Hack Attack: Is the Whole Internet at Risk?
Q: I heard recently that some hackers tried to take down the entire Internet. Is that possible? A: Hack the entire Internet? Hard to say. But yes, it has been tried. You may have experienced a pronounced sluggishness on the Web on Feb. 6 of this ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Apple OS X "Leopard": Coming Soon
Anyone who wasn't trapped under something large and opaque for the past few months knows that Microsoft recently launched its Vista operating system (OS), which has many similarities to Apple's groundbreaking OS X. Interestingly, Vista will not ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
David Halberstam on His Family Through the Years, ...
This happened in the final months of the last year of the previous century. I was on a flight to Los Angeles, scheduled to lecture there the next day, all of which means that I was a very modern working man, flying first-class, with my portable ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital
Sometimes you just want to reach out and touch something. But product designers don't always want to let you. Not so long ago, if I wanted to adjust the heat in my car, or the volume on my car radio, I could grab a nice, simple knob. Turn it to ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Podcast: Analog vs. Digital
It allows you to put thousands of songs in your pocket, watch brilliant, life-like TV and communicate more efficiently, and faster than ever before. But there's one thing digital technology can't yet provide: The ease and simplicity of the dial, ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Tech Watch: Diesel Redefined
FLYING MILE: The record-breaking diesel car went 350 mph for a mile, after being pushed from behind at 30 mph to hit First gear. Streaking across the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the JCB Dieselmax didn't break the diesel land speed record of ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
The Truth About Hydrogen
An employee at the Ballard plant in Vancouver, British Columbia, seals the critical component of fuel cells, which convert hydrogen into electric power. State of the Union in 2003, President Bush declared it was time to take a crucial step toward ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
The Digital Ice Age
ACCESS DENIED: Users are discovering that records, photos and other documents recorded on yesterday's computer systems are rapidly becoming inaccessible as those formats evolve. (Photograph by Tom Schierlitz) When the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Tech Watch: One Wrong Turn
Forty-nine people were killed when Comair Flight 5191, a 50-seat commuter jet, crashed just outside Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. (Photo: AP/Wide World Photos) Flight 5191 took off from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., it was flying ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
What Went Wrong: East River Rescue
Twenty-one passengers were in this tramcar when, at 4:46 pm, it stopped over First Avenue during a routine commute to Manhattan. After 7 hours and several failed attempts to fix the mechanical failure, a crane was called in to rescue people from ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
Quantum Computing: 5-Minute Know-It-All
A new quantum computer manipulates electromagnetic fields to make calculations. (Photograph courtesy of D-Wave) D-wave was asking for trouble. The Canadian company unveiled Orion, which it had hyped for weeks as the "world's first commercially ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
MARENOSTRUM STATISTICS
This summer, Spain's newly completed MareNostrum pits its microchips against Japan's formidable Earth Simulator for the title of world's third-fastest supercomputer. But MareNostrum is indisputably the closest to God. Located in a 1920s Gothic ... [... more]
Popular Mechanics |
