February Home To-Do List: Warm Up, Clean Up

Skill Set: How to Snap a Fastener (with Video)

There are plenty of tools for removing a damaged fastener, but sometimes even old favorites don't work. Senior home editor Roy Berendsohn breaks down the best tools, then walks you through a quick DIY video fix from PopMech TV.

• HOW-TO CENTRAL: Fix Your Leaky Faucet
• TOOL WATCH: Battery-Powered Sump Pump

NextGen House Of Tomorrow - International Builders' Show

The "house of tomorrow" has made regular appearances at trade shows and fairs since a prefab building component called "brick" was shown off at the big Mesopotamia Expo in whatever, B.C. At Orlando's International Builders' Show, the NextGen home displayed energy-efficient ...

Turanair Systems T-Force 1000 - International Builders' Show

Air compressors are commonplace on high-end DIY projects and home-construction work sites‹powering tools, spraying lacquer, and generally making noise, tripping people up with tubes, and getting in the way. Compressed air bottles present a serious alternative to the ...

Hitachi and Makita Vibration Control - International Builders' Show

Spend a few hours working with a typical demolition hammer, and the tingle in your hands will stay with you well into your second after-work beer. Several companies are working on damping technologies to reduce vibration, including Makita and Hitachi.

Bosch Roto-Zip - International Builders’ Show

Among the thousands of products being shown at the International Builders’ Show this week, the most fun—and some of the most innovative—are the power tools.

Stanley's FatMax Snap-Off Knife: Gadget of the Week

What qualifies this behemoth cutting tool as a gadget? It can store up to four snap-off blades in a removable cartridge, each one loading into place like a bullet, and the whole cartridge loads from the base like a pistol magazine. Check out a preview, with video.

• PLUS: High-Tech Hunting Gear
• TOOL WATCH: Our Favorite Turkey Knives

Tool Watch: Drill Bit Blowout (with Video)

It's about as feel-good a test as you can get: an old-school tool holding its own, a radical design paying off and a pallet in our woodworking lab getting absolutely torn ups.

• UPDATE: Lithium-Ion Power-Tool Domination
• WISH LIST: Laser Level
• NEW TOOL: Better Carpenter Pencil
• MASTER TIP: Planing Thin Wood Stock

Waterlogged Mars, Wired Boeing, Gambling Branson, Banned iTunes, Stun Gunner, $155M House: News Briefs

Scientists are ready to look underground for more water on the Red Planet, while Richard Branson thinks the world is ready for more stem-cell research — not that Boeing is ready for onboard wireless. Plus, are we ready for the world's most expensive new home?

• PM NEWS: NASA Finds Water on Mars
• PLUS: Boeing vs. Airbus
• DIY GUY: 10 Home-Selling Strategies

This New House: Restoration Tips You Can Use

Our House of the Year makeover with Country Living magazine turned an abandoned 1890s "folk Victorian" in rural Pennsylvania into a stunningly updated classic for the 21st century — with a new addition and cutting-edge materials.

Monthly Home To-Do List: January's Winter Fixes

Baby, it’s cold outside. Sure, this month offers plenty of reasons to stay close by the fire with a good book (preferably a home improvement title) but you can get a lot done if you put your mind to it…and put your long johns on.

• HOW-TO CENTRAL: Cutting Tile with a Wet Saw
• PLUS: DIY Furnace Pipe Fix

Cutting Class: The Ultimate Saw Test

To the unitiated, all circular saws may look alike. We put 11 top of the line models through the mill to determine the best of the best, and we tell you which features are key when you're shopping for one.

Ballpoint Pens: Abusive Lab Test

Some pen makers claim their ballpoints are tougher than ordinary pens, able to write while upside down, cold or even underwater. So we put three models through a three-part test. The question: Do the self-proclaimed tough guys really beat the competition?

• VIDEO: Abusive Lab Test with Handheld Vacuums
• PLUS: Abusive Lab Test with Breathalyzers (and a Cop)

DIY Water Heater Anode Swap: Homeowners Clinic

You can replace the anode, but it's not easy. Most water heater tanks are located somewhere without enough headroom to easily remove the old rod or insert a new one.

• HOW-TO CENTRAL: Replacing a Water Heater
• ENERGY FAMILY: Making a Solar Hot Water Heater

Video Abusive Lab Test: Handheld Vacuums

In the first video edition of Popular Mechanics' product review turned extreme experiment, we tested three new hand vacs, using each to clean up 32 oz. of pre-sifted flour, followed by 14 oz. of wet, disgusting kitty litter. Things got messy, fast.

• WISH LIST: Dyson Root 6 Tops Our Home Gift Guide
• MORE VIDEO: Out of the Box with the Rocket Grill
• PLUS: Get Robots to Vacuum for You!

Home Gadget: Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper

Among other tools for the weekend wish list, we like this wire stripper from Irwin. It's like a mini assembly line for a process that, as our Skill Set below shows, isn't that tough.

• SKILL SET: Stripping Cable
• PLUS: WD-40 Pen Should Be in Every Drawer
• PLUS: Camping Stove with Head-Turning Innovations

Making Safer Lithium-Ion Batteries

The rechargeable li-ion battery powers much of our daily life, from laptops to cellphones and tools. Problem is, they get hot and, (very) occasionally, explode. Is there a crisis? Are tools in trouble? What can you do?

• PODCAST: The Case of the Exploding Laptop
• BREAKTHROUGH: Nano Li-Ion Virus
• EARLIER: PM's DIY Guy on Power-Packed Tools

Resident Roboticist: Living in a Robot Ecosystem

In the first edition of his new bi-weekly column for PopularMechanics.com, Daniel H. Wilson looks at his robot-infested apartment as a microcosm for what lies ahead in restructuring our human environments to accommodate technology.

• PODCAST: Wilson Talks Robots on the Operating Table
• PLUS: Next-Gen Autonomous Fighting Machines
• PLUS: Should Robots Look Like Humans?

Bye Bye, Birdie: PM’s Favorite Turkey Knives

Last month, we tackled pumpkins, but now it’s time for a different kind of carve-off. With just a few hours left until the Thanksgiving big feast, Popular Mechanics’ editors—and an expert from upstairs—give their tried-and-true turkey cooking and carving ...

• EARLIER: Extreme Pumpkin Carving
• PLUS: Build Your Own Backyard Smoker

VIDEO: Out of the Box with the Sunbeam Rocket Grill

Just in time for the lazy man's Thanksgiving, Popular Mechanics' tech expert puts a George Foreman-esque kitchen gadget to the test for some quick and dirty turkey.

• WISH LIST: Emeril's Fryer Makes Cut for Year's Best Gear
• HOW-TO CENTRAL: Build a Portable Kitchen Island

Time Machine: 79 Years Later, the PowerMop

In December 1927, PM featured amateur mechanic Arthur Capron's plans for an electric floor scrubber. Today, your dreams are more easily realized with a new tool from Black & Decker.

• WISH LIST: Vacuum from the Year 3000, Fryer So Easy It's Scary, Plus Stocking Stuffers

Sustainable Products Galore: Life from GreenBuild Expo

Sustainable building products are going mainstream at GreenBuild’s exhibit hall, packed with everything from low-flow toilets and soy-based insulation to forestry-certified wood flooring, pervious concrete and, our science editor's personal favorite, ...

• MORE FROM GREENBUILD: Going for Green-Office Gold
• WISH LIST: The Year's Best Tools

Switch Your Light Bulb and Save $30 on the Power Bill

You can save a couple bucks – and the environment – by taking part in a campaign pushing every American household to exchange just one energy-hogging incandescent bulb for an eco-friendly compact fluorescent.

• HOME CHECKLIST: 44 Tips to Cut Energy Costs

Mouse Trap? The Maraudings of an Insulation-Chewing Rodent

Monday morning, at about 4:30, I had a look behind the door and found that the insulation had been chewed off a copper heating pipe. The life of a mouse must be a dull one. I could see how late-night boredom would just drive you to chew on something. ...

• PLUS: Keeping the Critters Out
• HOW YOUR HOUSE WORKS: Insulation

Catch a Fire: The Reno Hotel Blaze and Combustion Tech

Investigators for a series of arson fires over the past two weeks are looking at whopping levels of combustion that new technology is just learning to predict and that homeowners need to know.

• EARLIER: Wind Phenomenon Major Culprit in Wildfire
• HOME JOURNAL: How to Fight a Fire

Friday the 13th Special: Debunking the Myths of Bad Luck

We’re taking a closer look at those innocent everyday household happenings that shoulder the guilt for a world of bad luck. Cats, mirrors and ladders rejoice: We're setting your supernatural record straight.

• HOME IMPROVEMENT: PM's Guide to Preparing the House, Basement & Garage for Winter

What Lies Beneath: Discovering Leftovers at Home

When you buy a house, it’s amazing what you find left behind by previous owners.

• The Joys (and Trials) of Homeownership
• Trees Planted by Squirrels, and Other Gardening Stories

Extreme Mowing

We're testing a new batch of outdoor power equipment and power tools at our test site in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. In years past, we tested farther south, in the Catskills. Our new test location has a greater variety of surfaces to ...

Trees Planted by Squirrels, and Other Gardening Stories

Last weekend Mother Nature withheld rain long enough for me to work in my flowerbed. Admittedly, I use the word “flowerbed” loosely, as this area on the east side of my house in upstate New York is more of a bed of weeds, with flowers thrown in for ...

The World's Ugliest Deck

Having the nation’s ugliest deck wouldn’t seem to be anything to brag about, but Dave and Julie Owsinki of Kentwood, MI have learned otherwise. They not only bragged about their dilapidated structure, they were rewarded for it by entering pictures ...