Automobiles776 articles archived since 1845

Desire to Drive Flagging in the U.S. and Abroad

In the last post I presented results from my poll on the importance of cars to your everyday life. The results suggest, simply put, that its importance is sliding downwards.

A Look under the Hood of Online Data Visualization

Andy Kirk (of Visualising Data) recently published a clever image-driven post in which he uses automobiles to make a series of points about the practice of data visualization.

Annalee Newitz: Where did io9 get its name?

Today is Annalee Newitz‘s birthday (well, it’s still today in the most relevant time zone – uh, hers not mine). Annalee has been writing about the intersection of science and technology and culture for many years...

Creativity and Technology: Closing the Perception Gap

So many people are stifled by their own preconceived beliefs about what they can and can't do. That's a shame and in our household we try hard to remove "can't" from our vocabulary. The biggest tragedy is when someone is afraid of, or steered away from, trying by stereotypes and social norms that are in a large [...]..

Fox News Tells SciAm Editor Not to Talk About Climate Change

This morning I appeared on the nation’s number-one-rated morning show, Fox and Friends. Afterwards I tweeted out a few things that have garnered some attention, including this: Fox & Friends producer wanted to talk about future trends...

SciAm Readers Prioritize MP3s Over MPGs

Thank you for your input as no less than 100 readers were kind enough to participate in my not-so-scientific survey of what is least important to them, when given a choice to give up one item ranging between a TV, vehicle, laptop/tablet, and a smartphone...

Venezuela to Crush Cars and Bikes to Build Houses

Warp Drive Research Key to Interstellar Travel

As any avid Star Trek fan can tell you, the eccentric physicist Zefram Cochrane invented the warp-drive engine in the year 2063. It wasn't easy.

How to Solve Global Warming: It's the Energy Supply

Carbon storage has to expand rapidly, or coal burning has to cease, if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change

Car, Truck and Airplane Pollution Set to Drive Climate Change

Greenhouse gases from transportation may become one of the greatest drivers of human-induced climate change, according to a draft of the forthcoming U.N. fifth assessment report on mitigation of climate change...

Infrastructure Spotting

When I began writing On the Grid, my book about the infrastructure systems that make our lives possible, I envisioned it as a sort of Peterson’s Guide to the Infrastructure of the Modern World...

What do NYC Streets and Asteroids Have in Common?

                    Fatigue, that’s what. As a particularly frigid winter recedes across the north and east of the United States (we’ve become accustomed to milder weather in past years), the abuse suffered by asphalt roads is becoming apparent...

Crazy Military Vehicles That Died as Prototypes [Slide Show]

When it comes to transporting troops, no idea has seemed too outlandish to be considered by the U.S. military

Crazy Military Vehicles That Died as Prototypes [Slide Show]

When it comes to transporting troops, no idea has seemed too outlandish to be considered by the military

VW to Build Plug-in Hybrid Cars in China as Pollution Reforms the Market

Fact or Fiction?: Your Car Is Hackable

Automotive computers controlling brakes, steering and door locks are vulnerable to tampering under certain conditions. But are random roadside cyber attacks a real threat?

The Army’s Flying Car Could Take Off This Year

Military “Transformer” vehicles move closer to takeoff

Dirty for Decades, Diesel Tractors, Bulldozers Clean Up

Dark clouds of soot and gases spewed by tractors, bulldozers and backhoes are becoming a thing of the past under new federal standards that have forced cleaner diesel engines this year

The Clean Energy Wars

The growth of solar and wind power has brought these renewable resources into conflict with fossil fuels

Fracking Hammers Clean Energy Research

Has the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy failed in its mission to create alternative energy breakthroughs?