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...

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...

Ninety-one percent of New Yorkers believe that traffic congestion is a problem, according to a Quinnipiac poll released this morning. They also oppose congestion pricing 58 percent to 37 percent. But if that money would be used to improve mass transit, the numbers invert, to...

A panel in charge of solving the chronic gridlock plaguing New York City made its final recommendations Thursday, offering a scaled-back version of the original plan but still proposing an $8 charge on cars entering the most traffic-choked parts of Manhattan.The plan would make New...