Popular Mechanics - October 2014 USA
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Transcript of Popular Mechanics - October 2014 USA
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Home tecH
Spectacular
How Your world workS
Plus
sPecial RePoRt
How Safe
IS Your Car?page 86
The
World SerieS
page 13
CompoSTing!
page 99
ASk roy
page 60
SCienCe FiCTion
For everyone
page 92
hoW To Be
hAppier
page 22
FAll CAmping
geAr guide
page 37
ChAinSAWS!
page 53
do you need
A neW phone?
page 108
Th
is s
ho
p v
acu
um
m
ou
nts
on
th
e w
all
!
Americas Magazine Since 1902
October 2014PopularMechanics.com
House PoweR!
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PhotograPh by Jason Madara October 2014 _ pOpular mechanics 1
Contents
10.14
Things you will know how
to do after reading this issue
of Popular Mechanics:
Getoutfttedforaweekend
campingtrip(page 37)
Saveafewbucksona
brand-newishcar(page 44)
Properlywieldachainsaw
(page 53)
Carveapumpkinthat
willdisturbyourneighbors
(page 57)
Speakfuentlyabout
thechallengesoftunnel
digginginthePacifc
Northwest(page 78)
Compost(page 99)
A completely hollow handblown-glass
model of the brain artery system from
Farlows Scientifc Glassblowing, and
a beautiful thing. page 84
The Great American Home Upgradeeverything you need to know and do to fully enjoy your home. including: kitchen retroftting tips from a professional chef, the smartest bathroom ever, energy savings in your living room, what to look for in a washing machine, and so much more. page 64
A Debacle in Seattle:
When Bertha Got StuckThe worlds largest tunnel-boring
machine, Bertha, is stuck 60 feet
beneath the surface of Seattle. Now
a billion-dollar infrastructure project
meant to revitalize the citys waterfront
has become a rescue mission.
By Christopher Solomon
page 78
A Beautiful ThingA handcrafted, anatomically correct
glass trachea from Farlows Scientifc
Glassblowing is the proving ground
for the latest advances from medical-
device makers.
By Tim Hefernan
page 84
The State of Car SafetyIts amazing. Among the improvements
in the steel, the advent of vehicle-to-
vehicle communication
systems, advanced crash testing by
automakers, and self-braking
and -steering technology, driving has
never been safer. Or more fun.
By Ezra Dyer
page 86
Science Fiction for
Everyone
A defnitive list, in no particular
order, of the science fction you
need to read noweven if you
think you dont like science fction.
page 92
I cant get with any religion that advertises in Popular Mechanics. Woody Allen,
An
nie
Ha
ll
-
page 4
Preamble An obituary for a pig Our new automotive editor interviews his favorite person
Letter from the editor Hardware mysteries, solved
page 13
How Your World WorksA Seinfeld writer teaches you how to buy a car, a virtual visit to the doctor, how you hear a ball spin at the World Series,
2 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
Contents
pXX
pork for whiskey lovers, the $400 billion warplane, and the best telescopes for backyard stargazing.
page 25
InterviewSteven Johnson, the best-selling science and technology author with a new PBS series, explains the evolutionary impact of human innovation, including the connection between Gutenbergs press and the telescope.
page 32
Great UnknownsToilets in skyscrapers, black boxes in cars, and shoes in the airport-security line.
page 37
SPECIAL: Fall GearYour guide to the very best of the season, including: Camping recommendations from a prodigy explorer
The boots you need for every preoccupation
Brand-new antique jackets
page 43
Cars: The Can-Do EditionWhether you are of-roading or towing 30,000 pounds or just want a great car and only have $20,000 to spend, we know just the thing. Also, the last of the gated gearshifters.
page 53
SkillsThe new rules for chainsaw operation, navigating junkyards, and carving a pumpkin that will terrify your children. Plus, a nail-gun showdown.
page 60
Ask RoyYour questions about leaf stains, storm doors, sidewalk surfaces, and leaky roofs answered.
page 99
ProjectA trommel rigged from bicycle-tire rims, chicken wire, and a small electrical motor takes away the backbreaking labor of composting and any of your excuses for not recycling those cofee grounds.
page 108
The Back PageDo you need a new smartphone?
When the World Series airs this month, more
than 60 microphones will be rigged throughout
the stadium and controlled from this panel, so
you can hear every drop of tobacco spit. Page 13.
PhotograPh by DaviD boWman
Cover Photo by Philip Friedman.
Clothing by J. Crew. Cover story
photographs by Russ and Reyn.
-
4 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
The Popular Mechanics Science-Fiction Literary Panel
in assembling our list of the best sci-f books of all time (page 92) we consulted eight highly credentialed enthusi-asts on what they felt must be included. We asked how they got into sci-f:
James Gunn, founding
director of the Gunn
Center for the Study
of Science Fiction,
University of Kansas
id met sam Merwin Jr., the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, which bought my frst story, Paradox, in 1949 at a convention in anaheim, california.
illustratiOn by diegO Pat iO
Preamble
WhaT You
WroTe abouT A highly scientifc, fully
comprehensive look at your
response to our July/August
issue, in helpful bar-graph form.
Cutting live wires
with nail clippers
Syrias
chemical weapons
Air-conditioner
history
The right way
to drive a Corvette
Good Enough
not being good enough
The New
American Soldier
Weekend Woodworking to Envy
Wed been asking you guys
on Twitter to share with
us your weekend projects,
using the hashtag #PMDIY,
over the course of the
summer. Our favorite is a
bit of repurposing from
@sadhubob:
i had two Polynesian heads (i dont know why) and a mess of scrap wood. so, a tiki bar for the patio.
In MeMorIaM: a PIg
A Duroc pig passed away
in July during the course
of reporting this months
food story (How to Raise
a Whiskey Pig, page 20).
The cause was dinner. The
pig, 20 weeks old, was
raised happily among 25
brothers, sisters, and cous-
ins in a large open pen in
Woodward, Iowa, where
he enjoyedwe assume
rolling in mud and the fne
taste of Templeton whis-
key mash. Though he often
kept to himself, he became
known for his generos-
ity toward others, serving
himself up as the main
course at Top Chef winner
Stephanie Izards Little
Goat Diner, in Chicago. He
lives on in our hearts, and
stomachs.
22%
20%
18%
15%
15%
10%
Christopher McKitterick,
director of the Gunn
Center for the Study
of Science Fiction,
University of Kansas
robert heinleins Rocket Ship Galileo got me started reading sci-f, and inspired my teenage eforts at building liquid-fuel rockets.
Charles de Lint, book
reviewer for the Magazine of Fantasy and science Fictioni cant remember the frst sci-f book i read, but it was probably by andre norton, whom i came to by way of her fantasy novel Huon of the Horn.
Annalee Newitz, editor in
chief, io9.com
i used to teach an ameri-can studies course at uc berkeley, and would
often begin the section on environ-mentalism in the 70s by teaching the movie Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.
Ash Kalb, cofounder
of sci-f bookstore
Singularity & Co.
William gibsons Neuromancer is one of the books that put me on the path to becoming a recover-ing lawyer who runs a science-fction bookshop.
Cici James, cofounder
of sci-f bookstore
Singularity & Co.
My now-husband won me over by posting witty yet knowing comments on my then-nightly Star Trek: The Next
Generation Facebook updates. in our case, cupids arrow was more like a phaser beam.
Hildy Silverman,
publisher of space and time magazineive been hooked ever since i read The Book of Three, by lloyd alexander, which was actually the frst book of his Chronicles of Prydain.
Veronique Greenwood,
science writer and
sci-f fan
i had a teacher in high school who encouraged me to aim high for colleges because hed caught me reading A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr., under my desk.
-
The non-habit forming
sleep-aid from the
makers of NyQuil.TM
Sleep easily.
Sleep soundly.
And wake refreshed.
-
6 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics illustratiOn by Peter OuMansKi
Preamble
The Instructables Gadget and Accessories Hack Winner
in the spring we teamed up with instructables to hold a
Gadget hacking and accessories contest. the grand-
prize winner was Doug urquhart, who, via some 3D
printing, modifed his original time-lapse rigan
eMotimo tb3 motion controller and a Dynamic Percep-
tion stage One dollywith lightweight carbon fber
and nylon to make hauling his setup into the wilderness
easier and to increase battery life. urquhart and his rig
had just returned from six days in high sierra backcoun-
try when he got word he was a fnalist. he ofered a brief
and humble acceptance speech: this was a good way to
come back to civilization.
L ET T ERS
Welcome Back
I just read the latest issue (July/August),
and all I can say is wow! This took me
back to when I was 10 years old and
couldnt wait for my dads next issue to
arrive. As the years passed, I always said
one day Ill subscribe to that magazine
again. And now that Im in my 70s and a
new subscriber, Im enjoying it as much
as I did 60 years ago. This issue, particu-
larly, was excellent.
Betsy Decker
location Withheld
an even Better knot
You provided your readers a great ser-
vice by highlighting the truckers hitch
knot (Skills, July/August). But I think it
is much more useful if it is ended with a
rolling hitch instead of the series of half-
hitches. It allows for an easy and secure
way of tightening or loosening the ten-
sion on the overall knot, useful since
loads may shift once underway.
tom maDDen
Junior staff commodore,
bahia corinthian yacht club
corona Del Mar, ca
We Are Very Sorry
Your font and background colors are
quite artistic, but the contrast is too low,
making the smaller font size difcult to
read. Here are some examples:
Virtually impossible to read.
Marginally readable.
DaviD mcclune
scottsdale, aZ
Whats that line aBout
Denial Being a river
in egypt?
I am somewhat dismayed by the article
pertaining to the destruction of Syrias
chemical weapons (The Neutralizer,
July/August), which, it claims, . . . the
Syrian government used to kill its own
people . . . I have followed this situa-
tion fairly closely and have yet to come
across information, other than what I
interpret as rhetoric released by U.S.
government ofcials, indicating the
Syrian government is to blame for the
attacks that spurred this disarmament.
eric morton
Vancouver, bc
Editors note: Reports from outside the
U.S. indicated that government forces did
carry out chemical attacks, even if they
were without President Bashar al-Assads
permission. And as recently as May chlo-
rine attacks by the government were
taking place. [continued on page 10]
Four Questions for New Automotive editor ezra Dyer
Interviewed by Ezra Dyer
1. how long have you been reading
Popular Mechanics, you handsome devil?
i dug through my back issues and found
one from October 1987the 1988 new
cars issue. headline: horsepower War
heats up! When i bought this issue, i was
9 years old.
2. and how hot was that horsepower war?
the section on cadillacs new V-8 men-
tions that with 155 hp, the new eldorado
will do 0 to 60 in just over 10 seconds,
which is the kind of performance cadil-
lac drivers have missed for more than a
decade. the 80s were a good time to not
be old enough to drive.
3. how many cars have you driven in the
past 10 years?
at least 600 in the course of writing for
automobile magazine, mens Journal,
the new york times, and esquire.
high points: camaro concept car, 1988
lamborghini countach, and the 2,700-hp
cigarette racing team 46 rider XP. Doing
100 mph in a boat is like doing 200mph
in a car.
4. Which new technology featured in that
1987 issue do you wish you had now?
Probably the intelligent typewriteryou
Dictate, it types. two things i have in
common with my 9-year-old self: We love
cars and dont know how to type.
the truckers hitch,
improved.
-
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brings both form and function to the
ceiling fan. With the introduction of
SenseME technology an on-board
computer and array of sensors designed
to automate your fans speed for
effortless comfort Haiku is now one
Smart Ass fan.
-
8 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
Preamble
I lIve In an old house (have I told you about my
old house?) that my wife and I are attempting to reno-
vate and restore, room by room. Its really fun and
inspiring and satisfying and often a pain in the head.
But we love it. I recently spent the better part of three
days over two weekends sizing, painting, and hang-
ing a wooden screen door. Nearly killed meevery
angle of the frame was diferent, requiring endless
hand planing and shimming. It wouldnt close right,
the paint wasnt drying quickly enough, I stripped a
screw, the kids kept asking when I was gonna be done.
It looks great now, but in the end its . . . a screen door.
Guests pretend to be impressed, but I admit it doesnt
look all that impressive. Its a screen door.
Nearly killed me, though.
The door was one of those home improvements where you wonder if its worth the
hours shaved of your life. Very diferent from the tremendous home improvements
weve gathered in this issue. For the most part, you just buy them, put them in your
home, and your life is immediately improved. We live in a golden age of home tech-
nology. Not necessarily the smart-home, Internet-of-things productsIm not sure yet
how to feel about those. (Do I need to be able to control my washing machine with my
iPhone?) Im talking about new dishwashers that recycle water, new vacuum cleaners
that could turn vacuuming into a hobby, innovations in upholstery that let you pour
mud on the couch, no problem. Mold-fghting wood foors, plasma-quality projection
TVs, and toasters that can roast a chicken. Ways to improve rooms you didnt know
needed improving. For anyone who cares about the space they live in, its an irresist-
ible 14 pages.
With all the time youll save by not hanging screen doors, youll need something
to read. So, youve got Chris Solomons magnifcent story about a giant machine con-
structed by heroic men that is stuck in the mud 60 feet beneath the city of Seattle,
where it is being resurrected by other heroic men (The Tunnel, page 78). Youve
got a historic list of essential science-fction booksnot the nerdy ones but the kind
everyone should read, even people who dont think they like science fction (Science
Fiction for Everyone, page 92). Youve got a groundbreaking report on car safety by
our new automotive editor, Ezra Dyer, a story that will make you feel safer just know-
ing what new technology is showing up on American roads (The State of Car Safety,
page 86). And youve got an exclusive look at how a network-TV crew wires a ballpark
to capture the sounds of the World Series (The Wired World Series, page 13), which,
as it turns out, is fascinating. (A shoutout to my brother-in-law, sound man Joe Carpen-
ter, for all his help on that one.) And a lot of other stuf. So, enjoy the issue. And keep
in touchunless youre replacing a door, in which case, God be with you.
RYAN DAGOSTINO, eDiTOr in chieF
Ryan dagostinoEditor In Chief
Design Director Rob HewittExecutive Editor David HowardDeputy Editor Peter Martin
Managing Editor Michael S. Cain
Editorial Director David Granger
editorialSpecial Projects Director Joe Bargmann
Senior Editors Roy Berendsohn, Andrew Del-Colle,
Jacqueline DetwilerAutomotive Editor Ezra Dyer
Senior Associate Editor Davey AlbaAssociate Editors David Agrell, Matt Goulet
Copy Chief Robin Tribble Research Director David Cohen
Assistant to the Editor In Chief Theresa BreenEditorial Interns Kevin Dupzyk, Niko Vercelletto
artAssociate Art Director Kristie Bailey
Interactive Designer/Animator Anthony VerducciDesigner Jack Dylan
Contributing editorWylie Dufresne
PhotographyDirector of Photography Allyson TorrisiAssociate Photo Editor Devon Baverman
editorial Board of advisersBuzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 astronaut)
Shawn Carlson (LabRats) David E. Cole (Center for Automotive Research)
Saul Griffith (Otherlab) Thomas D. Jones (NASA astronaut)
Dr. Ken Kamler (microsurgeon) Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA Goddard Institute
for Space Studies) Amy B. Smith (MIT)
Daniel H. Wilson (roboticist) Wm. A. Wulf (National Academy of Engineering)
ImagingDigital Imaging Specialist Steve Fusco
PopularMechanics.comOnline Editor Andrew Moseman
Online Producer Carl Davis Online Associate Darren Orf
Popular Mechanics InteractiveProducer Jeff Zinn
Published by hearst Communications, Inc.Steven R. Swartz
President & Chief Executive OficerWilliam R. Hearst III
ChairmanFrank A. Bennack, Jr.Executive Vice Chairman
hearst Magazines divisionDavid CareyPresident
Michael ClintonPresident, Marketing & Publishing Director
John P. LoughlinExecutive Vice President & General Manager
Editorial Director Ellen LevinePublishing Consultant Gilbert C. Maurer Publishing Consultant Mark F. Miller
S I N c e 1 9 0 2 editors note
PhOTOgraPh by russ anD reyn
unRelaTed: ReadeR TIP of The MonThI used a car jack with a book on top to hoist a garbage disposal up to the
bottom of the sink. It made tightening the large nut an easy, one-person job.
JIM FREEMAN, Peachtree City, GA
-
Kraf
t Foo
ds is
not
affi
liate
d w
ith K
eurig
, Inc
. KEU
RIG
and
K-C
UP a
re r
egi
ster
ed tr
adem
arks
of K
eurig
, Inc
.
-
10 October 2014_ POPular Mechanics
S i n c e 1 9 0 2
Cameron ConnorsPublisher; Chief Revenue Oficer
National Director, Integrated SalesEstee Cross
Executive Director, Group MarketingLisa Boyars
Advertising Sales OfficesNew York
Integrated Account Manager Joe Dunn212/649-2902
Integrated Account Manager Alex Gleitman 212/649-2876
Assistant Jennifer Zuckerman 212/649-2875Los Angeles
Integrated California Sales Manager Anne Rethmeyer 310/664-2921Integrated Account Manager
Amy Suprenant 949/610-0458Integration Associate
Michelle Nelson 310/664-2922Chicago
Integrated Midwest Director Spencer J. Huffman 312/984-5191
Assistant Yvonne Villareal 312/984-5196Detroit
Integrated Regional Director Mara Filo 248/614-6055
Integrated Sales Director Mark FikanyAssistant Toni Starrs 248/614-6011
Hearst Magazines Sales, LLCDallas
Patty Rudolph 972/533-8665 PR 4.0 Media
Direct Response Advertising Sales Manager Brad Gettelfinger 212/649-4204 Account Manager John Stankewitz 212/649-4201
Marketing SolutionsArt Director George Garrastegui, Jr. Marketing Director Jason Graham
Associate Marketing Director Bonnie Harris Senior Marketing Manager Amanda LuginbillIntegrated Marketing Manager Rob Gearity
Integrated Marketing Coordinator Holly Mascaro
AdministrationAdvertising Services Director Regina WallAdvertising Services Coordinator Aiden Lee
Executive Assistant to the Publisher Ilona Bilevych
ProductionGroup Production Director Karen Otto
Group Production Manager Lynn Onoyeyan Scaglione
Associate Production Manager Karen Nazario
CirculationConsumer Marketing Director William Carter
Hearst Mens GroupSenior Vice President & Publishing Director
Jack Essig Associate Publisher & Group Marketing Director
Jill Meenaghan General Manager Samantha Irwin
Executive Director, Group Strategy & Development Dawn Sheggeby
Digital Marketing Director Kelley GudahlExecutive Director, Digital Advertising
Bill McGarry East Coast Digital Account Manager
Cameron Albergo East Coast Digital Account Manager
Drew OsinskiDigital Account Manager Amanda MarandolaDigital Account Manager Kameron McCullough
Digital Marketing Manager Anthony Fairall
POPulAR
MeCHAniCS,
FOR KiDS
I know dry ice is carbon
dioxide in a solid state and
I know it changes directly
to a gas, skipping the
liquid form. But is there
any way at all to make
liquid carbon dioxide?
Landon James B.,
age 14
lynden, Wa
sure. You just need a whole
lot of pressure and antarctic
temperatures. according
to Jefrey reimer, chair of
university of california,
Berkeleys department of
chemical and biomolecular
engineering, if you put
dry ice in a pressurized
container at minus
68F, and pump the air
pressure up to 100psi
about the same as
inside a skinny bike
tireyoull see solid
cO2 melt into a liquid. not
exactly something you can
do in the kitchen. at normal
temperatures and at 75 times
the earths atmospheric
pressure, carbon dioxide
enters a state where it
behaves as both a liquid and
a gas. scientists like reimer
are actually working on ways
to separate cO2 from power-
plant emissions, pressurize
it to that in-between state,
and then pump the cO2 into
depleted oil wells.
[continued from page 6]
JOHN, ROy, AND tHE MyStERy Of tHE Butt GAuGEI bought this tool at a yard sale but dont
know what it is. Do you?
John Ruckman
Yreka, ca
Preamble
letters to the editor may be emailed to [email protected].
include your full name and address. let-
ters may be edited for length and clarity.
Subscribesubscribe.popularmechanics.com
800-333-4948
Who We Follow
Four like-minded accounts worth adding
to your Instagram feed. Plus, our own:
@popmechmag. (Clockwise from top right.)
NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center,
@nasagoddard:space! solar fares! rockets!
The Hudson Company,
@thehudsoncompany:
Wood. Beautiful, old wood.
Cedar Point, @cedarpoint:
roller coasters. Beautiful old and
new roller coasters.
Adam Senatori, @adamsenatori:
a pilotphotographer posting loads of
fantastic aerial shots.
Your yard-sale discovery stirred up a bit
of nostalgia for longtime home editor Roy
Berendsohn. What you picked up is the
famous Stanley butt gauge.
Heres Roy: Butt hinges are used for architectural woodwork and doors. The
No. 95 butt gauge was widely used in its
day to scribe hinge thickness and width.
The carpenter would then carefully chisel
out the hinge mortise along the scribed
lines left by the gauge. The gauge is from a
diferent era of carpentry, when men sawed
and planed their lumber by hand. Any
American carpenter who practiced his craft
between 1920 and 1950 would have been
familiar with it. As a teenager I remember
these carpenters in New England. People
looked on these men as somewhat quaint
anachronisms. But their carpentry was
good and has stood the test of time.
the butt gauge
doesnt do what
you think it does.
illustratiOn BY Jack DYlan
-
To see it in motion,
scan the code.
Download reader at
getscanlife.com
Water with the wave of a hand.
MotionSense, only from Moen.
Wave over for a pot-filling
stream. Reach under for a
quick rinse. Its water how
you want it, when you want it.
moen.com
2012 Moen Incorporated.
-
October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics 13
how your world works
The Wired World Series how the sounds of the years biggest games get from the batters box to your living room. By Paul John Scott
W A R P L A N E S S H I P W R E C K S V I R T U A L D O C T O R S F A L L G E A R
MLB on Fox
crews attach
microphones
(inset) to all
bases used in
the Fall Classic.
PhOtOgraPh by ben gOldstein
-
10
5
11 8
1
During the 2013 WorlD SerieS, Red Sox slugger
David Ortiz crushed a pitch for what looked like a certain
grand slam. But Cardinals outfelder Carlos Beltrn
sprinted back, stuck his glove over the right-feld wall,
and made a catch that was all the more memorable for
the sound of the player plowing into the fence like a
hay bale thudding into a wagon. Watch this years Series
and, while you may not see Ortiz, youre sure to hear
similar on-feld reverberations, thanks to an elaborate,
multiday microphone-rigging campaign by the audio
production team at MLB on Fox. The crew has trans-
formed our expectations about watching live sports. Its
helmed by a soft-spoken, 44-year-old New York native,
Joe Carpenter. The Super Bowl, March Madness, Nascar
Carpenter and his team have wired all of them, deliver-
ing a signature hybrid of background noise and sounds
you would never hear even if you were the person
making them. Over the past 15 years Carpenters crew has
taken home seven Emmys
for live baseball on Fox.
In an exclusive tour, the
network gave Popular
Mechanics access to their
work during the July 15 All-
Star Game at Target Field in
Minneapolis, which serves
as a test run for the World
Series. We watched as
they installed hardware for
60 streams of sound and as
Carpenter mixed the game
a hyperkinetic process of
active listening and control-
room manipulation. Follow
along and youll never
listen to a slide into third
the same way again.
sportsHow Your
world works
D
1. AudiovisuAl
input terminAls Newer parks are outft-ted with terminals for three-pin XLR cables that snake to broadcast trucks in rainbows of color-coded, rubber-encased fber.
2. Wireless
routing stAtion Radio-frequency listen-ing stationsclusters of antennas that collect signals from eight wireless microphones situated in hard-to-wire places around the parkare placed near both dugouts. Sennheiser 5000 black globes and steel antenna plates are Fun sounds picked up by the home-plAte microphones: DEREK
-
7
2
9
6
3
4
dugouts to capture player conversation. This chatter can be broadcast in replays after MLB oficials approve it.
8. Warning Track Microphones ring the base of the outfeld wall at 15- to 20-foot intervals in dozens of locations. They capture everything from outfelders footsteps to players hitting walls.
9. Manned
Parabolic Mics In the stands behind frst base and third, two techs carry manned parabs, or parabolic dishes, ready to catch the sound of foul balls and pick-of throws.
10. Foul Poles We always want one on the foul poles, says feld technician Anthony Rug LoMastro. If that ball hits, we want to hear the pole going boing.
11. Wired Players Three or four players per game may opt to wear a wireless microphone but again, for replay only, after an MLB review.
the heads are aimed at the outfeld.
5. bullPens To grab the sounds of a pitcher warming up in the bullpen, an 8-inch shotgun microphone is attached along the railing.
6. croWd noise This is captured by pairs of microphones on the frst deck aimed at frst and third base, above the left- and right-feld foul poles, in center (for home-theater rear-surround content), and near the broadcast booth.
7. dugouT Small plates holding mics are placed atop
part of the stadium. If a batter has pine tar on the handle, Carpenter says, you can hear his gloves going thlop, thlop, thlop.
4. bases Custom-designed bags contain battery-powered wireless microphones and transmitter systems. To keep base runners from kicking the receivers,
JETER BLOWING IN HIS CUPPED HAND THE PITCHER GRUNTING WHEN RELEASING A PITCH If ITS A HUMID DAy, CARPENT ER SAyS, yOU CAN ACTUALLy HEAR THE BALL SPIN
NIN
G IN THE AIR. THE HITTER KNOCKIN
G DIRT O
UT O
f HIS SPIKES W
ITH A BAT
conversaTions
We Wish We could
have heard:
secured on railings to scoop up sounds and send them via fber cable to a broadcast truck, where another device digitizes the signal before its sent up to the broadcast booth.
3. hoMe PlaTe Three parabolic micro-phones are positioned in padded boxes camoufaged to look like
JOS CANSECO AND MARK McGWIRE, 1992
DAVID ORTIZ AND MANNy RAMIREZ, 2005
REGGIE JACKSON AND BILLy MARTIN, 1977
ILLUSTRATIO
N B
y Francesco M
uzzi
-
16 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
How Your
world works
military
The Inevitable F-35Its easy to pile on when it comes to
historys most star-crossed military project.
But this one might just be worth the
aggravation. By Joe Pappalardo
f we can all agree that war is hell, then how might we
think of life at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth,
Texas, where people toil to build the worlds most expensive
war machine? You might reasonably picture it as a kind of
purgatory. The F-35 stealth warplane is without precedent
in military historymaybe any kind of history. The Pentagon
frst sought bidders for it 18 years ago; development began
when Bill Clinton was still saddled with the presidency.
Cost overruns and failed tests and delays accrued steadily, until the
plane became a $400 billion piata. That cost is nearly twice initial
estimates, and full production might not ramp up until 2019, which
is six years late.
But if you stood on the factory foor with some aircraft engineers, as
I did recently on a company tour, you would not sense any existential
torment. You would see, instead, the workers studying part of a door
that opens when an F-35B swivels an exhaust nozzle toward the ground
THIS MONTH IN WEAPONS PROLIFERATION: ANTIAIRcRAFT MISSILES
The shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 made a lot of people wonder just
how many surface-to-air missiles of that magnitude are lying around. But the weap-
onry used in that tragedy rarely leaks beyond oficial militaries. I know of no other case
where a nonstate group has successfully used this system, says Matt Schroeder, a
weapons-proliferation expert with the Federation of American Scientists. A bigger con-
cern: simple-to-use shoulder-fred missiles that can target planes at up to 11,000 feet;
they have multiplied during the conficts in Syria and Ukraine.
The F-35 pictured
above received a
robotic spray of radar-
bafling coating along
the leading edge of its
wing and air intake .
I
-
to hover. The part was structurally
sound, but they had noted a little
too much material in placesjust
enough to generate returns from
millimeter-wave radar. They
pivoted to a screen displaying a
freshly made 3D scan captured by
a four-lensed white-light imager.
The image is essentially a topo-
graphical map of the part and can
distinguish diferences of a thou-
sandth of an inch, the same scale
on which eye surgeons operate.
One of the engineers would later
touch the part with a sander. Its
like sanding a Goodyear tire, says
Rick Luepke, a technical fellow
and applications engineer.
Up and down the production
line, applications engineers use
3D scanners to inspect parts, and
workers in white suits apply tape
between spray jobs by robots
to ensure that the tapering of
the coating is microscopically
smooth. Once all the tinkering is
dialed in and tested, the plant will
deliver almost a plane a day; now
it takes 10 days. By 2037, 3,000
F-35s may be fying worldwide.
If all this comes to pass, every
branch of the U.S. armed services
and several key allies will have
an aircraft capable of process-
ing data from on- and of-board
sensors that allow pilots to see,
shoot, and evade almost anything
in the air or on the ground.
All the new technology is
designed to save time and money
in full production. The cost over-
runs wont be recouped, but the
price per plane is on track to
eventually shrink from $100 mil-
lion to $80 million. And the tools
and tricks developed for the F-35
will migrate to other Air Force
programs, includ ing a planned
bomber and unmanned aircraft.
Here in purgatory, Luepke and
his colleagues know innovation is
often stop-and-go and nonlinear.
But the battle for the right to exist
has been won. For them, every
day the improvements come in
thousandth-of-an-inch increments.
But those increments add up.
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18 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
1684 The La Belle departs fro
m France for th
e New W
orld
. 1686 The L
a B
elle wrecks in M
atagorda Bay. 1995 The Texas Historical C
ommission conf rms the f nd. 1997 Portions of the hull and more than 1 million artifacts are sent to the Conservation Research L
aboratory at Texas A&M University. 2
001 The L
a B
elle is reassembled for the f rst time, in water. 2
002 The ship is disassembled and placed in polyethylene glycol.
2011 Freeze-drying
begins. 2014 The La Belle, now dry, is reassembled for the last time at the museum.
A rendering of the La Belle as she
looked when she set sail. The blue portion is all that remains today.
SHIPWRECKS
How Your
world works
n a WIntER StoRm In 1686 a 54foot
French frigate carrying a skeleton crew
on an exploratory mission of the Texas
coast sank in Matagorda Bay, halfway
between Galveston and Corpus Christi.
For more than 300 years it sat and
decomposed, but portions of its keel and hull
were mummifed in 6 feet of mud. When those
diminished but very important remains were
raised in 1996, preservationists had an aston
ishing piece of good luck almost unheard of in
the world of shipwreck rescue: Every important
plank of wood had been marked with a Roman
numeral, like a model in a box. Jim Bruseth,
one of the research archaeologists leading the
$17 million efort to recover and rebuild the frig
ates remainswhich are currently in some 600
piecescalls it a ship kit.
Starting this month Bruseth, along with
Peter Fix, assistant director at the Center for
Maritime Archaeology and Conservation at
Texas A&M University, will reassemble whats
left of the LaBelle at the Bullock Texas State His
tory Museum, in Austin. Theyll ft the ships
remaining timbers around a carbonfber endo
skeleton, using dowels in places to shore up the
original joints. Theyll work outward from the
keel the same way the French shipbuilders
would have, determining what goes where using
historical drawings as well as sketches and
photo graphs of the original fnd. Theyll also
use those Roman numerals, instructions from
the French designers who planned to have the
ship carried to the New World in a storage bay.
Even with that guidance this is no fea market
cofee table restoration, but at least it will be
less risky than what they had to do frst. To dry
out the sodden pieces, the team soaked them in
polyethylene glycol, a waxy derivative of petro
leum that slowly displaces water. When gas
prices shot up in 2008, driving up the cost of the
chemical, they bought an 8 x 40foot vacuum
freeze dryerthe same kind used in making
Lucky Charmsto remove the rest. Throughout
the process, the timbers could have warped or
shrunk, making reassembly impossible.
It took a long time. The fnal reconstruction
will be completed in November 2015, nearly
20 years after the La Belle was found. Fortu
nately, youre not dealing with something like
the Mona Lisa, Fix says. Youre dealing with
something thats a little bit hardier, and you
set about to aesthetically repair it as best as
possible. In this case that means using state
oftheart tools, the most important of which
has been in use since the frst time the La Belle
was built: a hammer.
A Ship in a BoxThree centuries after it sank of the Gulf Coast,
a French supply vessel is being resurrected. At least it
comes with instructions. By Jacqueline DetwilerI
illustratiOn by brOwn bird design
-
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20 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics PhOtOgraPh by adaM vOOrhes
ne day last year, while sitting at a bar
with coworkers, Scott Bush, founder of
Templeton Rye, a superior spirit aged
in the Iowa cornfields, had an epiph-
any: He should raise a batch of pigs on
spent rye mash, the leftover grains from
the whiskey-making process. That way, the rich favor
of the mashand, by extension, of Templeton Ryemight
fnd its way into the hogs fesh. And then the porkand
the bacon!would take on the favor of whiskey.
Maybe it was the booze, but it sounded like genius
at the time.
Scientifcally, Bushs idea made sense, sort of. Just
as the ham from black Iberian pigs gets its unique fa-
vor from the acorns they eat, these pigs would get their
own favor from the mash, which in Templetons case
is made up of 90 percent rye and 10 percent barley.
To create the pigs diet, Bush recruited Mark Bertram,
who holds a doctorate in the extremely specifc feld of
swine nutrition from Iowa State University. The process
is pretty straightforward from a biological standpoint,
Bertram says. The pig is breaking down the nutrients
and rebuilding them into muscle. Its the diferent fatty
acids in the food sourcehere, the mashthat can change
the taste.
Breed matters, too, so Bush and Bertram chose Duroc
pigs, a heritage breed known for its tender, flavorful
meat. This past February, 25 piglets began eating their
carefully crafted diets as little 50-pound 9-week-olds. A
friend of Bushs raised the reddish-brown, foppy-eared
swine on a small family farm in Woodward, Iowa, feed-
ing them 20 percent mashthe upper limit Bertram
calculated they could safely consumecombined with
corn and soybean meal. The hogs grew fast, doubling
in weight every three to fve weeks, until they were 20
weeks old and 210 pounds each.
On the last day of their lives, in early July, a heavy rain
pattered on the metal roof of the pig barn, located at the
end of a remote gravel road. The open pens smelled as
expected, but faintly mixed in with the scent of swine
and manure was the sweet, molasses-like hint of mash.
It smells wonderful, Bush says. They seem to really
enjoy it. Bertram agrees, though in slightly more scien-
O
How to Raise a Whiskey Pig It was only a matter of time. By Rachel Z. Arndt
eating & drinking
tifc terms: Theyre very adaptable creatures.
The pigs, available for preorder, had all been spoken
for, with about half going to restaurants. The verdict: The
pork didnt get you drunk or scream whiskey, but it was
fantastic. Theres no way for anyone to take a bite of the
pork and taste that it has 20percent Templeton mash
in the feed, says Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard, who
cooked one of the pigs for a themed dinner at her Little
Goat Diner, in Chicago. Still, Izard thought the pork fa-
vorful and the fattiness perfect. If we had made bacon,
it would have been beautiful, she says. One attendee
said this after Izards dinner: It was hands down the
best-tasting pig Ive ever eaten.
Considering its inaugural success, Bush doesnt dis-
count another whiskey-pig program next year. Were
whiskey makers, not pig farmers, he says. But its some-
thing wed like to continue. Hes also considering two pig
crops a year, one in summer and one in fall. And though
there are no solid plans yet, hes even talked of expand-
ing to chickens, turkeys, and cows. If so, the menu line
writes itself: Whiskey-raised flet mignon wrapped in
whiskey bacon. People would order that.
How Your
world works
did yOu like this
stOry?
Are you a
vegetarian?
Do you drink
whiskey?
YES
YES
Sorry.
NO
NO
You liked
this story.
Pour a glass.
Try again.
-
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How Your
world works
illustratiOns by paul jOhnsOn (bOOKs, MOViEs) , V iC Kulihin
n the new movie Hector and the
Search for Happiness (out Sept.
19), Simon Pegg plays a therapist
who goes of in search of his own
happiness. If you can get through
the early parts, when Hector has
the frantic visual structure of a music
video, its a good moviefunny, thanks
to Pegg, with legitimate insights. Like:
Avoiding unhappiness is not the road
to happiness. And: Sometimes hap-
piness is not knowing the whole story.
Christopher Plummer even shows up
dressed like Steve Zissou to tie every-
thing up neatly in the end. In case your
troubles cant be solved with a movie,
we asked Elizabeth Dunn, head of the
Social Cognition & Emotion Lab at the
University of British Columbia, for a
few other ways to brighten your mood.
Spend money on other people. In
an experiment Dunn found that peo-
ple were signifcantly happier after
spending unexpected money on some-
one other than themselves.
delay conSumption. Say youre
going on a trip. The larger the gap
between when you pay and when you
go, the less you feel the stress of hav-
ing paid for it. Plus, anticipation is an
important source of pleasure thats
often overlooked.
talk to StrangerS. When youre
around new people, you subcon-
sciously strive to be your best self. Your
happier self.
have a kid. It may be the comfort of
family life and not specifcally the kid,
but either way, its good for you.
Stop worrying about being happy.
Genes determine peak disposition. So
if youre trying everything and still not
as happy as you want to be, realize that
not everything is under your control,
and be grateful for the joy you do have.
maybe try the kid thing again.
What could go wrong?
The Science of HappinessAnd what that might have to do with Simon Pegg.
Consumed ,
by david
Cronenberg
If youre a fan of director David Cronenbergs flms (Scanners, The Fly) then youll relish his frst novel, Consumed. At the heart of the story are Naomi Seberg and Nathan Math, freelance Web journalists investigating the gruesome death of Clestine Arosteguy and the disappearance of her husband/potential murderer, Aristide. Add in ample doses of violence, virtual voyeurism, a few dashes of experimental surgery and geopolitical philosophizing, and more than a hint of cannibalism and youll get a good sense of the disconnected world that the author has rendered. Admittedly, the various disconnections and indulgences in the novel are often glaring and distracting, but this also seems to be Cronenbergs point: Were a society, a world, that fetishizes the latest and most powerful technology, and our unchecked desire for more speed, access, and pixels is isolating us, eating us, consuming our very fesh. BRET ANTHONY JOHNSTON
I
22 october 2014 _ popular mechanicS
On his new show, Car Match-maker (Tuesday nights at 9 pm Eastern, starting Oct. 14 on the Esquire Network), car buf and comedy writer Spike Feresten (Seinfeld, Letterman, SNL) fnds men in desperate need of new vehicles and gets them into something more appropriate. Its fun. Like House Hunters for people who can grow a full beard. We asked him for some advice, whether you are buying your next car or just want to assess what you already have.
To improve your life, a car
needs to function in it,
otherwise youll reach that
awful moment when you
How to Buy a CarBy Spike Feresten
have to take your family to
the airport and you cant ft
grandma.
Never buy the paint. When
it comes to vintage or
preowned, buy the car frst,
not the color.
If you can, rent the car you
want to buy and live with it
for three days. On the third
day it either clicks or you get
it out of your garage.
Instead of traditional car-
review websites, go to
YouTube. Its flled with
people in their driveways
talking about their car:
unfltered, unprofessional,
and generally awesome.
Never buy a beautiful car for
a wife who doesnt care about
cars. Youll be in pain as you
watch her destroy it. [Fig. 1]
If your kids can take care of a
car, reward them. If not, used
Pontiac Azteks.
Avoid the dealership at all
CulturE
costs. Find a consultant and
let him do the work for you.
People dont know these
guys exist. You call him and
tell him what you want. He
fnds the car, deals for it, and
delivers it to your driveway.
You never set foot in the
dealership, and the price is
usually better.
If you do go to a dealership,
no pity. Allow yourself
20 minutes to make
this transaction. [Fig. 2]
Announce it: Heres the car
I want and the price I want to
pay. You have 20 minutes to
make that deal or Im walking
away. Otherwise, they will
walk all over you. It happens
constantly. That feeling
bleeds into the life of the car.
Youll remember that.
If its a valuable old car,
overpay for the best-possible
original, low-mileage one out
there. Youll rarely go wrong.
Youll know youve done it
right if you enjoy being in
trafic. [Fig. 3] Thats really it.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3
movieS
tv
bookS
-
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How Your
world works
photograph by adam Voorhes
OU WAKE UP one morning with some
strange malady and fgure youd better
see your doctor to determine whether
its something or nothing. But the next
open appointment is weeks away, and
the thought of going to the ER flls you
with dreadthe nimbus clouds of germs, the waiting.
There may be a third optionone that involves an app,
describing your symptoms to a physician, and getting a
prescription, all without visiting a doctors ofce.
That option is known as telemedicine, a term
encompassing any remote technology that replaces a
doctors visit. Could be a videoconferencing diagnosis
of a case of shingles. Could be a big-city surgeon talking
a small-town doctor through an operation. Or sensors
worn by elderly patients that can be monitored from
The Doctor Is Online NowTelemedicinevisiting your doctor via phone or video chathas been around for years. But Obamacare may make it a lot more common. Ready? By Joshua A. Krisch
Y
afar. And the trend is growing. In June the American
Medical Association released guiding principles on the
provision of telemedicine services, including seemingly
obvious ideas like having practitioners abide by the
same standard of care as in-person services. A recent
study by IMS Research estimated that the industry
could be worth $6 billion by 2020. And last year three
of the nations Web-based healthcare companies
Teladoc, MDLive, and American Wellprocessed over
400,000 interactions online, more than double the
amount in 2011. With 32 million Americans becoming
insured under Obamacare, telemedicine could help
avert a doctor shortage.
Telemedicine actually began in the 1960s in tandem
with human spacefight. In that era NASA developed
monitoring systems to remotely record biometric data,
which was beamed to scientists via a telemetric link.
Today all you need is a camera on a computer, says
Dr. Peter Yellowlees, director of health informatics at
the University of California, Davis, who provides remote
care to Native American reservation communities. Its
not technology thats the barrier, he says.
Not all physicians are on board yet. Its really
a personal choice that the doctor makes, and for
many, its an economic issue, Yellowlees says. Unlike
specialists, who do revenue-generating procedures,
primary-care physicians get paid by the visit, so some
membership providers, like Kaiser Permanente, pay
in-network physicians to use their message services.
Other doctors choose to practice concierge medicine,
which lets consumers add remote services for a fee.
But plenty of apps and Web-based companies
let you access remote healthcare, with more joining
in. Teladoc, MDLive, American Well, and Doctor on
Demand are available in most states.
Heres how they work: Determine whether your
condition is appropriate for an e-visitsay, the fu,
allergies, or sports injuries but not breathing problems
or broken bones. (Most websites list what they will
and wont treat online, and whether theyll accept
your insurance.) Youll upload your medical history.
Then you can consult with a doctor licensed in your
state, who might prescribe an antihistamine but not an
antidepressant. It costs $30 to $50 for minor illnesses
and $250 to $350 to see a specialist. And as long as
both physicians and patients can recognize when an
in-person visit is best, telemedicine is a good thing. As
anyone in a long-distance relationship will tell you, the
invention of video chat was groundbreaking.
thINgs We WoNt mIss aboUt the doCtors oFFICe
1. WaItINg-room reVelatIoN that Judge Judy Is stIll oN tV.
2. hearINg the NUrse loUdly aNNoUNCe oUr WeIght.
3. Fear that CoUghINg gUy WIll traNsmIt the FlU.
4. sIttINg oN CrINkly paper.
5. does It hUrt WheN I do thIs?
6. the same paperWork, eVery tIme.
24 october 2014 _ popUlar meChaNICs
HEAltH
-
PUTTING PEOPLE ON THE ROAD TO
FULFILLMENT IN THE KITCHEN
DIRECTIONS IN COOKING
NEW
AS THE FOUNDER OF TAKE BACK THE KITCHEN, licensed
clinical social worker ALMA SCHNEIDER helps clients
overcome their resistance to cooking. To match Alma with
the family-friendly vehicle that could take her sessions
from private homes to large companies, we called on auto
enthusiast PETER HA. Will the CHEVROLET TRAVERSE
he chose be everything she wants in a midsize SUV?
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ALMA SCHNEIDER
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EXCLUSIVE
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TRAVERSE made room for all my cooking supplies AND my kids (with a second-row seat that easily slid back for third-row access.) The available voice-
activated GPS is cool, and TRAVERSE looks sleeknot like a suburban mom minivan.
ALMA
#1 IN A SERIES
WHILE ALMAS CONFIDENCE
IN THE KITCHEN CAME
FROM WATCHING HER
MOTHER COOK FOR NINE
KIDS, A STEREOTYPICAL
MOM SHES NOT. AS THE
FOUNDER OF PARENTS
WHO ROCK, SHE RAISES
MONEY FOR LOCAL
CHARITIES WITH
HER BAND,
NO REHEARSALS.
-
extract the nectar. So here you have
a relationship between insects and
plants, and it ends up transforming
the physical structure and function-
ing of the bird. Something similar
happens in the history of tech and
ideas. Someone comes up with a
new technology to solve a problem,
but the solution also has an efect on
seemingly unrelated felds.
PM: One example you cite is the link
between early printing technology
and the summer blockbuster.
SJ: Right. At the start of the 20th cen-
tury, in Brooklyn, a printer was doing
full-color magazines. In the sum-
mer the ink didnt set up properly.
The printer hired a young engi-
neer, Willis Carrier, to
devise a way to bring
down the tempera-
ture and humidity in
the room. He built this
contraption that made
the printing possible.
Then the workers
were like, Im gonna
have my lunch in the
room with the con-
traptionits cool in
there. Carrier says,
Hmm, thats inter-
esting. He sets up the
Carrier Corporation,
which air- conditions
movie theaters, pav-
ing the way for the
summer blockbuster.
Before air condition-
ing, a crowded theater was the last
place you wanted to go. After a/c,
summer movies become part of the
cultural landscape.
PM: Air conditioning and politics
are also related by the hummingbird
efect. How?
SJ: After World War II air condition-
ers shrink to window-unit size, and
central air is developed. This enables
a massive population shift from the
POPULAR MECHANICS: Your new book and PBS show,
How We Got to Now, are about the history of various tech-
nologies, and the unintended way that one invention can
spawn anotherand even lead to social changebecause
of what you call the hummingbird efect. What is that,
exactly?
STEVEN JOHNSON: I live in a part of California where
there are a lot of hummingbirds. I saw them fly-
ing around, and I started thinking. Bees and plants
co-evolve: Bees go into fowers to get the nectar they
need to survive, and they transfer pollen that helps the
fowers reproduce. Then this bird shows up and goes
through an incredibly elaborate set of evolutionary
adaptations to learn how to hover next to a fower, to
The King of Cause and Efect Author Steven Johnson on birds and bees, the origin of eyeglasses, and how air conditioning changed politics forever. Interviewed by JoeBargmann
North to places like Southern Califor-
nia, Houston, Phoenix, and Florida.
I joke that its the frst mass migra-
tion of human beings triggered by a
home appliance. And then there is
a realignment of American politics.
Before 1952 only one presidential
and two vice presidential candi-
dates hailed from the Sun Belt. From
1952 until Obama, every single win-
ning ticket had someone from a Sun
Belt state on it. You cannot tell that
political story without mentioning
air conditioning.
PM: Gutenbergs printing press and
the telescopewhats the link?
SJ: In a word, glass. In the 15th cen-
tury a glassmaker discovered how to
make clear glass. Clerics
who were reading schol-
arly manuscripts started
using convex pieces of
clear glass to magnify the
text. Gutenberg invents
the printing press and all
of a sudden more people
are trying to read and fnd
out theyre farsighted.
The market developed for
spectacles and lens mak-
ers cropped up all over
Europe. Before long they
think, What else can I
do with these lenses?
They line up two of them
and discover, Hey, I see
things that are very small,
and they seem a lot big-
ger. And then, by aligning
the lenses diferently, Now I can see
things in space! The telescope and
the microscope are invented within
20 years of each otherin the same
village in the Netherlands. Amazing.
The story about the printing press is
a great example of the hummingbird
efect: People must wear spectacles
to read, and lenses are used to create
the microscope and the telescope.
These discoveries changed humanity.
October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics 25illustratiOn by alvarO taPia hidalgO
INTERVIEwWere rigorous about not
telling stories people have
heard before.
How Your
world works
the huMMingbird
effect
3Number of candidates from
the Sun Belt for U.S. president
and vice president combined,
1900 to 1952.
Starting in the early 1950s, a
million air conditioners per year
were bought in the U.S.
Population explodes in the
Sun Belt, thanks to home air
conditioning.
14Number of consecutive winning
U.S. presidential tickets with a
Sun Belt candidate, 1952 to 2008.
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photographs by DaviD Lawrence
techHow Your
world works
A hAndy guide to telescope tArgets: there are plenty of stars to look at, but theyre not all worth the time it takes an amateur stargazer to fnd them. Astronomer tyler nordgren at the university of redlands, in california, suggests starting with the celestial body right in front of your face. go out on a night when there is a half or crescent moon, and point your scope at the line between the dark and light sides. the striking contrast will show of craters like the Kepler (looks like a cup), the eratosthenes (looks like a cup with terraced sides), and the copernicus (looks like a cup with terraced sides and rays coming out of it). When youre ready for something more dificult, locate orions Belt and move south toward where his sword would be. here youll fnd the orion nebula (Fig. 1), a rainbow-colored cloud of gas and dust that sits about 1,600 light-years from earth. it can be seen with the naked eye but glows pink and yellow-green through even a low-powered tele-scope. Mastered that? download a star chart. NIKO VERCELLETTO
30
FOR DEDICATED BEGINNERS
At $580, the orion starseeker iii 127mm (below, right) costs more than many beginner scopes,
but it has the capacity to grow with you. this fully computerized telescope has a 49,000-object database that is searchable by type. the best feature is the touring mode, which takes into
account the date, time, and location to show you the best stars. All you do is push a button.
Fig. 1
Orion Nebula
Where Do I PoInt thIs thIng?
The Smartest TelescopeWi-Fi-enabled stargazing takes a lot of the work out of astronomy. Which is good. But also not so good. By Peter Martin
Astronomy hAs one bIg Problem: using a telescope is hard. Move it a quarter-inch and suddenly youre halfway across the sky. you might as well be looking for an ant with 80x binoculars. But the celestron nexstar evolution 8 (above, right), at $1,600, makes things much easierby doing the searching for you. it has a built-in Wi-Fi network you can connect to through your phone or tablet. All you do is touch the star you want to see on the app and the nexstar takes you there.this is only if you can get it set up,
though. to orient the scope, the app
asks you to fnd three bright stars in the viewfnder. problem is, when you maneuver the telescope toward a star, the display changes, so by the time you have the scope oriented correctly the app thinks youre looking at something diferent. the secret, buried in an instruction book that takes monk-like patience and a ph.d. to understand, is to ignore what you see on your screen during this process. then the nexstar takes over and things fnally get easy. youll fnd clusters and nebulae you didnt even know to look for, and you wont have to work that hard to do it.
the automatic navigation takes the uncertainty out of stargazing, but it can easily turn you into a spectator. the next logical step would be to wirelessly transfer the image from the scope to your tablet. But then you might as well not be using the telescope in the frst place. you might as well be on google. on the couch. With the telescope in the closet. or not looking at stars (or star images) at all. part of the appeal of stargazing is gaining a respect for the vastness of space by attempting to navigate through it. even if that involves getting lost.
FOR PhOTOGRAPhERS
the sky-Watcher esprit ed 100mm Apo (below, left), at $2,499, uses a feld corrector to fatten the image and has a three-piece lens design that prevents false color. All of which is very important when youre taking advantage of the scopes main selling point: it can be hooked up to your dslr, like a 150x zoom lens. your
slide shows just got so much better.
tWo other smArt oPtIons
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32 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
A building like the Willis Tower
doesnt rely on a single plumb-
ing system. If it did, thered be no
water pressure at the top. Instead,
a high-rise might employ, say,
four individual plumbing systems,
each serving a certain portion of
the building, and each with its
own dedicated water tank kept
at optimal pressure to serve the
foors within its zone. If every
toilet in the building were fushed
at oncedue, presumably, to
some apocalyptic gastrointestinal
circumstance best left unimagined
(or perhaps related somehow
to the play of the Cubs)each of
the four tanks would be stressed,
likely resulting in weak fushes, but
the building as a whole would be
unharmed. The same may not
be said of its occupants.
Now that cars have black boxes, do car companies know where we go? Am I being followed?
A black box, formally known as
an event data recorder (EDR), and
informally known as a narc-in-the-
box, logs a variety of data regard-
ing the operation of the vehicle in
which its installed. The good news
is that EDRs do not (yet) track your
location, nor do they beam real-
time information to feds, cops, car-
makers, or mothers-in-law. Thats
what your smartphone is for.
EDRs, standard these days in
96 percent of new cars, do, how-
ever, take note of how fast youre
going and whether youre wearing
your seat belt, along with details
like the status of your cars throttle
and brakes at any given moment.
This is the sort of data most likely
to have legal implications, particu-
larly in the event of an accident.
Police and lawyers can indeed
subpoena the data from your cars
EDR and use it against you. The
Couple of things: First, there is no Sears Tower
anymore. The iconic 110-story building on Chicagos
Wacker Drive, for a time the worlds tallest, is now
known as Willis Toweran enduring and richly
deserved monument to the character portrayed by
actor Todd Bridges on Difrent Strokes.
As to the rest of it: No, a building-wide fush
would not harm the structure. Believe it or not,
engineers actually consider things like the probability
of contemporaneous toilet use. The industry rule of
thumb holds that there is a 1 percent chance that a
freak simul-fush will occur once over the life of a tall
building, though in truth the odds are probably more
like zero. Even so, skyscrapers are built to withstand
such potential infrastructural events, and the design
of their plumbing would spread the stress among mul-
tiple self-contained zones.
Ive heard that if all the toilets in a high-rise like the Sears Tower were fushed at once, it could destroy the building. True?
Q
Skyscraper Toilets, Black Boxes, and Airport Feet
Do you have unusual questions about the world and how it works and
why stuf happens? This is the place to ask them. Dont be afraid.
nobody will laugh at you here. email [email protected].
Questions will be selected based on quality or at our whim.
info can also make its way into the
hands of your insurance company,
which might join authorities in tak-
ing a dim view of the fact that you
thought to apply the brakes only
after youd sailed of the end of
the pier toward that passing barge
hauling kittens and dynamite.
Are we ever going to be allowed to keep our shoes on through airport security again?
Two reasons were still shedding
our shoes 13 years after scraggly
would-be evildoer Richard Reid
tried to set of a device in one
of his high-tops: For one, intel-
ligence suggests terrorists remain
interested in smuggling explosives
in shoes. The second is more politi-
cal than practical: Once instituted,
security measures are notoriously
difcult to revoke. Who, after all,
wants to take responsibility for
declaring that shoe bombs are no
longer a threat? Its like promising
someone ol man Charlie Manson
wont hurt them.
Still, theres hope for the
barefoot masses. The Transporta-
tion Security Administration is
investigating foor-mounted explo-
sives detectors that passengers
could walk on completely shod.
And authorities are beginning to
shift toward whats known as risk-
based security, in which passen-
gers deemed trustworthy would
undergo abbreviated screening.
(Kids, for instance, have been able
to keep their Buster Browns on
since 2011.) So hang in there.
Now for the real question:
Is there ever gonna be a law
requiring the guy in the seat
behind you to keep his footwear
on for the duration of the fight?
Talk about a shoe bomb! Thank
you very much, and dont forget to
tip your waitress.
greAT uNkNowNSHow Your
world works
illusTraTiOn by grahaM rOuMieu
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illustrations by joe mckendry october 2014 _ PoPular mechanics 37
How to Camp Like a Polar Explorer
Parker Liautaud made it to the
South Pole last year in a record 18 days, pulling his gear on a sled behind
him the whole way.
Last year, at 19, Parker Liautaud became the youngest man ever to ski to the South Pole. In case that didnt give
him enough to talk about at parties, he also owns the speed record in walking the 314 miles from the Ross Ice
Shelf (the edge of Antarctica) to the South Pole, completely unaided, with his teammate, Doug Stoup: 18 days.
Its all part of his campaign to raise climate-change awarenessand inadvertently make you feel bad about what
you accomplished last weekend. Over two months we inundated Liautaud with the latest packs, sleeping bags,
jackets, and gearover 100 itemsand asked him to pick the best. If it meets the standards of a South Pole
explorer, theres a pretty good chance itll get you through a weekend in the Rockies.
IncludIng:
The seasons best camping equipment, our authoritative boot
buyers guide, and one great-looking jacket.
Fall GearSpecial
A box of matches weighs almost nothing. So far, its the most reliable item Ive used.
-
gutter c
redit tk
38 October 2014 _ POPular Mechanics
camp stove
With 10,000 Btu, the Jetboil Joule ($199) boils a liter of water in less than
3 minutes, even when its 10 below, forever revolutionizing when and where
you can eat chili.
parkers take:
Boiling water so quickly is a big deal, espe-cially when youre in extreme conditions.
flask
The Stanley eCycle ($20) has a seemingly simple innovation: It opens up across the
width of the flask for easy cleaning.
parkers take:
This would be good if I wanted to save a little bit of a fancy whiskey for the end of a South Pole expedition. Not that I could. The South Pole is run by the U.S., and Im still 20.
water filter
Instead of a pump, the Platypus GravityWorks Water Filter System
Reservoir 2-Liter Kit ($109) uses gravity to filter water. Hang it up and let it work.
parkers take:
We didnt use a filter often. Wed just boil snow. But this works really fast, and it only has a few parts, which makes it very light.
sleeping bag (hybrid)
Eddie Bauers Airbender 20 ($799) is the first sleeping bag to seamlessly
incorporate a sleeping pad.
parkers take:
The pad grounds the direction of the sleep-ing bag so it doesnt end up twisted around you a few hours after youve gotten into it. Plus, having the bag and pad built together
saves on space and weight.
tent
At 3 pounds, MSRs two-person Hubba Hubba NX ($390) packs as easily into
a backpack as it does a trunk. And the clip-on system connecting the
poles to the tent makes for simple setup.
parkers take:
There are relatively few parts. I could live with this if I was dropped in the wild with it.
pillow
The inflatable Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Pillow ($35) is made from fibers
weighing about the same as a strand of hair and packs down into
a tiny stuff sack.
parkers take:
Normally even tags add weight, but theres no downside to this.
Its the size of a baby mouse.
knife
Moraknivs Bushcraft SRT knife ($60) has a half-serrated steel blade and a spine that conveniently works with a fire starter.
parkers take:
This is beyond what I would usually usemore for a rugged explorer with a scraggly beard who hunts deer with his bare hands.
But it is such a cool piece of equipment.
PhOtOgraPhs by eric helgas
Fall Gear Special
-
A Few Suggestions for the FutureWhat a South Pole explorer would like to see in gear.
By Parker Liautaud
soft shell
Mountain Hardwears Super Chockstone Jacket ($135) repels water and is extra
durablemade not to be bothered by sharp branches off the trail or a scrape through
close rocks on a scramble.
Parkers take:
It seems like a minor reason, but the Chock-stone has a big, easy-to-use zipper. Thats
important. Theyre often too small.
gloves
SealSkinz Ultra Grip Gloves ($50) are waterproof and lightweight for mild, wet
weatherwithout sacrificing any dexterity.
Parkers take:
If I were headed anywhere other than the South Pole, Id go for these. Its nice to
have something against your skin thats not synthetic but still waterproof.
I cant stand backpacks that have straps laid across
the main zipper. You cant unzip all around the pack without stopping and pull-ing the zipper underneath a strap. When your backpack is your home, that gets
really irritating.
Most zippers, especially on sleeping bags, need
tags to make pulling them closed easier. For all
my stuf for the South Pole, I looped a string on
every zipper.
People want to be able to travel with their tech. Backpacks really need to start having a waterproof
pocket made specifcally for a tablet or smartphone.
Little things add up fast. Strike igniters, compasses, knives, watches. Maybe you want a titanium spoon instead of the plastic one. Dont spend 30 extra dollars for a feature on a $5 tool. You wont miss it if you dont have it.
headlamP
You dont need the same amount of light at dusk as you do at midnight. The Petzl Tikka
RXP ($85) reads light conditions with a sensor and dims or brightens on its own.
Parkers take:
The reactive lighting really helps save power. Its worth spending the few extra bucks.
down jacket
Columbias new material, TurboDown, combines down and synthetic, capturing
the best properties of both. Its lightweight and warm, like down, but dries out after
getting wet, like synthetic. And the Diamond 890 ($325) weighs only 13 ounces.
Parkers take:
Its a very lightweight jacket for how warm it is. More than that, I really
like the way it looks.
sleePing bag (classic)
Sea to Summit Spark SP II ($359) claims to be the worlds smallest
down sleeping bag.
Parkers take:
In the South Pole, we folded our sleeping bags on top of our sleds because they were a pain to pack up. This bag is remarkable. It
stuffs into a sack the length of my hand.
backPack
The First Ascent Sorcerer ($499) pack is made out of a lightweight military-grade fiber thats said to be as strong as Kevlar.
Parkers take:
Unlike most packs, this one has plenty of pockets. And bigger buckles, which, from my
experience, are always easier to manage.
Fall Gear Special
-
Fall Gear Special
Popular Mechanics Boot SelectorThe best new boots of the season (and a couple of classics) for every man.
4
3
2
1
You Are:
A MountAineer
You wont