25 April 2012

AHRLAC project: SA’s ground-breaking reconnaissance plane

Homegrown multi-role flier will take on the world... 

20 March 2012

PM’s 110 best tips that stand the test of time

Over the past 110 years, Popular Mechanics in the US has published more than 1 300 issues filled with inspiring and sometimes quirky tips (rat-trap door hinge, anyone?) for saving time, money and effort. Here’s a compendium of our best advice ever, metricated where appropriate. 

01 March 2012

Whisky rebellion: the art and craft of distilling

The pioneers of craft distilling use old methods and new machines to revive local spirits. 

26 January 2012

The secret war: digital spies

Foreign spies hack computers to bleed billions from industry and steal military secrets. PM explores the dark, relentless scourge of digital espionage. 

01 December 2011

A student supercar

Of the 111 teams that competed for the R70 million purse in last year’s Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, only one was from a high school – West Philadelphia, where 85 per cent of students are economically disadvantaged. 

01 December 2011

Ovecoming paralysis

A hit-and-run accident in 2006 left Rob Summers paralysed from the chest down, shattering the college baseball player’s Major League prospects. 

01 December 2011

Ready-made blood vessels

While training in an intensive-care unit during medical school, Laura Niklason got a graphic view of a persistent problem. “The surgeons spent a lot of time digging around in the patients’ legs or arms looking for veins to replace main arteries,” she says. “I thought, there’s got to be a better way.” 

01 December 2011

Breakthrough Awards 2011: James Cameron

When most people think of James Cameron, they first think of his movies: Aliens, Titanic, Avatar, The Terminator. Then they might reflect on how his films have pushed major technological advances in the entertainment industry, from the state-of-the-art visual effects that created the water tentacle in The...