NASA building Space Launch System with laser melting, adapts 3D printing for the skies (video)

As we know it, 3D printing is usually confined to small-scale projects like headphones. NASA is ever so slightly more ambitious. It's using a closely related technique from Concept Laser, selective laser melting, to build elements of its Space Launch System on a pace that wouldn't be feasible with traditional methods. By firing brief, exact laser pulses at metal powder, Concept Laser's CAD system creates solid metal parts that are geometrically complex but don't need to be welded together.

Engadget , NASA building Space Launch System with laser melting, adapts 3D printing for the skies (video), NASA building Space Launch System with laser melting, adapts 3D printing for the skies (video)

BMW M offers steering wheel with integrated computer and readout

We see quite a few factory performance parts come through our inbox, but few warrant more than a cursory glance. That said, BMW grabbed our eye with its new M Performance steering wheel. Trimmed in carbon fiber and alcantara, the tiller is slick enough, but it also features two readouts to convey all sorts of vehicle information. Two color LED strips at 11 and 1 o'clock swing from green to red with engine rpm to serve as a shift light, and they can also be reconfigured to act as a drag-strip Christmas tree for timing your quarter-mile mile runs.



Autoblog , BMW M offers steering wheel with integrated computer and readout

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itband, BMW M offers steering wheel with integrated computer and readout

Hi-po Toyota GT86 to get KERS?

We happen to like the Toyota GT86 – and, it of course goes without saying that the same applies to the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S, as well – just the way it is. Yes, that includes the standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder boxer engine and its 200 horsepower at 7,000 rpm. That said, a little extra power never hurt anybody, right.
The most obvious way to add some punch to the GT86 would be with a turbocharger, and that has indeed long been rumored for an STI version of the BRZ. Will Toyota follow suit? According to Top Gear, the answer is no.

Autoblog , Hi-po Toyota GT86 to get KERS?, Hi-po Toyota GT86 to get KERS?

China Mobile's Lumia 920T packs a Snapdragon S4 Pro, better graphics performance

Buying a shiny new flagship and finding out international variants are tricked out better than yours is never much fun. Well, China Mobile has Weiboed (is that right?) that its Lumia 920T variant will pack the Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC (MSM8960T), and not the S4 Plus in the regular 920. The Pro carries the same basic CPU, and while it's not known whether the 920T will use the full 1.7GHz available (the 920's runs at 1.5GHz), the major difference is a bump from the Adreno 225 GPU to the more powerful Adreno 320.

Engadget , China Mobile's Lumia 920T packs a Snapdragon S4 Pro, better graphics performance, China Mobile's Lumia 920T packs a Snapdragon S4 Pro, better graphics performance

Tab Scissors cuts your Chrome Tabs in two

Ever have two tabs in one Chrome Window that you want to see next to each other.  With Chrome, it's easy to drag off a tab into a seperate browser window, but it often means having to resize and re-move the windows to get them right .  Tab Scissors is a handy little extension for Chrome that helps you out. As long as there's at least two tabs open in a window, hit the Tab Scissor icon, and everything to the left and right of the current tab will be cut into two seperate windows, all neatly laid out.  Great for previewing your WordPress entry before you publish it or maybe splitting off a work and play set of tabs.

The Gadgeteer , Tab Scissors cuts your Chrome Tabs in two, Tab Scissors cuts your Chrome Tabs in two

Verizon to offer Nokia Lumia 822 for $100 and HTC Windows Phone 8X for $200, both to go on sale by Thanksgiving

Verizon's had a couple days to mull over its response to AT&T's Windows Phone 8 pricing, and it's now ready to make its intentions known: the Nokia Lumia 822 and HTC Windows Phone 8X will both be available for pre-order beginning tomorrow and will officially be on store shelves before Thanksgiving. Nokia's model can be yours in white, black and grey for $100 after $50 mail-in rebate, while HTC's WP8 flagship will be offered in blue, red or black for $200.

Engadget , Verizon to offer Nokia Lumia 822 for $100 and HTC Windows Phone 8X for $200, both to go on sale by Thanksgiving, Verizon to offer Nokia Lumia 822 for $100 and HTC Windows Phone 8X for $200, both to go on sale by Thanksgiving

Cray unleashes 100 petaflop XC30 supercomputer with up to a million Intel Xeon cores

Cray has just fired a nuclear salvo in the supercomputer wars with the launch of its XC30, a 100 petaflop-capable brute that can scale up to one million cores. Developed in conjunction with DARPA, the Cascade-codenamed system uses a new type of architecture called Aries interconnect and Intel Xeon E5-2600 processors to easily leapfrog its recent Titan sibling, the previous speed champ. That puts Cray well ahead of rivals like China's Tianhe-2, and the company will aim to keep that edge by supercharging future versions with Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and NVIDIA Tesla GPUs.

Engadget , Cray unleashes 100 petaflop XC30 supercomputer with up to a million Intel Xeon cores, Cray unleashes 100 petaflop XC30 supercomputer with up to a million Intel Xeon cores