your sink.(Home Improvement)
January 1, 2004... The nation's municipal drinking water is unequaled in safety and quality, but that doesn't mean every glass of tap water is entirely safe. It's easy to overstate the problem, but municipal treatment effectiveness varies from day to day. Even...

Show business: Editor's Choice Awards from the 2003 National Hardware Show.(Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Awards)
January 1, 2004... Finding a better way is what the National Hardware Show is all about. It's the nation's clearinghouse for innovation. On our recent visit there, we saw tools and materials that offer a better way to paint a house or a deck, prune a shrub, patch...

Roof snow guards.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Roof Snow Guards The day after the first heavy snow last winter, we were startled by a loud noise. A large section of snow had slid off the roof and crashed to the ground. This has happened after every snow since we used a white roof...

Review: building green.(Home Journal)(Green Building Guidelines)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... This book is a thorough and no-frills approach to cutting waste out of the homebuilding process. Waste, as you learn from this book's 140 pages, can be defined as anything unnecessary to the building's construction, maintenance, heating or...

Garbage disposal odor.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Whenever I use my garbage disposal, there's a bad odor that comes from the kitchen sink. How can I get rid of the smell? MICHAEL CANGELOSI LAS VEGAS, NV There is a product called Disposal Care that is specifically designed to...

Plastic plumbing problems.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... I have a double-wide manufactured home that was built in 1993. We have experienced a number of problems with the gray, plastic pipe plumbing system. A repairman told me that there was a suit filed regarding this and that I may be able to make a...

Cutting with a cold chisel.(Service tip: metalworking)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... A cold chisel is a fairly tough tool, but it has its limits. Use it incorrectly and you'll fracture one or both of its corners. It sounds hard to believe, but it can happen. If you use a chisel narrower than what you are cutting, or one that is...

Meters for water wells.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... My home's water is supplied by a well, so I try to conserve water. A leak in the underground line that went undetected for months made me realize that I have no means of monitoring the well's flow. I would like to have two kinds of meters...

Hooking up.(Auto Clinic)(manifold air sensor)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... I was trying to replace the manifold air sensor on my car. Everything seemed to go so simply until I tried to plug the connector into the new harness on the sensor. One of the wires pushed right out the end of the connector. I pushed it back in...

Put your donkey in neutral.(Auto Clinic)(automobile driving)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... I was with a friend of mine the other day and noticed that when he stopped at traffic lights, he would move the shifter into Neutral. He said that when in New York some years ago, he learned this from a cabdriver who said it would double the...

Tired.(Auto Clinic)(Nissan Xterra tire pressure)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The manual for my Nissan Xterra states the tire pressure should be no more than 26 psi. The tire sidewall says no more than 44 psi max. My mechanic says to split the difference, and sets them to 35 psi so the fuel mileage will be better. Who's...

Service tips.(Car Care)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... * Mitsubishi Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 03-26-002 says that if the front wheel bearings on your 2001-03 Montero sport utility vehicle are prematurely worn-out, water may have seeped past the seals and into the bearing. Replacing the bad...

Sticky and greasy.(Car Care Tip)(using grease)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... It was late, and the engine assembly had gone well-until my partner tried to install the distributor into the top of the block and dropped the thrust washer into the hole. Two grown men were forced to do the boogaloo with an upside down...

Removing bumper stickers, window tinting and pinstripes.(Saturday Mechanic)
January 1, 2004... It's just like the newspaper ad said: one owner, low mileage, good rubber, with all the paper work from proper dealership maintenance since it was new. There's only one problem--the bumper stickers, all 12 of them, the Day-Glo orange...

Greatstuff: from home improvement to outdoors, automotive to electronics, here's the newest gear you'll want to own.
January 1, 2004... 1. Fashion Fone Siemens's new SL56 is both beautiful and smart. Its slider design opens and closes the illuminated keypad. A color display gives you 4096 colors and polyphonic sound is included for ring tones--you also can set the phone to...

Stuff it.(Great Stuff)
January 1, 2004... Compression sacks are designed to compress such items as sleeping bags and clothing. The Drylite Rock Solid Compression Sack is one of the lightest sacks on the market, letting backpackers stuff more gear into smaller packs. It's made of...

Slot machines.(Great Stuff)(Slot Car Bible)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... Don't look now, but the slot car hobby is back, and with it is a new breed of cars, tracks and accessories. Get all the information you need in Robert Schleicher's Slot Car Bible. Subjects include how to race a car out of the box or build one...

Camp cook.(Great Stuff)
January 1, 2004... The Rosten Cooker is a unique charcoal-burning appliance. You can cook with it standing on end or top side up (but not on wood surfaces, unless you use a heat deflector). In either position, you can roast, fry or saute. Its griddle does double...

Relax.(Great Stuff)
January 1, 2004... Don't have time for a full-body massage every day? We understand your dilemma and have a perfect solution. Try Panasonic's new Swede-ATSU massage lounger. It offers both Swedish and shiatsu styles, incorporated into 15-minute preprogrammed...

How to jump from rooftop to rooftop.(Worst-Case Scenarios)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... You're sunning yourself on your apartment building roof, when suddenly, a crazed insurance salesman through the door and lunges toward you. Uh-oh! Your only escape is to jump to an adjoining rooftop and scramble to safety. What should you do?...