Recent content by Swamp Thing

Imagine the state of electrical / electronics engineering if no one ever figured out the notion of a "floating" inductor, and designers only ever used inductors with one end grounded. The invention in the video adds "floating inertia" (or differential inertia?) to the vehicle designer's toolbox...

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Thermal papers never dye, they just fade away.

TIL about a company that, among other things, uses an enzyme that is produced by cancer cells to catalyze the production of industrial chemicals like hydrogen peroxide.

That long ago, it should have been Leonardo da Vinci's helicopter?

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TIL about Operation London Bridge. The idea of a bowler-hatted official solemnly intoning "London Bridge is down" seemed to be not without its comedic possibilities, so I requested AI to come up with a Monty Python style script on this premise. Here is AI's effort:

Sort of like the Ig being a gateway drug for the real thing.

TIL that the name "Meccano" was supposed to suggest "make and know", apart from the obvious mechanical concept. For non-British members, this was a model construction set similar to the US Erector Set, with which it completed for a few years before withdrawing from the American market.

TIL that Ian Fleming created Napoleon Solo (The man from U.N.C.L.E.). He worked briefly on the series before leaving due to health and legal reasons.

Next a snail staggers in, trips and goes sprawling on the floor. "Hey, are you OK?"

"What do you call a deer with no eyes?" "No idea". "What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?" "Still no idea".

A pump with no moving parts, able to lift water above its source, quietly serving a hillside fortress centuries ago. It is clever, effective, and, all these years later, mostly unknown today.

AI-Drafted Police Report Said Officer Turned into A Frog...