Ford just announced Q2 financial results that were better than expected.

Earnings per share climbed to $0.40, beating analysts' estimate of $0.36.

Revenue of $37.4 billion was higher than the $36.29 estimated.

"All Automotive business units contributed to the company’s pre-tax profit and all improved from a year ago, except South America,"said management. "North America achieved record quarterly performance for pre-tax profit, and Asia Pacific achieved a second quarter record. Europe earned its first quarterly profit since the market dramatically declined three years ago."

Ford shares are up 0.1% in premarket trading.

Here's a look at management's outlook for the industry:

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It's been a bad week for air travel — on Wednesday a plane crashed in Taiwan, and now another plane is thought to have gone down over Mali.

While the official cause of these crashes has not yet been established, both planes went down in areas where there was bad weather.

A TransAsia Airways flight carrying 58 people crashed while trying to land on a small island in typhoon conditions, and a plane chartered by Air Algerie is suspected to have gone down amid storms in Africa.

Both planes lost contact with control towers before crashing.

In the case of the Taiwan flight, The Weather Channel notes that the plane crashed just hours after Typhoon Matmo passed through Taiwan. Hundreds of other flights in the area had been canceled that day because of the bad weather, and the country's weather agency warned of heavy rains, but the decision of whether or not to fly was ultimately left up to pilots.

"That plane flew right into a feeder band associated with Matmo as it pulled away from Taiwan," AccuWeather meteorologist Anthony Sagliani told Business Insider. "Certainly, if it were me, I would not have flown into that area or advised anyone to do so until Matmo was further away than it was."

This is what the weather looked like at the time of the Taiwan crash:

Unbelievably, this was the radar near the time of the crash of this plane in Taiwan. pic.twitter.com/Lr2xFM5OBF

— Anthony Sagliani (@anthonywx) July 23, 2014

The plane crashed into houses in a village in Taiwan as it went down. The damage was severe:

A spokesman for Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said there should have been enough visibility for pilots to safely land the plane despite the bad weather. An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

It's still too early to tell what exactly took down the Air Algerie flight, which had 116 people on board, but officials have said there were sand storms in the area that might have affected the plane.

The plane, which was en route from Burkina Faso to Algiera, was asked to change course at some point during the flight because of inclement weather. An area that lies in the plane's flight path was hit by a powerful sandstorm overnight, according to Reuters.

This map shows what the weather was like over the area around the time of the crash:

Sagliani says this weather is typical for this time of year.

"These are typical conditions for this time of the year, and there should have been no trouble flying around any thunderstorms that were around the area," he said. "Though I certainly don't know for sure, it seems unlikely weather had a hand in the disappearance of this plane."

This is where the plane is thought to have crashed:

Map showing the planned route of missing Air Algerie Flight AH 5017 pic.twitter.com/36CS9QgLdr

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) July 24, 2014

Although it might seem like airplane disasters have been increasing in frequency lately — with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 being shot down over Ukraine, and these other two accidents this week — air travel is still extremely safe, according to airline pilot Patrick Smith, who wrote the book "Cockpit Confidential."

"[These disasters are] very unusual," Smith told Business Insider. "The [air travel] accident rate has been consistently falling, and that is fatalities per miles flown. There are just more and more airplanes flying, so in some respects it stands to reason we'll see more accidents. ... There are going to be spikes in some years, but the overall trend has been safer and safer and I feel that will probably continue."

SEE ALSO: This Photo Tells Us A Lot About How MH17 Was Shot Down

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Given that General Motors has recalled 30 million vehicles so far this year — twice as many cars and trucks as were sold in the entire U.S. in 2013 — the company's second-quarter earnings were reasonably stable, with just a slight miss on earnings. Ongoing recall issues have already cost GM over $2 billion, with maybe another billion still to come, so a big question in the auto industry is when this is going affect the carmaker's business.

Maybe never, as GM is still making money, expanding globally, and holding the line on its U.S market share at around 17%. Even Europe, a nightmare for company since its bankruptcy, is starting to turn the corner. If there's one piece of the GM genetic code that survived the 2008-2009 Detroit meltdown, it's the ability of biggest of the Big Three to endure some absolutely hellacious hits.

Unfortunately, another strand of Old GM DNA that's only now being modified is the company's ambivalent attitude toward safety. On GM's Q2 earning call today, CEO Mary Barra used the lion's share of her time to stress that the company has really and truly gotten religion when it comes to not killing people. This is admirable, and Barra has handled her trial by fire as Detroit's first female CEO about as well as could be expected, given the unprecedented nature of the recalls.

But let's get real: When people buy cars, safety is pretty high on their list of concerns. Gone are the days when safety-obsessed consumers felt they had to purchase tank-like Volvos and Mercedes to avoid death or dismemberment. Even though more than 30,000 people are killed every year on American roads, you walk onto a dealer lot in 2014 thinking that even small cars have enough safety features to save your life in a crash. And according to a 2012 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, our expectations are backed up by the numbers.

GM has a pretty good safety record these days, but it's bizarre to hear the CEO say, as Barra did, that GM won't be satisfied by solving its current problems — as if the only thing that can spur a corporate obsession with safety is a recall of epic proportions and few contrite visits by the CEO to Capitol Hill. Nor does it instill confidence in the GM brand to think that a 105-year-old company has finally gotten around to appointing a VP-level executive, Jeff Boyer, as Safety Czar.

"We are dramatically enhancing our approach to safety," Barra told Wall Street analysts today. To which one wants to reply: It's about time.

SEE ALSO: It's Unfortunate That GM Has To Include A Slide Titled 'Second Quarter 2014 Vehicle Recall Activity'

SEE ALSO: Meet New GM CEO Mary Barra, The 'Lifer' Who Is Quietly Transforming The Company

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Both GM and Ford reported second quarter earnings today, and while the General slightly missed expectations and the Blue Oval notched a beat, an interesting subplot was that both companies are starting to see their European business pick up.

Ford managed a quarterly profit in Europe for the first time in three years. This was an important milestone for the company and newly minted CEO Mark Fields, who took over from the extremely difficult act to follow known as Alan Mulally (he basically saved the Ford prior to the financial crisis). Ford has always taken Europe seriously and is trying to bolster its global competitive position relative to GM and foreign rivals like Toyota, Volkswagen, and Fiat.

GM's misadventures across the pond are more complicated. Last year, it pulled the plug on Chevrolet in Europe, with the hope that its could shift market share to Opel, a brand that the automaker nearly jettisoned in the aftermath of its bailout and bankruptcy in 2009 (Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab were sent packing, however). Even before this year's massive recall — 30 million vehicles and counting — GM's European operations were dragging on the company's full recovery.

So, on GM's earnings call today, it was encouraging to hear CFO Chuck Stevens change his European outlook from "break even" to "profitable." O.K., it may take 10 years to get there. But there's light at the end of the tunnel, although it's a pretty long tunnel.

CEO Mary Barra also highlighted GM's flickering Euro-recovery. Market share for Opel and its British sibling, Vauxhall, rose in eleven European markets. And the Opel Mokka is, Barra said, the bestselling SUV in Germany (thanks to the industry practice known as "platform sharing," it's known to Americans as the Buick Encore).

Even though business looks better for GM in Europe, the company is far from free of troubles: South America, as Barra said on the call, is "very challenging." Venezuela in particular is generating some major headaches.

Ford is also having issues there, so we'll have to see if the carmakers' South America problems go the way of their problems in Europe or get worse in the second half of 2014.

SEE ALSO: It's Shocking That GM Is Only Now Making Safety Its Top Priority

SEE ALSO: Ford Earnings And Revenue Beat, Europe Sees First Profit In Three Years

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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's forensic agency said on Friday it was impossible to determine the cause of death of a businessman linked to a ferry that capsized and killed more than 300 people in April.

An autopsy and DNA tests were conducted on the badly decomposed body of Yoo Byung-un and there was no evidence to believe he was poisoned, forensic agency head Seo Joong-seok told a news conference.

Yoo was found dead in an orchard on June 12. Police identified his body earlier this week.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait)

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We've all seen SpaceX's incredible footage of a rocket taking off and landing. (In case you haven't, check out the above.)

CEO Elon Musk believes we should really be thinking about having all airplanes move like this — and have them be electric powered. This would make them more efficient in terms of fuel use.

In an appearance on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert, Musk explained his vision (we've edited out Colbert's interjections): 

Aircraft should be vertical takeoff and landing. Kind of like a Harrier, except that it's better to move the fan than it is to duct the air. I think the Harrier's a great plane, but I think there's a real opportunity to have a vertical take-off and landing supersonic jet. You'd use an electric motor to drive a fan. Traditional jet aircraft are mostly fan driven — like when you see a high-bypass jet engine on a triple-7, it looks huge. That’s because most of the propulsion is really coming from the fan. So there’s some value to having ducts, but it’s actually more efficient to have an open fan if you just care about efficiency per mile. But you can go faster if you have a ducted situation.

The segment ended a bit cryptically, with Colbert asking, What's next? Musk replied, Well, what do you wish there was? Colbert then responded with this:

I wish there weren't any cables. I wish that computers didn't have to be typed into, that the mouse and the keyboard are terrible, it's a terrible interface, that I could just have a relationship with the machine, that I could have a discussion of my needs and it would do it. I think cables on anything are terrible, not just communication, but charging cables, that I could walk into my house and things would charge, or I would have a subscription service to a charging system and anywhere I went in the United States there'd be a charge that would follow me around. 

Musk responded: "OK, OK ... Yeah no, we'll do it."

And Colbert ended with, "Elon Musk everybody, SpaceX, Tesla, and wireless charging."

Musk himself interjected with some laughs throughout Colbert's part, so in no way can we say that this was an extremely oblique product introduction through Stephen Colbert. 

But we also can't rule out that it's not happening.

Here are the clips:

NOW WATCH: The Full Story Of Elon Musk Is More Awesome Than You Realize

SEE ALSO: Here's What We Know About The Secretive, Elon Musk-Backed Firm Creating Functional Artificial Intelligence

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Elon Musk made another appearance on "The Colbert Report" last night and when asked by the host why Tesla had recently given away all its patents, Musk replied with an alarming analogy.

"Why are you being the Edward Snowden of you?" Colbert inquired.

"If we're all in a ship together," Musk said, "and the ship has some holes in it, and we're sort of bailing water out of it, and we have a great design for a bucket, then even if we're bailing out way better than everyone else, we should probably still share the bucket design."

So what "ship" is Musk talking about here? Planet Earth? Or the electric car business?

Maybe both. Obviously, Musk is worried about the fate of our Big Blue Marble. He's publicly stated that his quest to colonize Mars is all about "backing up the biosphere." But despite Tesla's impressive performance since its IPO in 2010, the rest of electric-car market isn't in such great shape.

Better Place went bankrupt. CODA went bankrupt. Fisker went bankrupt. Aptera liquidated. Bright Automotive shut down. Wheego is still around, and outside the startup scene, there's the Nissan Leaf, the Honda Fit EV, and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, as well as a spate of full-electric cars and plug-ins from other major manufacturers, but nothing that's selling at major volume or captivating the imagination like Tesla (a.k.a. "The Bucket").

It's enough to keep a visionary multibillionaire up at night. Or compel him to take the unprecedented step, for the auto industry, of open-sourcing all the tech that underlies his $28-billion market cap company.

On a lighter note, we also learned that software upgrades to the Model S sedan will enable owners to do what grandmothers have been doing for decades: Name their cars. Musk of course has the upgrade already and has christened his personal Model S "Old Faithful." Colbert didn't say what he was going to name his Tesla, but we're thinking "Stephen" is a good bet.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk Has A Radically Different Idea Of How Commercial Planes Should Take Off And Land

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk May Give Away Its Tesla Supercharger Patents To Spur Electric Car Development

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Shares in Swift Transportation, the largest truckload carrier in North America, were down 14% Friday after management warned it was going to have to invest more to address a driver shortage.

The New Jersey-based firm now says it's going to have to spend more on wages and training to hold onto and attract ore drivers.

...We were constrained in the truckload and (central refrigerated systems)  segments by the challenging driver market. Our driver turnover and unseated truck count were higher than anticipated. Therefore, we sold more trucks in the second quarter to offset the impact of idle equipment, which drove additional gains on sale of equipment this period. After assessing the current and expected environment, we believe the best investment we can make at this time, for all of our stakeholders, is in our drivers. Our goal is to clear the path for our drivers by helping them overcome challenges, eliminate wait times and take home more money.

It now sees "cost headwinds" going into the second half of the year.

The American Trucking Association has warned the country is short 30,000 drivers, and that the gap could climb to 200,000 in the next decade.

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Miami has sun, sand, and sex, but it lacks one critical feature of the modern luxury economy: a place for ultra-wealthy seafarers to dock their shimmering mega-yachts.

This is undoubtedly something that keeps the proud residents of South Florida awake at night — awake in the soft, humid night, after the final mojito has been downed and the last salsa danced in South Beach. So the city is doing something about it. The question is: Will the mega-yacht harbor be done in time for the 2015 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show?

The show kicks off in mid-February, so the clock is ticking for the developer of the project, the Flagstone Property Group. But according to Miami Today, the firm has assured the City Commission that work has begun, the deadline will be met, and the mega-yachts with not be denied.In fact, the Harbor at Island Gardens — the port is part of a planned $1 billion residential, dining, retail, and entertainment mecca — will address a global dearth of mega-yacht slips not just in Miami, but on the planet.

The current torrid rate of mega-yacht construction outstrips the supply of watery high-end parking spots. And while it's amusing to ply the waves, literally unmoored and addressless for weeks or months, there comes a time when you want to pull into port. Which will cost you. More than $4,000 a day.

As Charterworld reported back in February, the new marina will "accommodate 35 to 75 mega-yachts, superyachts and giga-yachts within a range of 80 to 480 feet." (If mega-yachts don't do it for you, giga-yachts the size of Navy frigates are where you turn). This is critical: when it comes to mega-yachts, you have to cater to the 300-foot-and-above-club.

We reached out to the Yacht & Brokerage Show organizers for a preview of mega-, super-, and giga-yachts to expect next year in Miami and will update when we know more.

SEE ALSO: Charter This Megayacht With An Inflatable Water Slide For $425,000 A Week

SEE ALSO: A Mysterious Middle Eastern Mogul Bought This Insane Megayacht With An Infinity Pool

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First there was "Carmageddon." Then, in true Hollywood fashion, came the sequel — "Jamzilla." But this weekend, Los Angeles could endure its biggest traffic nightmare yet: "Century Crunch."

Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick were right on: LA is indeed a great big freeway. One of  "Saturday Night Live's" funniest sketches pokes endless fun at how Angelenos jabber about driving.

Carmageddon and Jamzilla both happened because a major route — the 405 freeway connecting LA's Westside to the San Fernando Valley, a section called the Sepulveda Pass — is being repaired and upgraded.

Century Crush is a bit different. A bridge is being demolished so that the Metro, LA's version of New York's subway, can get a new station near Los Angeles International Airport. A good thing on balance, but the work is expected to create a traffic mega-snarl for the more than 90,000 drivers who use Century Blvd. to access LAX each day, according to the LA Times.

Although maybe it won't be that bad. Authorities have figured out that if they give these traffic events scary names, its can have the psychological effect of keeping people off the road. The traffic apocalypse that Carmageddon forewarned never came to pass. Jamzilla was no big deal. But maybe Century Crunch will change all that. We'll see.

For now, LA's real traffic nightmares tend to be caused by President Obama's fundraising visits (he just wrapped one up yesterday). Why? Because instead of freeway sections bearing the brunt, every surface street between Beverly Hills and Downtown can be affected.

It can get incredibly gnarly. NBC's local news outlet reported that Obama's motorcade stranded a pregnant woman, possibly in labor, on one side of a closed-off street.

The scary names are all well and good for Carmageddon's sequels. But if LA's traffic overlords want the citizenry to avoid driving, they need to invite the Commander in Chief back more often. 

SEE ALSO: The 10 Most Traffic-Clogged Cities In The US

SEE ALSO: Post-Hurricane Traffic Reminds New Yorkers How Horrible It Is To Live In Los Angeles

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Flying with kids is a daunting undertaking that's generally feared by both parents and passengers.

Some people want to ban kids from flights altogether, while others have come up with more creative solutions to this problem. 

Richard Branson, who is the founder of Virgin Group, recently told Conde Nast Traveler that he is considering adding a "kid's class" onboard Virgin planes.

"I would love to introduce kid’s class," Branson said. "It would be a separate cabin for kids with nannies to look after them."

In theory this kid's class could be fun for the kids, who could be as rowdy as they want, and for the adults, who could enjoy the flight in peace. There's only one big problem: safety.

"We’ve had an issue with the Civil Aviation Authority," Branson said. "They worry in an emergency kids would be running in one direction and their parents would be running in the other. So we haven’t got it through yet."

SEE ALSO: The 20 Best Airlines In The World

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Mercedes-AMG has finally revealed the engine that will power its much awaited GT Supercar: a brawny, 4.0 Litre 510 horsepower V8.  The engine, known officially as the M178, features a pair of top-mounted turbochargers than enable it to churn out a more-than-respectable 480 lb./ft. of torque. 

As with most engine manufacturers, Mercedes-AMG puts every new powerplant through a grueling set of tests before it ever bolts one under the hood of a production car. The above photo shows the M178's turbos and exhaust system glowing bright red from extreme heat as engineers push its performance boundaries.

Don't try this at home.

SEE ALSO: Here Is A Glimpse Of Mercedes' Mysterious New Supercar

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As the dog days of summer drag on, it's the perfect time for anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure to curl up in an air-conditioned living room and dive into the greatest show currently on TV: "Top Gear." 

Hosted by the charismatic trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, "Top Gear's" unorthodox and irreverent approach to automotive journalism has made it popular with fans and critics worldwide. Since its inception in 1977 as an automotive news magazine and the show's 2002 reboot into the current format, "Top Gear" has become a British television institution. 

In fact, the BBC-produced, Emmy Award winning car show can be seen in over 200 countries around the world. It's easily accessible to a U.S. audience: seasons 2-20 are available on Netflix right now!

Here's why "Top Gear" is can't-miss TV, even if you aren't a car nut or addicted to that veddy British sense of humor:

1. "Top Gear's" storytelling method gives it universal appeal.

New viewers to "Top Gear" shouldn't mistake it for a run-of-the-mill car show. Because it isn't one. 

At its core, the show aims to be informative, but does so with a unique blend of hyperbolic comedy, action, and drama that crosses the boundaries of age, gender, and culture. According to CBS's 60 Minutes, "Top Gear's" unique storytelling method and irreverent attitude helped the show generate 350 million viewers a week worldwide, as well as a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most-watched "factual" TV program.

When asked by 60 Minutes to explain the show's appeal, "Top Gear" executive producer Andy Wilman joked, "It's a journey into the male mind, which I believe, is a really, potentially, very funny place — 'cause, let's face it, nothing happens there." 

He's right — but 40% of "Top Gear's" audience is actually female!

In fact, the show's near-universal appeal has helped turn it into a $1.5 billion brand, with spinoff series in Russia, Australia, South Korea, and the United States.

2. The show's 3 hosts have the greatest on-camera chemistry in TV.

Even though "Top Gear" has spawned an American version on the History Channel, what makes the original the most fun is the inimitable chemistry between the show's trio of hosts. In fact, the program is propelled as much by their sometimes caustic camaraderie as it is by cars. One of the highlights of the show is the constant personality clash between the pedantic James May (nicknamed "Captain Slow" because he favors a non-thrashy driving style) and the bombastic Jeremy Clarkson (who doesn't really have a nickname).

3. Richard Hammond was nearly killed in a jet car crash during filming and didn't miss an episode.

In 2006, Richard Hammond was nearly killed when the right-front tire of the Vampire jet car he was driving burst at nearly 300 mph, leading to a catastrophic crash. The accident, which caused the host to suffer memory loss and brain damage, had safety activists calling for the show's cancelation. Fortunately, Hammond, known on the show as "The Hamster" due to his diminutive stature, returned to show just three months later without missing a single episode.

4. Due to the "unique" way the BBC is funded, "Top Gear" is able to be brutally honest.

Unlike most American network shows, the BBC and "Top Gear" are funded by British taxpayers, which means the hosts can pretty much say or do whatever they want without fear of retribution from sponsors. In fact, when Jay Leno turned down NBC's American spinoff of Top Gear, the comedian cited the potential influence of sponsors on the opinions expressed in the show as a main reason for his decision. 

5. The "Clarkson Effect" is real, and car companies hate it.

Jeremy Clarkson has long been a popular automotive journalist in the UK, but "Top Gear" has catapulted his influence into the stratosphere. In what has become known as the "Clarkson Effect," a positive or negative review from the host can make or break a product. When MG Rover entered bankruptcy in 2005, many at the automaker's Longbridge factory blamed Clarkson's negative reviews for torpedoing the company's sales.

In 2011, Tesla sued "Top Gear" unsuccessfully for libel after Clarkson's exceedingly negative review of the company's Roadster caused panic among investors and led a few customers to cancelled their preorders. When asked by the BBC News about Clarkson, Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied, "He can be very funny and irreverent, but he does have a bias against electric cars. His two pet peeves are American cars and electric cars, and we're an American electric car." 

6. "Top Gear" has an awesome mascot called "The Stig."

One of "Top Gear's" most popular characters is the show's unofficial mascot and mysterious resident professional test driver. Producers created the mute, helmet-clad character because they needed an adequately skillful driver to navigate the show's test track, located at a former air force base. The BBC has gone to great lengths to keep the true identity of the Stig a secret, even resorting to legal action to prevent the release of the information. 

7. The hosts drove to the North Pole, through the Bolivian Jungle, and the plains of Central Africa.

"Top Gear" takes its style of automotive journalism to the extreme via over-the-top globetrotting adventures. Instead of simply telling viewers whether a car is good or bad, the show will also subject vehicles to extreme real-world conditions. In 2007, Clarkson and May became the first people to drive to the North Pole, when the pair piloted a modified Toyota Hilux truck through the Arctic. 

8. It features some of the most beautiful cinematography ever seen on the small screen.

"Top Gear's" groundbreaking use of camera filters and cinematic wizardry has completely changed the way car shows are presented.

9. Then there are hilarious celebrity appearances. 

Nearly every episode features a segment called "A Star In a Reasonably Priced Car," in which a celebrity is asked to tackle the "Top Gear" test track in an underpowered economy car. The result is a series of very entertaining sequences showing off each celebrity's driving prowess — or in many cases, lack thereof. 

 10. Top Gear even has a live stadium show.

"Top Gear's" hosts have enhanced their rock-star status by going on a live stadium tour, complete with pyrotechnics, car stunts, and comedic gags. So far, "Top Gear" live has made its way through 24 counties. Sadly, it does not seem the live action show will come be coming to America any time soon. 

SEE ALSO: Watch A Dreamliner Maneuver Like A Stunt Plane

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As Russia continues to deny culpability for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, European officials say that black box data shows the doomed airplane was hit by a missile explosion, according to CBS News.

Data from the black box points to a "massive explosive decompression," with the plane's fuselage getting hit by shrapnel from the explosion.

This is consistent with a photo of a piece of the plane's wreckage that shows obvious signs of shrapnel damage, according to The Aviationist. The missile likely detonated on the right side of the plane, sending shrapnel clear through the aircraft, eventually shooting out of the left side.

U.S. officials say pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are to blame for shooting down the passenger plane carrying 298 people. The plane was likely mistaken for a Ukrainian aircraft.

Russia has been accused of supplying the rebels with weapons, including the missile that took down the plane. On the day of the disaster last week, Associated Press journalists reported seeing a Buk missile system capable of shooting down a passenger plane in the area of eastern Ukraine where MH17 went down. The system was being transported by a man wearing "unfamiliar fatigues" and speaking with a Russian accent.

The rebels, some of whom have come to Ukraine from Russia, have also been accused of tampering with evidence at the crash site by sawing into pieces of the plane's wreckage.

SEE ALSO: Pro-Russian Rebels In Ukraine Have Sawed Into The MH17 Wreckage

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Head down to a county fair in Texas, and you may find helmeted men racing through dirt tracks at bristling speeds on, of all vehicles, lawn mowers.

The pastime is a strange motorsport that photographer Jennifer Boomer started documenting after moving to the Lone Star State. Indeed, lawn mower racing began as a joke, according to a July 2013 profile of the sport in the Wall Street Journal. It was meant to poke fun of the "slickness" of professional motorsports but eventually became a "mini-NASCAR" with its own trading cards and advertisers.

Found in many parts of the Midwest and South, lawn mower racing has a particularly strong following among old-timers in Texas.

"There was a bit of the 'good ol' boys' in [the racers]," Boomer told Business Insider. "They're very community-minded, but they're having a good time."

Lawn mower racing can be an expensive sport, with racers spending $10,000 on a mower alone, though local companies often sponsor the races or racers. Blades are removed from the mowers for safety.

“We call it the poor man’s NASCAR,” Richard Lively, who has won the state championship in Texas multiple times, told the Longview News-Journal in 2011.

Boomer shared some of the photos with us here, but you can check out the rest of her work at her website.

SEE ALSO: Brutal photos of North Carolina's amateur wrestling circuit

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In an interview with Marketplace radio, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell talked with host Ben Johnson and predicted a boffo future for the startup rocketmaker.

In as little as ten years, SpaceX could be sending people to Mars, she said, fulfilling CEO Elon Musk's ambition to make the human race "multiplanetary."

But why stop there? She went on to predict that by 2100 or 2200, SpaceX would be the "most widely used space transport company in the... let's call it the Solar System."

The she added that it would be "great if it were in the galaxy."

NASA is toast.

SpaceX recently released a video of its Falcon 9 rocket making a soft ocean splashdown, calling the reusability test a success.

Hear audio of Shotwell's interview with Marketplace below.

SEE ALSO: SpaceX's Dispute With The Air Force Just Got Even Uglier

SEE ALSO: Former SpaceX Employee Explains What It's Like To Work For Elon Musk

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Try telling a Formula One driver that driving a car is for the fat and lazy.

Despite the fact that they effectively earn a living by sitting in a car, the strength and endurance required of a F1 racer is pretty incredible.

For starters, Formula One is physically strenuous because there are numerous "G-forces," or forces of acceleration, acting on the driver.

According to F1 Complete, there are lateral G-forces which can make the driver feel as though there is an extra 25 kg (or 55.12 lbs) on his neck. That's like having an average-sized Dalmatian attached to your neck while you're trying to drive a car. And if that weight wasn't enough, a racer's helmet feels like it weighs 7 kg, or 15 pounds.

Furthermore, there are also longitudinal G-forces acting on the driver, plus additional forces from car acceleration and deceleration mid-drive.

But that's not all. At the start of a race, the driver's heart rate can get between 170 - 190 bpm, and during the race the number "hovers around 160 beats per minute, and has peaks of over 200." In contrast, the heart rate of a "healthy, young man is typically in the region of 60 bpm." Keep in mind, that races are about two hours long, which is a long time for the heart to be beating three times the average rate.

And finally, the "extreme heat" found in the F1 cockpit, "especially at the hotter rounds of the championships, also puts a vast straight on the body." In fact, according to the Formula 1 official page, "drivers can sweat off anything up to 3kg of their body weight during the course of a race." That's 6.6 pounds of water lost in two hours.

Now that we've outlined the conditions of F1 drivers, let's get to how they adapt to them.

The Neck

Without a doubt, the most important body part a Formula One driver must train is the neck. According to BBC Sport,"McLaren drivers can train using a helmet attached to pulleys which pull the neck from different angles" and Renault drivers "use manual resistance techniques specifically designed for each circuit." 

The Heart

In terms of endurance, F1 is closer to marathon runners than soccer. During a sport like soccer, players can take short breaks from running or grab a water during halftime. But F1 drivers don't have any time to take a break — just like professional runners. To prepare for the extreme conditions of racing, racers participate in "intensive training" that focuses on "running, cross-training, and cycling" in order to maintain "specific heart rates" for longer time periods.

The Arms

For a racer, strong arms are a necessity. The arm "muscles must be incredibly strong but not so big that the driver is carrying extra weight or size". 

According to Bleacher Report, Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will "train his arm muscles to be strong by sitting balanced on a gym ball and holding out a three kilograms weight in front of him like it is a steering wheel. He will then be directed by his personal trainer to turn the wheel left, right or return to centre." An exercise like this "improves muscle strength over long periods of time and reaction times while under the pressure of keeping the weight held out in front of" the driver.

The Legs

Just like with arms, legs need to be strong without being bulky. According to Bleacher Report, a driver "needs to generate 80 kilograms of downward pressure on the brake pedal" in order to slow down the car. That's slightly more than 176 pounds — the same as 21 gallons of water.

The Mind

Lastly, perhaps the most critical part of F1 racing is the mental aspect. Racers need to be able to stay completely focused for the entire race. Not only do they have to think about"racing lines, braking points, apexes and acceleration points on the track," but they're also thinking about strategy and speed, and communicate with their teams. Some drivers "learn breathing techniques to stay calm at crucial moments."

Interestingly, Saul Miller, sports psychologist, once stated that Formula One is "like playing chess at 150 miles an hour."

Sources: Formula 1, F1 Complete, BBC Sport, Bleacher Report, Times of India, New York Times

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For years, a horsepower war has been raging among the makers of sports sedans.

Premium brands like Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Mercedes-Benz are the usual combatants. But while the current champ may be Mercedes' 621 horsepower S65 AMG, if Road and Track's reports are correct, that car's reign will soon come to an end courtesy of an unlikely brand: Dodge. 

Dodge will stuff its monumentally powerful 6.2 liter 707 hp supercharged Hemi Hellcat V8 into the company's upcoming 2015 Charger sedan, which debuted at this year's North American Auto show in Detroit.

According to R&T, this will make the Hellcat-powered Charger the most powerful sedan ever built. And although the Chrysler Group has not officially announced the vehicle configuration, the company did include a "2015 Dodge Charger 6.2L SC SRT" when it participated in a third-party engine rating test earlier this year with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). While the SAE filing does not explicitly say "Hellcat," the description of the specifications match the monster Hemi. 

Hellcat fans can now ask which other Chrysler vehicles may get the motor. Disappointingly, one vehicle that will not receive it is Dodge's own Viper supercar. The Viper's sleek, sloping hood doesn't allow for enough room in the engine compartment.

Obviously, there's no word yet on official prices for the Hellcat-powered Charger. However, a similarly equipped 2015 Dodge Challenger will be priced around $60,000 (the 2014 non-Hellcat version of the Charger SRT is listed at $48,000).

In addition to the big S65 AMG, the Hellcat powered-Charger will leave Bentley's 616 hp Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce's 593 hp Ghost V-Specification in its wake. At just a quarter of the cost, the Hellcat Charger is unlikely to match the luxury, refinement and prestige of that high-priced trio. However, if you're in the market for a four-door with a motor that can claim victory in the horsepower wars, get your deposit ready — and practice buckling up.

SEE ALSO: This Awesome Picture Shows Mercedes Putting Its Newest Engine Through Hell

SEE ALSO: Dodge Just Revealed The Most Powerful Muscle Car Ever Produced

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It isn't easy being the most important car in the lineup of a luxury auto brand striving to keep up with the BMWs and Lexuses of the world. But the Infiniti Q50, an ambitious sequel to the highly successful G-Series sedan (now renamed the Q40), is just that. Nissan's luxury brand has to anoint a successor to its popular and well-regarded Q40 model. But Infiniti also wants the Q50 to be the centerpiece of a reboot for the nameplate. 

The now-aging G-series has performed admirably for a brand that has struggled to gain a solid footing in the hyper-competitive luxury-car market. In 2012, the G-Series accounted for a whopping 68% of Infiniti's car (versus SUV and crossover) sales. Even in 2013, when the first Q50s hit the market, the G-Series accounted for 48% of Infiniti's car sales. 

The challenge is stark: For the Q50 to be successful, it has to sway buyers from industry heavy hitters, such as the BMW 3-Series, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and the Lexus IS. 

Fortunately, Infiniti has stuffed the Q50 with every ingredient it needs to succeed. State-of-the-art powertrain? Check. Bucketloads of the latest car tech? Check. Supermodel looks? Check. 

To get an idea of how these elements come together, Business Insider spent a week driving a fully loaded Q50 S Hybrid All-Wheel-Drive (AWD), in fetching Venetian Ruby, around the streets of Manhattan and Northern New Jersey. 

Here is our takeaway.

Behind The Wheel 

The first time you get behind the wheel of a Q50 your senses are inundated with bright LCDs, the smell of fine leather, and the growl of its engine. From its striking good looks to its gobs of high-tech goodies, the Q50 communicates in hyperbole. The Q50 Hybrid's engine is no different. Propulsion comes from the marriage of the 3.5-liter VQ series V6 engine and a hybrid electric drive system. Together, they produce a hefty 360 horsepower and all the torque you're ever going to need.

And make no mistake, the hybrid system wasn't developed exclusively so that the Q50 could be environmentally friendly; it also helps the car go faster. Speed comes with price. Although Infiniti claims the Q50 Hybrid delivers 27 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway, Business Insider recorded a combined fuel economy of just under 25 mpg.

Our test car was crammed with more technology than the latest $250,000 Bentley that I drove, not that tech probably makes all that much difference to most Bentley buyers. The lineup is dizzying: cameras on all four corners of the car, a system that keeps the car in the middle of the lane, another one that accelerates and brakes based on the car in front, and a gizmo that predicts whether the vehicle two cars in front of you will slam on the brakes. 

Our Q50 came equipped with Infiniti's revolutionary direct adaptive steering (DAS) system. When the car is moving under engine power, there is no physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Instead, when you steer, your actions are piped through an onboard computer to the wheels. It's like the control systems on most modern jets. Many automotive journalists, for whom a direct mechanical link between steering wheel and tire grip is a sacred covenant, have complained about the numb and detached feel of the "steer by wire" system.

But it didn't bother me. While it's not perfect, the DAS provided adequate feel and effectively communicated the lay of the land. Sure, I couldn't sense every crack, pebble, or asphalt nuance. But I didn't really want to.

With power routed through a 7-speed automatic transmission and Nissan Group's legendary ATTESA all-wheel-drive system, the Q50 Hybrid rockets to 60 mph in a scant 5 seconds. The AWD Q50 grips hard; you're not going to spin the wheels when you floor the throttle.

There are instances, unfortunately, where Infiniti has to adjust how the gasoline powertrain interacts with the hybrid drive system. Under hard acceleration, there is a pronounced delay between the time the Q50's electric motor requests help from the gasoline engine and the time the gas engine can turn on and provide power. This becomes dangerously evident on highway on-ramps, where acceleration on demand is essential. 

Like many of its competitors, the Q50 comes with a pair of paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel. Sadly, they don't simulate manual control in the way they're supposed to. While most shiftable automatic transmissions allow the driver a range of gears to choose from, the Q's electronic brain seems to want the driver to shift only into the precise gear that the car demands, defeating the purpose of having a manual-shift option in the first place.

As part of the sports package, Infiniti has given the Q50 S a stiff performance-tuned suspension that makes the sedan incredibly composed at high speed and in corners. However, by stiffening the Q50's shocks and springs, its ability to soak up bumps and potholes has been greatly compromised. I could blame New Jersey's poorly paved roads, but the ride is too rough to make the Q50 a good daily driver.

The Walkaround

The exterior of the Q50 features some of the most striking sheet metal in the marketplace (optional 19-inch wheels up the ante). More than a few passersby commented on our car's eye-pleasing aesthetics. The Q50 is the most successful implementation of the aggressive front grill and headlight design found across the Infiniti lineup. Infiniti balances out the more aggressive elements by using sculptural lines to pull your eyes toward to the softer curves that dominate the rest of the car.

Step Inside

While not as striking as the car's exterior, the Q50's interior is a strong selling point. It's stylish, sensible, and remarkably pleasant. As you climb into the driver's seat, the Q50 gives you an immediate sense of modernity blended with sportiness. The centerpiece of the interior is the Q50's pair of touchscreen LCDs, a rarity even in ultrahigh-priced sedans.

The dual-screen layout allows for an incredible level of flexibility, offering occupants the ability to tweak the car's settings, access infotainment, and adjust climate controls without taxing the navigation interface. The Intel-powered lower screen can be laggy, but its tablet-style setup is clear and easy to use. On the downside, the Q50's voice activation is incapable of understanding standard American English, and the navigation system looks like a dated rehash of the same system that Nissan has been using for the better half of a decade. 

Overall, the cabin is swathed in soft-touch leather panels and accented with real maple wood trim. Hefty control stalks are cut from the finest plastic. Seating is ample up front, but rear legroom is limited, especially for taller occupants. Trunk space for the Hybrid model is also limited, because that's where the lithium-ion battery lives. 

Should You Buy It?

I put the car through its paces on the streets of Weehawken, New Jersey, tracing the course that screaming Formula One cars would take should the proposed Grand Prix of America ever come to fruition. Like the F1 race that's perpetually stuck in limbo, the Q50 has all of the elements required to be great. Sadly, the Q50 hasn't quite revealed its full potential because of some small but irritating faults. Fortunately, annoyances like the throttle timing, paddle shifters, and navigation system can be easily fixed.

How does it compare to its rivals? The Q50S Hybrid doesn't offer the raw driving experience of the BMW 3-series, the brand cache of the Mercedes C-Class, or the refinement of the Lexus. However, it does a great job of aspiring to those qualities. What the Q50 does deliver is a powerful high-tech sports sedan that rocks a level of gizmofication usually seen only in ultrapremium sedans.

At a fully loaded price of $55,000, the Infiniti Q50 S Hybrid is one heck of a good deal. Comparably equipped competing models cost thousands more. While its imperfections keep it from reaching greatness, the Q50 is still a terrific car, offering great bang for the buck. A worthy successor to the G-Series has arrived.

SEE ALSO: Dodge Could Be Building The Most Powerful Sedan Ever

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Forget awkwardly squeezing bicycles on the subway or strapping them to the top of your car.

An Indian design firm has come up with a solution for transporting your bike in the easiest and most compact way possible.

Kit Bike is made from an assortment of hollow aluminium tubes that can be wrenched together for an approximately 10 minutes, creating fully functional bike. 

"Conventional bikes are awkward in every way except when you ride them," Amit Mirchandani, managing and creative director for Lucid Design told Dezeen. "The Kit Bike is so small when disassembled it fits in a bag you could carry as a backpack. When you assemble the bike, you get a full-size bike that is comfortable to ride."

So far the "bike in the bag" is only a concept, but earlier this month it won the Red Dot 2014 Design Award, which chooses the best product designs throughout multiple industries.

The package would even come with a custom bag that has designated sections for all 21 parts.

Lucid Design currently has no plans to produce Kit Bike, but would consider it for the future.

Here are GIFs of assembly:

Closer up:

SEE ALSO: The Right Way To Iron A Dress Shirt

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