How to use sand to hold up a car

Mark Frauenfelder 9:51 am Mon May 16, 2016

This well-made video from Practical Engineering explains why soil is not a good building material, and then shows how to mechanically stabilize it so it can bear weight.

Dirt is probably the cheapest and simplest construction material out there, but it's not very strong compared to other choices. Luckily geotechnical engineers have developed a way to strengthen earthen materials with almost no additional effort – Mechanically Stabilized Earth (aka MSE or Reinforced Soil). If you look closely, you'll see MSE walls are everywhere. Thanks for watching, and let me know what you think!

Wearable robotic "third arm" can punch through a wall

Université de Sherbrooke engineers demonstrated a wearable robotic third arm that weighs about the same as a human arm. According to Evan Ackerman writing in IEEE Spectrum, waist-worn hydraulic limb… READ THE REST
Watch this impressive Lego tapas factory crank out a steady stream of snacks

The Lego masters at The Brick Wall built this fantastic contraption to crank out tapas. Technical details: 19 Lego PF motors 5 BuWizz Bricks 4 weeks of hard work READ THE REST
Got a deflated tire but 10 two-liter bottles? Make this DIY air compressor!

The best solutions are sometimes the simplest ones: "I've been topping off a leaky tire for weeks and staring at my garden hose wondering if I could use it instead… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST