UPDATE: Here’s an offer to get a year of Popular Mechanics for nothing more than just a few pieces of personal information.
Once again (but only until December 3), Amazon is offering a $5 magazine subscription deal on some great titles. Perfect timing for your holiday gift buying needs — magazines are one of those gifts that are always appreciated, and they last a whole year.
Ever wonder how those undersea cables survive the rigors of stretching from one continent to another? Here’s a cross section of the many layers that surround and protect the minute, delicate fiber optics that let us 0-1 our way through modern life.
I don’t know the origin of this photo, and could only find one other version of it online, at the site Friends of the Pleistocene — which is a fantastic website detailing some fascinating energy-related information. Tons of photos, for us industrial-imagery geeks.
These undersea cables have been around since the days of the telegraph, and even in the age of satellite communications, still provide a very important service. In 2008, three breaks occurred to these cables, in various parts of the globe, and possibly deliberately. They resulted in some service interruptions; thankfully, it was possible to re-route the data transmissions through other avenues until repairs were made.
In my search for pizza perfection, I recently got a Mario Batali cast iron pizza pan. Last night, for a trial run (but not following the regular directions), I placed it in my broiler, pre-heated it on high for 20 minutes, then prepped a pizza using Trader Joe’s pizza dough (left out for a couple hours to warm up). Normally their dough is too sweet for my liking, so I gave it a fair salt and peppering before adding sauce and toppings (still no cheese in my diet, and still loving it). Milled some Cento tomatoes (They’re the most consistently good canned tomatoes I’ve found — I even have a “subscription” for them from Amazon, get a case every two months), and added a few kalamata olives, basil, and a small section of tofurky sausage.
Cooked it for 4 minutes 45 seconds on “high” broil setting.
The results were phenomenal. Crispy outside, doughy interior. Nice amount of puff. The bottom toasted nicely.
Interesting to compare the results of this iron pan to a pizza stone. I’m not really using it the way it’s intended, but by putting in the broiler, it just works. I’ve tried the same thing with a pizza stone, but it heats too high and burns the dough. I may have to test that again, but for now, I think I’ve found my new “quickie-pizza-fix” solution.
When it comes to safety, sometimes you gotta spell it out loud and clear. “This machine will sever your hand at the wrist. This machine will crush your fingers like a garbage disposal.” You get the idea.
Paper Trebuchet — a fun project for you projectile fans. Kill some time at work by printing the template, cutting it out, and folding it up. Then lay siege to your coworker’s sharpie collection.
This isn’t a traditional trebuchet in that it doesn’t use gravity to actuate the throwing arm, but it nonetheless mimics and demonstrates the motion involved. And it launches little projectiles pretty far! Great for a kid’s project, or homework assignment for you science or history teachers. I used it in a class I taught last summer and the kids loved building it.
Full instructions for assembly and operation are available here: The Paper Trebuchet on Instructables. By Kiteman
From the site: “You will also need two cocktail sticks, gluestick, a paperclip, stickytape, pliers, sewing thread and small weights such as nuts or modelling clay.”
Infrared thermometers are great. Like laser rangefinders, they have a very useful function, but also are addictively fun in that childishly awesome way. Point it at something, pull the trigger and — “beep” — you immediately know how hot or cold it is.
I already have two of these and might pick up a third based on this undeniably low price. $16, no shipping charges. Goes up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, and has a handy laser pointer to help direct the beam. I don’t know what the spot ratio is for it, but at this price, even the lower end would be OK.
These are great for pizza ovens. Fire it up, get the walls and floor up to temperature, and cook away. Similarly, put your pizza stone in your broiler and you should be able to get some great results too. Unless you have a high-end wood fired oven that rages hot, you should be covered by this thing. Otherwise, look for one that goes over 1000 (this one goes to 3000ºF, but you can find some deals on stuff the high-900F range. I got one like that at Harbor Freight).
Of all the Leatherman tools I’ve used, the Skeletool is my favorite. Ergonomic and light, with enough tool options to be useful for almost any situation. I paid a lot more than this and have no regrets about it whatsoever. With the holidays coming up, I suggest you grab a few of these for all the handipeople you know. And if you know any adventurers, order a copy of 127 Hours to go with it.
Vimeo user and new iPhone 4s owner Benjamin Dowie (check him on Facebook here) posted a fantastic demonstration of the much-improved video capabilities of the iPhone 4s. As someone who is still blown away with the quality of the camera on the iPhone 4, I have to say this footage looks stunning. Smooth, crisp, fantastic depth-of-field. It’s going to be hard to determine what camera our shows and movies are shot on pretty soon. Still doesn’t appear to be as high quality as the compact Canon Powershot S95 (which adds in additional parameters like 24p frame rate), but that has a bigger lens and possibly larger sensor, and will cost you an additional $340.
You’ll have to click through to Vimeo to experience this in its full-HD glory (unless someone would like to buy Benjamin the gift of Vimeo Plus…).
From Benjamin:
Holy cow. Time to throw my 7D in the bin.
Got an iPhone 4S yesterday and got up this morning to go for a surf. No surf, so thought I’d shoot some stuff to see what the new camera is like on the 4S. Got home, looked at the footage, and couldn’t believe it came out of a phone. Was so excited so thought I’d quickly cut a vid to share the goodness.
It’s actually amazing. The automatic stabilisation seems to work wonders, and gets rid of most the jello. Depth of field is flipping awesome. Colours are really good straight out the camera, but I did give this footage a slight grade.
SALT LAKE CITY — Visualize a robot that can mirror your exact movements, but with remarkable strength and dexterity.
Utah’s premier robot builders have come up with yet another machine that could change the way humans work in dangerous environments.
Engineers at Raytheon-Sarcos in Salt Lake City demonstrated a unique set of tele-operated robotic arms attached to a modified Ditch Witch. With no training at all, one immediately meshes with the feelings and actions of the machine. It mirrored everything one does with their arms, wrists and shoulders.
As Vice President of Operations Fraser Smith describes, “every way you move, your three degrees of freedom in your wrist, the one in your elbow and the three in your shoulder –the slave arms can move the same way you do.”
The robot translates movements with what is called “force reflection.” In the hands of the machine is incredible strength and agility, depending on what is needed to fulfill the task at hand.
Vacuum forming is a technique used to shape plastic, that forces a thin sheet of heated plastic over (or into) a solid mold by means of a vacuum. It’s used to create a wide range of toys, models, car components, kitchen supplies, refrigerator interiors, boat hulls and more. It’s not something so common that you discuss it with your neighbors and relatives, but is actually pretty simple and achievable at home. Here are some tips on how to get started, cheap and easy.
Instructable: Make a good, cheap, upgradeable sheet plastic vacuum former
A thorough step-by-step on how to make a simple setup using your home oven, some window screen frames, a shop vacuum and a few spare supplies. Super basic but effective system.
0. (SETUP)
0.a. Support the board on something near the oven. The support(s) can be pretty much anything, or any convenient pair of things that is reasonably sturdy, allows us to route the hose to the vacuum cleaner without kinking it, and can be put very near the oven we’re using.
0.b Put some things in the oven which we can support the plastic-holding frames on. (Glasses made of actual glass, for instance.)
0.c. Preheat the oven. This usually gives us more even heat.
0.d Position some object that we want to shape plastic over on the board, over the hole, but with some spacers under it, so that air can flow from around the the object, under it, and to the hole in the board.
1. (HEAT)
1.a Clamp a sheet plastic between the pair of frames and support it on three or four things in the oven (such as glasses made of actual glass)
1.b Wait a few minutes for the plastic to get hot and rubbery and stretchable. For most plastics, we can tell how stretchable it is by how much it sags under its own weight. When it sags about the right amount, we know it’s ready.
2. (FORM)
2.a. (Turn on the vacuum cleaner, open the oven, and) QUICKLY but carefully remove the plastic from the oven with gloved hands…
2.b. …stretch the plastic down over the shape we’re copying, until the frame meets the board, creating a kind of “tent” of hot rubbery plastic over our form and stretching down to the board, and…
2.c. …let the vacuum cleaner suck air out from under the “tent,” by sucking air from under the form, and in turn from around it. This will suck the stretched, rubbery plastic inward into the desired shape, in about one second, and the plastic will cool enough to solidify in the new shape in about 10 to 20 seconds.
I recommend you using styrene if this is your first time vacuumforming. ABS plastic does not heat up as evenly as styrene, and hot spots in the heating process can ruin a vacuumpull. Using the easier to use styrene will save you time and money in the long run if this is your first time vacuumforming.
And keep your eyes open for this fantastic toy from yesteryear: Mattel’s Vac-U-Form. A full system in one, with molds to make toy cars, boats, and more. They can be find online for high prices, or at garage sales for cheap if you’re lucky.
Hi, I'm Mike. I’m the co-host of Science channel’s Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It. I work on TV shows explaining and building the crazy machines that crush stuff, blow things up, shoot fire, all in the name of science.
You may have seen me on fuse TV's Rock and Roll Acid Test, where I helped put some of rock's biggest legends and lore to the test.
I'm a former staffer and current contributor to Wired and ReadyMade, two awesome magazines that focus on technology and diy living.
This site is where I keep a list of instructions for fun projects I've done or am working on. I encourage everyone to get involved - get up and make something!
