TOYOTA LINEAR GENERATOR
RESEARCHERS AT Toyota’s Central R&D Labs in Japan have shared details of generating electricity with an unorthodox internal combustion engine. The engine is a two-stroke design, but with a piston … Continue reading
HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, LEONARDO DA VINCI
WELL, WE missed celebrating Leonardo da Vinci’s 562nd birthday. It was a few weeks ago on April 15 Old Style, so I can’t even appeal to the Julian-to-Gregorian Calendar update, … Continue reading
TALK TO ME, IRIS
WE’RE FAMILIAR (sometimes irritatingly so) with autonomous voices and their menu-based options. “Hello, your call is important to us,”—but apparently not enough to employ a real person. What’s more, whether … Continue reading
MACHINE TOOLS BY JOHN ASCHAUER
JOHN ASCHAUER was a model builder extraordinaire. Whereas others fashioned car, aircraft or architectural models, Aschauer built 1/16th scale machine tools. There’s a permanent collection of Aschauer’s models at the … Continue reading
THE TOWER OF HANOI—AND CANNONBALLS
IS THE Tower of Hanoi a kid’s game? A mathematical endeavor connected to cannonballs? Or a calendar to the end of the universe? Yes, yes and yes. Start with a … Continue reading
ROTARY AUTOMOBILES
A CAR’S wheels rotate, they don’t go up and down. Thus, whatever other complications in moving a car, there has to be a basic transformation of reciprocating pistons into rotating … Continue reading
ROTARY ENGINES: HOLD THE CRANK, SPIN THE REST
I’M TALKING about a rotary engine in the traditional sense, its crankshaft firmly fixed to the frame, its engine block with radially aligned cylinders spinning around and producing power. (By … Continue reading
1964 WORLD’S FAIR
IT’S SAID you never forget your first kiss, your first love, your first…. But what about your first taco? Wife Dottie almost rolled on the floor in laughter today when … Continue reading
MILES AIRCRAFT LTD AND ITS M.57 AEROVAN
THE BRITISH Miles Aircraft Ltd was a family business, and what a family it was: See http://wp.me/p2ETap-24M. The varied talents of F.G. Miles, his wife Blossom and his brother George … Continue reading
HAPPY (SORT OF) BIRTHDAY, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
RECORDS INDICATE William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, precisely 450 years ago. Well, not precisely, because of England’s Gregorian Calendar change in the 1700s. In fact, his actual … Continue reading
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