MachinePix Weekly

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MachinePix Weekly #56

www.machinepix.com

MachinePix Weekly #56

The most popular post this week was an aircraft stunt. Next week: Andrew Zolty of designs studio BREAKFAST 🍳

MachinePix
Aug 17, 2021
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MachinePix Weekly #56

www.machinepix.com

Next week I’ll be interviewing Andrew Zolty of BREAKFAST, the studio behind some amazing kinetic sculptures. One of my favorites remains their 13’ display that used 6,400 spools of thread as pixels:

The most popular post this week was a butt-clenching aircraft situation. Many followers pointed out that 1) this was almost certainly an intentional stunt and 2) the rope around the pilot’s waist is probably worse than useless for safety. As a result I feel compelled to provide actual protocol for a power off stall recovery, complete with 90s educational video narrator voice.

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Restarting the engine of a Piper J3 Cub by hand.
6:24 PM ∙ Jul 28, 2021
1,208Likes250Retweets

I’m always looking for interesting people to interview, have anyone in mind?

—Kane


The Week in Review

This was designed in partnership with Disney Imagineering to replace actual animals in theme parks. An admirable goal, but I can’t help draw the comparison to PK Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep where real animals become luxury status symbols. Related, Disney Research publishes incredible work that has been featured on @machinepix multiple times.

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Animatronic dolphin by Edge Innovations.
3:58 PM ∙ Jul 26, 2021
301Likes50Retweets

This week has an unintentional nautical theme. Assuming median weight and length for a great white shark, and assuming its center of mass is in the middle of its length, this shark needs to breach with ~49 kilojoules of kinetic energy to make this jump—all generated from muscle.

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Seal decoy for studying great white sharks by Discovery.
8:41 PM ∙ Jul 29, 2021
590Likes144Retweets

The whole sequence is nuts. The trials also triggered a 3.9 magnitude earthquake.

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MachinePix @MachinePix
Full Ship Shock Trials of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford with 40,000 lbs of explosives.
4:57 PM ∙ Jul 30, 2021
184Likes46Retweets

Nothing quite as soothing as a CNC bender. Even more soothing: CNC footage set to trance music.

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E-FLEX CNC wire bender by BLM Group.
4:01 PM ∙ Aug 2, 2021
482Likes116Retweets

Postscript

Humans developed composites 1,600 years before steel (which first appeared in 1,800 BC).

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Kane @kane
wow TIL humanity’s use of composites predates our use of steel: mar-bal.com/language/en/ap…
Image
2:26 PM ∙ Aug 17, 2021

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to friends (and interesting enemies). I am always looking to connect with interesting people and learn about interesting machines—reach out.

—Kane

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MachinePix Weekly #56

www.machinepix.com
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