“All those things that make wood so good for building houses and boats apply to pipes”. See & read. More here and here. Related: wooden bridges.
Build your own low-tech turntable
Total cost can be as low as 50 dollars. Instructions here. Via Retro Thing.
High speed trains
April 21, 2009 by Filed Under: Ecotech Myths, Trains, Travel
“We would be so much better off simply fixing up and reactivating the normal-speed track system that is sitting out there rusting in the rain — and save our more grandiose visions for a later time”. Read.
Previously: How eco-friendly is a high speed train? / The age of speed / Only idiots travel by train.
Reserve base / Annual global consumption
April 20, 2009 by Filed Under: Ecotech Myths, Maps, Metals, minerals, materials
Speculative biology
April 17, 2009 by Filed Under: Evolution
Welcome to the beautiful nonexistent world of Snaiad.
Via Metafilter & Tetrapodzoology.
The immutable verities of grand physical laws
April 17, 2009 by Filed Under: Instruments, Obsolete technology, Quotes
“The design and manufacture of scientific instruments has undergone a radical transformation in the last 30 years, achieving what might be described as the democratization of accuracy. Levers, pinions, wheels, and linkages have given way to microprocessors that read data at exquisite levels of sensitivity and reveal it instantly on digital displays. This transformation has affected our lives far beyond the laboratory, but to my eye the gains have been accompanied by losses.”
Read: The engineer’s art, why a contemporary-art expert also collects old machines.
Picture: Einthoven’s string galvanometer.
