I’ve posted this one before, but it’s pretty cool.

Well, really ball bearings.

Thanks Alex!

Solar energy, including photovoltaic cells, are probably the best bet of the alternative energy options. They continue to improve and seem to have the least residual impact on the environment. Germany (possibly the cloudiest country in the world) now generates almost 25% of its power through solar cells.

Researchers make key improvement in solar cell technology

Often I am asked why I don’t carry a smart phone. Sadly, I am often asked this by people my own age not just students. Indeed, while I have seven working computers in my home, have maintained a home network since far before most people have heard of them, own my own website, and built, repaired and programmed computers, it may seem odd. However I recently stumbled across the research of this M.I.T. professor and I think she expresses my concern better than I could.

I concur with her views. They seem to line up very well with what I see in today’s world. Hopefully, it will at least provide food for thought, or better yet, conversation. Just the face-to-face kind please.

This is from a great blog called Primitive Technology. The gentleman is from Queensland, Australia and emphasizes this is a hobby, not a way of life. Amazing videos there.

This is a video of a four barrel Holley carb on a 604 cubic inch crate motor V8. Carbs are old technology compared to today’s direct fuel injection. But it is pretty cool to watch it dumping gasoline into a roaring V8.

For all you Goth’s out there who say “I only wear black until they come out with a darker color”. Well, they have.

Scientists somehow made the world’s darkest material even darker than before

Thanks Tom!

I saw this recently, and I think the author really gets to the problem with Windows and MacOS. I am finding myself using Linux more and more and really not missing Windows at all. If you use a desktop or laptop PC this is interesting reading….

I Moved to Linux and It’s Even Better Than I Expected

Who knew so much engineering went into a pop can?

The footage below shows Despina, the grandmother of Balkan film pioneers Yanaki and Milton Manaki, spinning and weaving in the Ottoman Balkans in 1905. She was 114 years old at the time, which means we have video of a person born in the 1700s.

via: Futility Closet

From Wired magazine

Hungry?

I’ve heard driving in Japan is an experience, but, wow.

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge In Japan Looks Absolutely Terrifying

A few months ago I posted a short video on the rebuilding and restoration of this monster. The “Beast of Turin” was a car built by Fiat in 1911 to beat the land speed record. It did, with a speed of 116 m.p.h. which was pretty amazing in 1911. The only way to do it though, back then, was through displacement. Making the engine bigger. So this is a four cylinder, 28.5 liter engine. 28.5 LITERS!!! Only four cylinders! Listen to this thing go, it’s terrifying.

More on the car…

The Beast of Turin awakens: Fiat S76 driven for the first time in a century — and it’s very, very angry

Okay, so we told you about smart TV’s spying on you and sending info to third parties. How about a toy that records what kids say, and then sends it to third parties.

Privacy advocates try to keep ‘creepy,’ ‘eavesdropping’ Hello Barbie from hitting shelves

So by now it has become a pretty established fact in the tec world that the trend of governments to use digital spying is weakening the security of our digital lives. As governments (mostly the U.S.) continue to put back doors into our software, we become increasingly targets for hackers who want to steal our information (just like the governments do). The latest revelations are pretty grim. The NSA has installed malware into hard drives and phone SIM cards.

Someone (probably the NSA) has been hiding viruses in hard drive firmware

The only solution to the Equation Group is destroying your hard drive

A Wankel engine is a rotary internal combustion engine. Theoretically more efficient that the piston engine in most cars. Only one company has had much success with it and that’s Mazda with it’s amazing RX-7 and RX-8 models. This guy has built a 12 rotor (like 12 cylinder) engine for motor boat racing. Not much larger than a V-8 but with 1500hp.

via Road and Track