MachinePix Weekly: Top Posts of 2021

A look back at the Top Ten posts of 2021—some expected, many not 🛀🍁

Jan 2, 2022

Now that it’s 2022 for everyone in the world (looking at you, American Samoa (SST) and Niue (NUT) UTC-11:00), it’s time to look back at the most popular @machinepix posts of 2021 based on analytics.twitter.com.

I realize this is unfair to later posts which have had less time to steep in the broth of the Internet, so take the following with a grain of salt.

#10: Bold Bathtub on a Buggy

MachinePix @MachinePix

Roll-out bathtub at the Auberge aux 4 Vents hotel

Absurdity always seems to perform well, and this is no exception. For you superfans, go forth and live your best life.

#9: Soothing Seascape Sculpture by Sylvain

MachinePix @MachinePix

Wooden Migaloo 06 kinetic sculpture by Sylvain Gautier.

Sylvain’s seascapes were much appreciated this year. Poor guy makes amazing sculptures only to be out-SEO’d by a Fire Emblem character 🥲

#8: Terrifying Tree-trimming Technology

MachinePix @MachinePix

Trimming trees near power lines with an aerial saw mounted on a helicopter.

I have a confession: every few months I post a version of this when I’m in a pinch for new material. It’s such a wild piece of machinery that people love it every time 😅

#7: Alarming Atlas Android Accidents

MachinePix @MachinePix

Boston Dynamics Atlas parkour failures.

Poor Atlas, destined to be scapegoated as a harbinger of a robot uprising when it succeeds, and laughed at when it fails. It’s tough being a robot.

#6: Radical Ring Receptacle

MachinePix @MachinePix

Ring box with a Möbius kaleidocycle mechanism by enjoydof.com

I got to interview Brian Ignaut about his creations in 2020!

#5: Adorable Automaton

MachinePix @MachinePix

Baby Groot robot by Disney Research, designed to be a free-roaming character around Disney theme parks.

Disney Research publishes some incredible technical work and has a fascinating YouTube channel.

#4: Humongous Hydraulic Hole

MachinePix @MachinePix

Open spillway gate at the Funil Hydroelectric Power Plant in Rio de Janeiro.

Dams are a technology that keeps on giving gifs.

#3: Macaque Masters Mind-over-Matter

MachinePix @MachinePix

A macaque plays pong with a @neuralink wireless brain-machine interface while drinking a banana smoothie.

Brain-machine interfaces are fraught with ethical and philosophical considerations (and rightfully so), but damn this is pretty cool.

#2: Robotic Rack Rovers

MachinePix @MachinePix

SqUID warehouse logistics robot by Bionic Hive.

I think the reason this made #2 is because Elon Musk commented on it. For the sake of accuracy I should have mentioned the video is sped up.

#1: Mass Manufactured Marijuana

MachinePix @MachinePix

Cannabis pre-roll joint filler by lbs. Distribution.

Congrats to drugs for winning the War on Drugs! Honestly didn’t expect this one to be the winner this year but here we are.

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

—Kane