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Why Offshore Drilling Can Bridge Gap to U.S. Energy Future

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Popular Mechanics - By James B. Meigs - Aug. 27 (Opinion) - Sadly, our government's track record isn't any better in picking energy sources that it does support. Coal has been a national priority ever since Jimmy Carter put on that cardigan. Yes, coal is plentiful, but it is an environmental headache all the way from strip mine to smokestack. Then there's ethanol. It was less than a year ago that leaders of both parties decided that ethanol made from corn would be a brilliant alternative to foreign oil. Speeches were made; sweeping mandates passed. The result? Food prices went through the roof--and energy prices did, too.

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China Olympics Electronics Surveillance

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Popular Mechanics - By Brian Krebs - Aug. 04 (Special Report) - Looking beyond Wednesday's crackdown on media access to the Internet at the Summer Games, IT consultants and encryption experts are preparing high-profile attendees and tourists for what's shaping up to be a high-tech headache in Beijing. As a private memo from the U.S. government warns travelers about vulnerabilities for personal electronics, the Washington Post's digital security reporter examines the potential for gadget hacking at the Olympics.

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As Iran Tests Missile Fleet, Experts Map High-Tech Israeli Attack

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Popular Mechanics - By Joe Pappalardo - Jul. 10 (Special Report) - War-game tests by Iran of long- and medium-range missiles sent shock waves across the globe today, with tensions centering on a potential attack on Israel and, ultimately, the country's nuclear ambitions. Among the nine ballistic missiles fired was an upgraded Shahab-3 with GPS guidance, 450 pounds of carrying capacity and an estimated 1250-mile range--already a potent threat to Israeli cities and bases, even before nuclear warheads enter the equation. What's more, Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, offered a blunt warning after the exercise, saying it demonstrated the country's "resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language," according to various reports.

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Election 2008 Science and Technology Policies

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Popular Mechanics - By Popular Mechanics - Feb. 19 (Special Report) - Geek the Vote Methodology Popular Mechanics compiled these links to make it easier to compare leading presidential candidates on several issues of interest to our readers, primarily in areas of science and technology. We did not analyze any of the proposals, and we do not necessarily endorse them. (Click here for more information.)

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Half a World Away: Soldiers in Iraq Don't Hear Deliberations Back Home (and Often Don't Care)

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 04:30:07 -0700

Popular Mechanics - Aug. 18 (News Report) - It never even hits the radar screen. For the troops on the front lines and the colonels in the rear--and just about everyone in between--the big news in Iraq every day is that they're still alive and healthy. When it comes to Senate votes on the U.S. presence in Iraq, Sunday talk shows thrashing out length of deployment and stateside pundits talking to themselves, nearly every grunt, airman, sailor, soldier and Marine I speak with just doesn't care. It's not negligence or a lack of opinion about how long they think they should stay here; they're tuned out because the news doesn't impact their day-to-day operations--and because comms often leave them uninformed from half a world away.

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Re-Engineering America's Beaches, One Tax Dollar at a Time

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:46:11 -0700

Popular Mechanics - By Chris Dixon - Jun. 18 (News Analysis) - In the following weeks, more than 200 fuses, many still potentially explosive, were excavated in Surf City. Beaches remained closed while contractors ran powerful magnetometers across the sand. The closures scared off buyers for a pair of half-million-dollar beach condos Buscemi had renovated, but what angers him most is simply thinking about what might have happened: "That thing could have blown my son's arm off."

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Rosie O'Donnell 9/11 Conspiracy Comments: Popular Mechanics Responds - Popular Mechanics

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:49:58 -0700

Popular Mechanics - Mar. 31 (Special Report) - Recently, Rosie O'Donnell, a co-host of ABC talk show The View, made comments on the show that renewed controversy over the collapse of World Trade Center 7. While saying she didn't know what to believe about the U.S. government's involvement in the attacks of Sept. 11, she said, "I do believe that it's the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics that World Trade Center tower 7--building 7, which collapsed in on itself--it is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved. World Trade Center 7. World Trade [Center] 1 and 2 got hit by planes--7, miraculously, the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible."

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SWAT Overkill: The Danger of a Paramilitary Police Force

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:44:15 -0800

Popular Mechanics - By Glenn Harlan Reynolds - Nov. 28 (Opinion) - It used to be that police came to the door, announced themselves and, once a homeowner responded, entered the premises. Most policemen still work this way. But an alarming number now break down doors first and ask questions later. Don't get me wrong: Police often do dangerous work and they need equipment that's going to protect them. And dynamic entry is valid when dealing with desperate criminals, but these tactics put ordinary citizens--and the police--at risk. And when they do, it's often hard to get redress. Lawsuits against police and supervisors face strict legal limits in the form of "qualified immunity," and prosecutors, who work with the police on a regular basis, are unlikely to bring criminal charges against officers who negligently kill people. But homeowners confronted with tactics like flash-bang grenades and shouting that are intended to disorient targets, tend to be held to a much higher standard. The result, as in the Cory Maye case, is that people who do the laudable thing and defend their homes against unknown, armed intruders sometimes wind up being prosecuted for murder.

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