Media Platforms Design Team1 The Fermenter The distiller mixes yeast, water, and sugar (or a sugar-containing grain) in a fermenter, aka a mash tun. After three to seven days of voracious fermenting, the yeast has consumed most of the sugar, turning the mash into a wash (10 or 12 percent alcohol by volume). A pump moves the wash into the pot of the still. 2 The Pot A boiler pumps steam into a jacket, or two-walled metal sleeve, that surrounds the bottom of the pot....
The basic principle of physics that explains heat pump technology has been in use for centuries. The ancient Chinese used the geothermal power of natural hot springs to heat their homes. However, despite its long history, heat pumps are still a bit difficult to understand, and here’s why: A heat pump is not a furnace, but it can warm your home. And it’s not an air conditioner, but it can cool your home....
Rumors that the next iPhone would ditch its Home button and bezels for a single, big screen have been mounting pretty much since the release of the iPhone 7S. Now, thanks to a little clever digging, we have some pretty solid proof that this is exactly what will happen, complete with a mockup from Apple itself. The illustration you see above is our best look yet at the next iPhone, dug up by developers who have been poring over the firmware for Apple’s HomeKit smart speaker, which Apple accidentally published to the whole internet over the weekend....
Media Platforms Design TeamRule 1: Catch dust while it’s airborne Because dust is first suspended in the air, it makes sense to use air to transport it for disposal. A wet–dry shop vacuum will take care of most of it. For example, hook a Dust Deputy cyclone collector ($100) to work with any vac and you create an efficient two-stage dust collector that mimics what industrial wood shops use. The funnel-shaped Deputy swirls wood chips and dust like water going down the drain, collecting them in the bottom of the tank—the first stage....
Filming Delta Force operatives presents two problems. First, we can’t show their faces, lest any of their nefarious counterparts ID someone with whom they might have a mortal grudge. Second, and it’s an obvious one: Nighttime sneak attacks, a Delta Force specialty, happen in the dark. But we’ll make it work.My cameraman, Ed Ricker, and I are in a blacked-out Chevy Tahoe blazing through North Carolina cornfields toward the Range Complex, a 1,900-acre training facility outside Fort Bragg....
HABBANIYAH, Iraq, July 23 — Hospitalman 3rd Class Jeffrey Ramirez is starting an IV on a wounded Marine, scrambling to coordinate lab work and X-rays while trying to reflect on his almost six years as a corpsman—the Navy equivalent (who also accompanies Marines) of an Army medic. Much has changed in the scope of battle across Iraq since his first deployment straight out of Field Medical Service School, in the lead-up to the American invasion in 2003, affecting how patients get to him and how he treats them....
Yes, years and years after Back to the Future 2, Nike finally made the self-lacing sneakers that appeared in the film. The catch is that it was an extremely limited run. The good news? It’s actually a pretty trivial electronics project to make your own. Even better? They’ll look exactly 100 percent as good as the real ones. Absolutely indistinguishable. Believe it or not, the shoe you see above is not the real one....
Update: NASA’s InSight probe landed safely on the Martian surface at around 3 p.m. EST on Monday afternoon. The successful landing marks the eighth time a vessel from the space agency has reached the red planet, where it’s expected to investigate Mars’ interior and shed light on our own solar system. Original story: NASA is heading back to Mars. The space agency will attempt another Martian landing today when its latest robotic probe, the InSight Lander, attempts to parachute down to the red planet at around 3 p....
The Panama Canal, now over 100 years old, is one of the technical wonders of the world. If you’ve ever wondered how exactly it works, well, wonder no more. Lego, the coolest company in the world, put out a new kit that can give you a working model.The idea for the 1,184-piece set, which features three levels of the canal, came from Lorena Degracia, who according to her LinkedIn page is both the founder of a group called Panama STEM Education and a Lego Education distributor for Panama....
The number of known exoplanets—planets outside of our solar system—has jumped exponentially in the last decade. With all these new worlds, astronomers need a more comprehensive classification system, and researchers at Cornell University have used the way light reflects off the planets of our own solar system created just that: a “light-fingerprint” for different types of planets. Exoplanets vary greatly across the galaxy: some are rocky, others are icy, and the biggest ones are gaseous....
A modern automobile needs hundreds of parts all working in perfect harmony. Each component is remarkably complex. Just take the gearbox as one example. A typical gearbox has more than a dozen gears spinning within centimeters of one another, and they must be positioned with utmost precision. Unfortunately, the gearbox is buried deep inside a typical car so most people never get a chance to see one up close. If you’ve never seen an actual gearbox in operation, YouTuber V....
Lots of people say they received out-of-context texts from friends and family last night. T-Mobile told Popular Mechanics that it was the fault of a third-party vendor.The texts might have been in response to messages that were originally sent last Valentine’s Day, but weirdly delayed until last night.U.S. Cellular has confirmed that the ghost texts are the result of a glitch in telecommunications infrastructure.Tons of people on Twitter and Reddit have complained they’re receiving weird, out-of-context text messages from numbers in their contacts, and they say that they have no idea why....
The USS Zumwalt, the Navy’s new high-tech stealth destroyer, appears to have suffered an engineering malfunction ahead of its first at-sea trials. The destroyer will remain in port for up to two weeks while repairs are made.The USS Zumwalt is the Navy’s next-generation destroyer and boasts a number of advanced technologies, including a striking, radar-minimizing shape and a rocket-powered gun system that can fire shells 70 miles away.Related StoryInside The Navy’s New $4....
(Update: U.S. Central Command has corrected the record and stated that, a previous statement, the missiles used in the Syria strikes were the original, shorter range version of JASSM, not JASSM-ER. Regardless, it is still the first time any JASSM variant was used in combat.) One of the missiles used in last week’s strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities was a new weapon seeing its first taste of combat. It’s called the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range....
Among the many things the smartphone revolution has proven—aside from things like “people love to take pictures of themselves”—is the simple fact that sometimes a small screen is all you need. Whether it’s a pint-sized iPhone SE or a mammoth Samsung Galaxy Note, sometimes the screen you can fit in your pocket beats out even the biggest TV. But then sometimes you just want a 43-inch computer monitor. Dell’s new Multi-Client Monitor (P4317Q) is exactly that....
DeWaltHere are today’s best deals!Home DepotIf you’re looking to revitalize your tool collection—or you’re starting one from scratch—then there’s no better time to stock up with Home Depot discounting this DeWalt 4-tool combo. It includes a 20-Volt Max hammer drill, reciprocating saw, impact driver, work light along with a bonus circular saw. Usually you’d be paying $600 for everything, but today only it’s going for $200 off at just $400.And if that deal isn’t quite your speed, Home Depot is also selling a DeWalt 3-tool kit ($200, down from $300), a drill kit ($119, down from $185), and a circular saw kit ($100, down from $146)....
Even with drones and self-driving cars, it’s still crucial to be able to travel by sea. And even though we may have internet and cellphones to talk to each other immediately, the physical divide still persists. What’s more is that sometimes, the sea gets angry. And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to be out there in it, this travelogue will give you a window into the storm.View full post on YoutubeJeffHK, who regularly makes videos about sailing, wanted to show off heavy weather....
From the opening frames of Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, you sense you’re in for a completely different view of The Great War. Not simply because of the magisterial restoration of century-old footage from hand-cranked cameras that Jackson and his celluloid alchemists have turned into a modern cinematic masterpiece. But because the story that emerges from his four-year production effort sheds new light on familiar scenes that defy at least some of what has become conventional wisdom about the war....
Buy NowSometimes you just need to carry a bunch of odd-shaped items from point A to point B. That’s how I came to love the Yeti Camino Carryall 35.When the Carryall showed up at the Popular Mechanics office, I couldn’t quite see how I’d use it. Like Yeti’s trademark status symbol coolers, the rugged bag is a brilliant example of engineering the simple into the unbreakable. But the use case for a badass cooler is clear....
Media Platforms Design TeamWolfsburg, Germany— Walk round this experimental battery-electric Golf and coachwork stickers aside, there’s only one detail that marks it out as anything other than millions of VW hatchbacks already produced. There’s no tail pipe. As rivals, including Nissan, prepare lightweight futuristic electric transport for sale this year, VW is a bit behind. But the company believes that acceptance of EVs will take some time and if folks soon want an electric Golf, they’ll be ready....
