TechnologyPipe

Every flu season is a deadly flu season. Though this year may feel worse than usual—and may end up being deadlier—it’s also a grave reminder that influenza always kills people. We’re just sometimes more aware of it. For the many thousands who contract the flu and recover, it may seem unfathomable that you could die from what often feels like a particularly nasty cold. Well, this is how: Step 1: Be very old or very young, probably The immune system of an eight-month-old and a eighty-year-old are similar in that they’re not well-equipped to handle the flu. Infants (and even young children) simply haven’t been exposed to enough pathogens for their bodies to know how to fight off viruses, and the elderly suffer from general deterioration of the systems that would normally kill influenza. This is why most of the people who die from the flu aren’t healthy twenty-somethings or even parents—they’re either very young or very old. But this isn’t to say that twenty-somethings don’t die f...

CAMERA AND LENS You can 3-D print a fully-functional SLR camera in 15 hours and for only $30 in parts. Assembly, with instructions, takes just one hour. The camera is capable of taking quality pictures and is compatible with any photographic lens. If it's too tantalizing to have a near-complete 3-D printed camera, you can actually print a lens, too. The picture quality isn't great, but then again it can give you some really cool effects. Just think how hip you'd be. Thingiverse (Camera, Lens) 1 of 10 CUSTOM BUSTS With that new 3-D printed camera and lens, you'll be able to take some stunning portraits. But 3-D printing lets you up the ante: you can print accurate busts and figurines of yourself, your family, and your friends. Imagine turning your friends into little army men! Dan Nosowitz, OMOTE 3D SHASHIN KAN 2 of 10 BIKE HACKS If you're into bike customization, 3-D printing is a goldmine. Here are some highlights: a mount to make a plastic bo...

BEFORE/AFTER An artist's conception of what Mars looks like today, juxtaposed with what Mars may have looked like earlier in its history, when the planet had a thicker atmosphere. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Mars is known as the Red Planet, but we could color it green. By unleashing greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat—something humans happen to be very good at—we could build a warmer, breathable atmosphere that protects our settlers from deep-space radiation. NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay thinks we could have mild temperatures after about 100 years of terraforming. But it’ll take much longer to re-create the sweet cocktail of 21 percent oxygen, 0.04 percent carbon dioxide, and 78 percent nitrogen that fills our lungs on Earth. Year 1 Mars Terraforming 1 2065 A.D. Supertotto As the first colonists arrive, robots mine rocks for the critical element fluorine to produce perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)—mostly nontoxic gases that are grea...

Google's streaming music service doesn't get the same attention as some of its other offerings, like Gmail or Maps, but this Spotify competitor is a powerful app, especially when you know how to use it optimally. Below, tips that'll help you get the most out of the service, even if you're a veteran user. But first, a few basics: You can Google Music as a free cloud locker for your own music tracks—you can upload 50,000 songs without paying a dime—or give Google $10 a month and add an unlimited amount of on-demand tunes on top of that, in the style of Spotify. Now, onward to our guide: 1 of 9 1. Get your own tracks uploaded Music upload When it comes to uploading, you've got options. David Nield/Popular Science Even if you don't pay for Google Play Music, you can upload your existing MP3s to the web and stream them to any of your devices. You can use this even if you pay for on-demand streaming, too. It's especially useful for...

The "rebels" who fight the Big Bang theory are mostly attempting to grapple with the concept of time. They are philosophers as much as cosmologists, unsatisfied with the Big Bang, unimpressed with string theory and unconvinced of the multiverse. Julian Barbour, British physicist, author, and major proponent of the idea of timeless physics, is one of those rebels--so thoroughly a rebel that he has spurned the world of academics. Julian Barbour's solution to the problem of time in physics and cosmology is as simply stated as it is radical: there is no such thing as time. "If you try to get your hands on time, it's always slipping through your fingers," says Barbour. "People are sure time is there, but they can't get hold of it. My feeling is that they can't get hold of it because it isn't there at all." Barbour speaks with a disarming English charm that belies an iron resolve and confidence in his science. His extreme perspective ...