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 kristin shaw


The U.S. Olympic bobsled team borrowed Honda's wind tunnel for test runs

Popular Science

The U.S. Olympic bobsled team borrowed Honda's wind tunnel for test runs In West Liberty, Ohio, Team USA athletes boarded their bobsleds to gather data on aerodynamics. Honda's Ohio wind tunnel is 110,000 square feet and is typically used to measure vehicle aerodynamics. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In the daredevil sport of bobsledding, intrepid athletes crammed into a narrow sleigh offer their fates to gravity as they hurl down a banked, twisty ice track. Races can be won or lost in one hundredth of a second. The sleds reach speeds of 90+ miles per hour and the athletes withstand forces up to 5g.


In 1916, hybrid cars could've changed history. But Ford wouldn't allow it.

Popular Science

In 1916, hybrid cars could've changed history. But Ford wouldn't allow it. Henry Ford's monopoly on the automobile industry meant that hybrids wouldn't see the light of day for decades. In 1916, Clinton Edgar Woods, a forgotten automobile inventor, designed the first commercial hybrid cars. But Ford's Model T had already cornered the market.


How Nissan improved the wireless charging pad for faster phone juice-ups

Popular Science

Using a magnet to connect the transmitting and receiving coils, electrons behave more consistently and the phone is less likely to overheat. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In-car wireless chargers are notoriously finicky. Your phone can slide off the slippery charging pad at a sudden stop, or overheat and stop charging; the case can also prevent your phone from connecting. Often, it's a pain in the neck, not to mention an added distraction while you're behind the wheel.


Toyota is drag racing hydrogen-powered trucks in the Arizona desert

Popular Science

Hydrogen produces only water emissions, plus the fuel-cell trucks are quick. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Filling up a hydrogen tank is much like filling up a gas-powered car in both the basic experience and in the time it takes. That's been a major barrier for EVs thus far; adding 20 minutes or more for each recharge on a road trip is not nearly as appealing as pulling up to a Chevron station and getting out of there in a few minutes. However, hydrogen hasn't yet caught on as a large-scale solution largely due to funding, even though even the US Department of Energy says it has "several benefits over conventional combustion-based technologies currently used in many power plants and vehicles."


Lamborghini's new hybrid supercar includes a three-level drift mode and three axial flux motors

Popular Science

Lamborghini's new hybrid supercar includes a three-level drift mode and three axial flux motors The supercar pulls out the stops with a screaming 10,000 revolutions per minute at the redline. With a top speed of 213 miles per hour and a 10,000 rpm redline, the Lamborghini Temerario is a wild machine. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Lamborghini's legacy gas-only machines have been unapologetically loud, brash, and in your face with sonorous symphonies conducted by fuel-guzzling V12 and V10 engines. Today, the brand is in its electrification age, with three plug-in hybrids: the Urus SE SUV, the top-tier Revuelto, and the newest Raging Bull, the Temerario.


Rivian announces AI chip in move towards self-driving future

Popular Science

The EV manufacturer designed its silicon in-house in the middle of Silicon Valley. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe hosted the EV manufacturer's first Autonomy and AI Day this week, announcing a slew of big advancements from his no-longer-fledgling company. Appropriately, from Rivian's headquarters in Silicon Valley, the automaker revealed a project it has been keeping under wraps: a silicon chip of its own design. The chip is a processor that powers the next version of Rivian's on-board computer.


4 billion equations calculated for F1 team during race weekend

Popular Science

Nearly 800 sensors feed data back to an operations center that helps the Oracle Red Bull crew make split-second decisions. Verstappen's F1 car is equipped with close to 800 sensors that constantly feed data to his racing team. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Formula One is unquestionably fast. The motorsport's multi-million-dollar cars achieve speeds over 210 miles per hour on tracks that bend and twist wildly.


For sale: Batmobile, John Wick's Mustang, and more Hollywood cars

Popular Science

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. A little more than 30 miles from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, another kind of church pays homage to movies, TV shows, and cultural touchpoints. Billing itself as "the temple of pop culture," Pop Central Museum in Étréchy is now selling off an impressive collection of original stunt cars. The vehicles up for sale were used in the franchise,,,, and . Others are replicas seen in classics like, (in all of its late 1960-era glory),, and movies.


The tug-of-war between engineering and design to build the Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro

Popular Science

The brand toughened up its popular family SUV, but first, the design and engineering team had to agree on the dimensions and recovery hook placement. The 2026 Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro is the most capable trim in the SUV's lineup. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Every car company, it seems, is looking to present its most versatile face in the form of dirt-ready vehicles. Even models that might not have been off-road appropriate in the past are toughening up to capitalize on the go-outdoors trend that has exploded in the last several years.


Inside the factory where MasterCraft builds watersports boats from the outside in

Popular Science

Based in Tennessee, the boatbuilder is making waves with its artisan process. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Wakeboarding and wakesurfing have seen a sharp rise in popularity over the last 20 to 30 years. They're slightly different sports, though both start with a tow rope pulled by a powerboat. When wakeboarding, the rider keeps hold of the rope, while wakesurfing allows the watersports enthusiast to surf the waves made by the boat, hands-free.