Science: Worst-Case Scenarios - Popular Mechanics

Science: Worst-Case Scenarios Archive

89 records found. Displaying 31 to 60 Page 1 2 3
Fallout From Universal Studios Blaze Centers on Fake City's Grid With water pressure mysteriously low, a bizarre movie set provides ideal kindling for a massive fire—again. Could "Doc" Brown's Back to the Future clocktower have been saved with building codes, fire lanes and no Hollywood camera trickery? Investigators seem to think so.
Tracking the Queen of the North Sea Disaster: What Went Wrong For half a century British Columbia ferries had safely navigated the province’s ragged coast. All it took to sink a ship with 101 souls onboard was one 14-minute distraction. (Published in the June 2008 issue)
3 Frontiers in Earthquake Tech to Aid China—and Help the U.S. From a string of GPS units along the California faults to motion-sensor rigs across Japan, researchers have already set their sights on the next generation of earthquake prevention. Could authorities in rural China have used new strategies to avert tragedy?
5 High-Tech Firefighting Tools Headed for the Front Lines From heat-sensing UAVs to fire-predicting software, here are five bleeding-edge technologies coming soon to a fire department near you.
Inferno on the Interstate: What Went Wrong? Though the official accident report won't be released for several months, interviews with experts and first responders reveal elements common to many chain-reaction pileups contributed to the accident: poor road conditions, low visibility and heavy traffic. (Published in the April 2008 issue)
As Killer Avalanches Strike, Tech to the Rescue in Backcountry With at least five Americans succumbing to the snow in one January weekend, science continues to battle winter's white killer—but can technology trump recklessness in the backcountry? (Published in the March 2008 issue)
I Am Legend's Junk Science: Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality How much of this sure-to-be blockbuster film is fact, and how much is fiction? We consult experts in the fields of structural engineering, virology and wildlife to determine what could happen—and what certainly won't.
5 Disasters Coming Soon If We Don’t Rebuild U.S. Infrastructure In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, this national security expert called on Congress to stop turning an “irrational and reckless” blind eye to our crumbling public foundations. Now he finds more cracks in American hardware that urgently need attention.
7 Steps to Eat, Drink and Be Smart When Worse Comes to Worst A healthy family of four typically consumes a lot more than you'd think—50,400 calories and 14 gal. of water a week. Get a menu for four different lengths of time away from the fridge, plus smart tips on where to find good water. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
107 Pieces of Survival Gear for Your Car, Home and To-Go Bag A well-stocked disaster kit can save lives in a crisis. Relief agencies recommend keeping three days’ worth of essentials in the house at all times, but we recommend you go further. That way, when disaster strikes and there’s no time to think, you won’t have to. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
22 Steps to Save Yourself When Natural Disaster Hits If there are only moments to spare, you need to know how to react to everything from an earthquake to a tornado and a flood to hurricane. Study up on the basics so you can be decisive during the destruction. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
5-Minute Shutdown for Your Home (Published in the August 2007 issue)
4 Facts You Need to Know About Disaster Preparedness (Published in the August 2007 issue)
5 Steps to Fix Your Home After a Crisis The damage is done, and you need answers. Here's how to get everything at home in order when the worst-case scenario plays out, from personal safety to insurance, emergency repairs to water damage. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
3 Quick Home Projects for Disaster Recovery (Published in the August 2007 issue)
4 Steps to Power Your Home When the Grid Fails Generators fill in to juice your home, but you need to be smart about buying the right generator and installing it safely. Inside, we compare three top portable power sources—and make sure they can handle your load. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
5 Steps to Get Ready for Disaster (Not Stuck in It) If it becomes necessary to leave your home, there may be little advance notice. Here's how to prepare for an evacuation, while staying healthy and in touch, plus tips on which gear and documents to have by your side when it's go time. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
How to Survive Anything Mother Nature Throws at You One hundred years of technological progress can be erased in minutes by nature’s fury. Recent disasters have left not only destruction, but also heroism in their wake, and we can learn from the experiences of the survivors. (Published in the August 2007 issue)
Deadly Coast Guard Dive: What Went Wrong A routine training exercise on day off from a polar icebreaker end in tragedy—and leads to new safety procedures. Coast Guard officials believe the most important lesson to be gleaned from the accident in Alaska is to follow the rules. (Published in the September 2007 issue)
The Big Burn: Idaho and Montana, August 1910 A rainless summer, bizarre winds and sudden lightning merged hundreds of fires into a great inferno, leaving firefighters to fend off the Big Blowup with buckets of water and their bare hands.
Hurricane Katrina: New Orleans, August 2005 The freshest in our collective consciousness of the 10 Worst Disasters of the Century, Katrina remains as horrifying as it is instructing. In the context of 100 years of tragedy wrought by Mother Nature, the Category 5 hurricane and its aftermath can teach us just as much as we learned in its immedi...
Tri-State Tornado: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, March 1925 The longest, deadliest twister in American history whipped through four states, flattening 15,000 homes and killing nearly 700 people — 243 in one town alone.
The New England Hurricane: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, September 1938 With weather radar and satellite technology still decades away, 120-mph winds and two-story-tall waves whipped vulnerable northern cities with equal fury.
Great Alaskan Earthquake and Tsunami: Alaska, March 1964 The magnitude 9.2 quake was just the start of it. Underwater landslides gave way to several local tsunamis that destroyed coastlines from British Columbia to California.
Super Tornado Outbreak: Miss. and Ohio River Valleys, April 1974 Three weather patterns combined to form a backbreaking 148 twisters across 13 states, wreaking 15 hours of havoc upon the central and eastern U.S. and claiming 330 lives.
Mount St. Helens Eruption: Washington, May 1980 One last earthquake turned the sleeping giant loose, and soon 230 sq. mi. of lush forest was entombed in a lunar wasteland. Fifty-seven fatalities and $1 billion of damage later, it is is now considered the dawn of American earthquake science — and a jumping off point for GPS.
Spanish Flu Pandemic: 1918 More deadly than the World War unfolding alongside it, the virus wiped out America’s young and healthy and, by the time our troops had carried it across the pond, took out 50 million people worldwide.
Superstorm: Eastern and Central U.S., March 1993 With unimaginable amounts of powder dumping down across the eastern U.S., the Storm of the Century just kept on coming — shattering snowfall records, whipping up tornadoes and ultimately leaving 2.5 million people without power. Post-blizzard finger pointing led to better storm communication, but th...
1906 Earthquake Fire: Expert Q&A To learn from the tragedy and destruction in the wake of the first of our Top 10 Disasters of the Last Century, we spoke with a leading geologist.
1910 Big Burn: Expert Q&A To learn from the tragedy and destruction in the wake of the second of our Top 10 Disasters of the Last Century, we spoke with a local historian.
89 records found. Displaying 31 to 60 Page 1 2 3

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