According to Rolls Royce, the 2018 Phantom has almost 300 pounds of noise insulation built-in. Areas of the car like the bulkhead have double layers of alloy “skin” with sheets of foam and felt in between to keep the sounds of the road from making its way into the rolling mansion. The windows are made from triple-thick 0.2-inch glass. Even the tires have an extra layer of foam inside to significantly damp road noise in the cabin....

“If we’re not fielding, we’re failing; it’s all about saving soldiers’ lives,” said Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, Fort Hood commander and co-host of the event. “It’s not about technology demonstrations, not about how much money you can garner from the U.S. government, it’s all about saving soldiers’ lives.” The first-time event emerged as the brainchild of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). CNET reports that TARDEC invited more than 40 robot handlers to showcase a wide range of autonomous systems....

The latest droid built for lugging takeout is a servile bot called Serve, and Postmates designed it to make short-haul deliveries in cities. To know what’s going on, it has a lidar sensor on top, in which spinning lasers let it perceive objects around it and know how far away they are. (It’s similar to what you’ll find guiding self-driving cars on the roads.) That’s not all. Behind each artificial eye is a camera, with six more imaging devices spread around the ‘bot....

The wearable actually comes with a default Music app, which lets you control your phone’s audio playback from your wrist (at least when that audio is running on Apple’s native apps). But these additional apps can do even more than that: They give you easy access to your tunes, help you identify songs, organize your podcasts, and more. To play around with them, just install them on your iPhone, and companion versions will appear on your Apple Watch....

These aren’t frantic, uncontrolled plunges, scientists reported on May 23 in Current Biology. When the researchers dropped wandering salamanders, Aneides vagrans, into wind tunnels, the amphibians assumed a position similar to that of human skydivers and used their tails and feet to slow down and guide their descent. This discovery suggests that other tree-dwelling animals may also have hidden gliding abilities, the team concluded. “The salamander is surprising because it doesn’t look like it should be able to do anything in the air whatsoever,” Jake Socha, a biomechanist at Virginia Tech who studies flying snakes, another group of animals that manage without conspicuous aerodynamic traits....

If you have an inkling of interest in hardware and software and wish to take a deep dive, you can get your initial training from the 2022 Complete Raspberry Pi and Arduino Developer Bundle. It’s packed with 61 hours of premium training spread across nine comprehensive courses, and for a limited time, you can grab it for over 90 percent off. While the actual hardware isn’t included, you still get hands-on training on what to do once you have the electrical pieces and components with you....

Social distancing to combat COVID-19 is profoundly impacting society, leaving many people wondering whether it will actually work. As disease ecologists, we know that nature has an answer. Animals as diverse as monkeys, lobsters, insects, and birds can detect and avoid sick members of their species. Why have so many types of animals evolved such sophisticated behaviors in response to disease? Because social distancing helps them survive. In evolutionary terms, animals that effectively socially distance during an outbreak improve their chances of staying healthy and going on to produce more offspring, which also will socially distance when confronted with disease....

A little over a year ago, the world was struck with shock and awe when SpaceX finally held the inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy, the biggest rock the company has ever built and currently the most powerful operational launch vehicle on the planet. Florida’s Space Coast that day was filled with tension and excitement, and as the clock finally ticked down to zero, it was clear there was no coming back from whatever happened next....

The company’s Falcon 9 rocket recently made history by launching a payload into orbit and then coming down softly for a vertical landing at Cape Canaveral. But now SpaceX wants to try something harder: landing on a drone platform in the sea. NBC News reports that SpaceX will attempt the sea landing after launching NASA’s Jason-3 satellite, which will monitor ocean circulation and sea level. The launch is currently scheduled for January 17....

Tom: Dash it all, Fred, doesn’t this bloody Nazi pilot look just like the Nazi with the broken femur we just sent back through the POW exchange a few weeks ago? How could he be up and flying again so soon with an injury like that? He should have been bedridden with his leg up in traction for months! Fred: Crikey, old chap, I do believe you’re right! [Addresses the Nazi pilot] Here now, tell us how you managed to get up and about so soon after cracking your femur?...

The controversy has been brewing for months: In February a plan to purchase 148,000 gasoline-powered vehicles was released against the concerns of the Biden administration, which has already set goals to electrify the entire federal vehicle fleet in the next 13 years. “This contract was going to be the biggest contract for new delivery trucks in about 30 years, so it was just going to be this huge spend,” says Katherine García, director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign....

Standard clear-coat paint lets ultraviolet light reach the epoxy, causing it to discolor. GM engineers added a benzene-based powder to the paint to block the lower-frequency part of the UV range, and they created an epoxy that won’t degrade under the higher frequencies. Unfortunately, the new clear coat has its own yellow tinge, but GM developed what it calls an “offset additive” to shift it back to a neutral hue....

Fifteen other companies were sent warning and advisory letters at the start of the month, as part of an FDA effort to shut down Alzheimer’s-related health fraud. The letters came alongside an FDA announcement that it plans to increase its oversight of dietary supplements because, according to a statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the size of the market helps dangerous, illegally advertised products slip under the radar. Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act 25 years ago to help the FDA regulate and oversee supplements—products that aren’t approved to treat disease, but that their makers say can offer health benefits....

This year reflects a broader transition in fire behavior across the US, as hotter days and more variable rainfall have let a relatively concentrated “fire season” in the West turn into year-round disasters and risk. But the months of June, July, and August are still particularly fire-prone. On May 1, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) released its predictions of fire weather through August. It’s important to note that the center can only forecast fire potential....

Each model that McLaren has introduced over the subsequent decade has been a sleek, mid-engined machine with hair-raising acceleration and incredible handling, but the LT models have always stood for something particularly special. First introduced back in 2016 with the 675LT as an homage to the McLaren F1 GTR “Longtail” race car of the 1990s, the LT, or Long Tail designation, philosophically represents an offering where the balance between track capability and road-going civility has been shifted in favor of the former....

“Like everything else in life, there are times that you have to make an adjustment,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said following Tuesday’s announcement. “My opposition to unlimited instant replay is still very much in play. I really think that the game has prospered for well over a century now doing things the way we did it.” That opposition he refers to means replay will only be used on home runs....

The arms secure cords along each side of the duvet cover between two rollers, then move forward, pulling the duvet to the top of the bed. As this occurs, cords attached to the pillowcases straighten them. Trays holding the pillows then lift, allowing the duvet to pass beneath them. The whole process takes less than a minute. This article originally appeared in the October 2012 issue of Popular Science.

Fins Hanging out with the fishes requires underwater propulsion; bare feet aren’t too effective, and you’re carrying heavy gear. The 24-inch, stiff plastic blades and rubber ribs of the Aqua Lung Stratos 3 make for swift swimming, and the snug foot pockets hug your tootsies to prevent dangerous cramping. Wetsuit The 5 mm thick neoprene Cressi Otterflex traps and warms a thin layer of water around your body to insulate you in the chilly, dark depths....

Guitars are meant to be played, so stands are a great alternative to case storage you’re looking for convenience and accessibility. While they don’t provide total protection from the environment, stands stabilize instruments and lower the risk of damage from falling or tipping. Like the best pedalboards, they help keep musicians organized, and they create an attractive alternative to bulky and unwieldy guitar cases. To help you find the best option, we’ll go over the best guitar stands for every type of guitar and unpack some key things to consider when shopping for a stand....