In ancient Greece, Hero of Alexandria used simple machines to create many ingenious devices, among them a device that raised a lever when a coin or token was dropped against the opposite side of the fulcrum. The lever opened a valve and delivered a cup...

A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking...

Editor, New Era: I've read the article about Patrick Greider's Science Fair project with both amusement and disgust. The fact that the parking meters in downtown Lancaster are not accurate should come as no surprise to the Parking Authority. I personally have...

Quincy now charges $1 to park in its central business district garage. Like many communities south of Boston, the city is challenged financially these days. But risks accompany any effort to make visitors to business districts pay for parking. In the 1950s Quincy...

The committee that assigns Brecht Awards -- given for particularly lame political gambits -- had to take a couple of days to debate this one, but now it's official: Freddy's attack on "pay-to-pray" is a winner. To refresh: Freddy spoke at the Greater Highway Deliverance...

Driverless trucks may aid troopsOshKosh Truck rolled out a prototype self-driving vehicle that may one day supply soldiers on the battlefield. The 12-ton TerraMax uses on-board computers, GPS, lasers and sophisticated cameras to steer itself around obstacles. It also can be controlled remotely. The Pentagon...