Phoenix17
- DIY
Half Boat, Half Car, All Adventure
Twenty years ago, duck hunter Stan Hewitt built his first amphibious vehicle, a clunky 10-wheeled truck-boat hybrid that topped out at 10 mph on land and just 7 mph on water. Hewitt wanted to tackle the prime duck habitat of the Alaskan tundra, an area hard to access using regular vehicles, and needed to improve the craft’s speed and maneuverability to handle the currents there.
3.6.2009 at 09:41am - Comment by Phoenix17interestingly enough, the first amphibious vehiles were designed by a guy in.... I think... Alabama? To use for getting around the marsh, where its water/mud/water/land all the time. no regular vehicle could do it. The government caught wind of it and manufactured them for the war.
- Technology
Seastead, Ahoy!
Economy got you down? Not sure if this whole “American capitalism” thing is working out for you? Looking for cheap housing? Well, you can always start from ideological scratch and build a new society on a free floating platform in the high seas.
3.5.2009 at 11:58pm - Comment by Phoenix17"Darkfx: This is a "Water World" (1995 Kevin Reynolds) Plan to Survive Global Flooding..." That would be Kevin Costner. And that movie was ridiculous. And like everyone is saying, this will not work. Good in theory, but beyond all the physical problems of living off terra firma, a nation has to produce something to be a nation. That's why America is struggling now, we shipped all our jobs to China.
- DIY
Thar She Blows
When Kai Grundt announced his decision to build the ultimate snowblower from a discarded V8 engine, a friend of his just laughed. So a year later, instead of showing his buddy the finished product, Grundt showed him what it could do. He buried the man's truck under a seven-foot-tall pyramid of snow. From two houses away.
3.5.2009 at 11:34pm - Comment by Phoenix17This is good old fashioned ingenuity. Reminds me a little bit of a snow melter I saw that used a jet engine to literally melt snow as fast as Cat loaders could fill it and run it into a storm drain. I think that was on the news actually, in Pittsburgh. Now all it needs is a Roots kit and nitrous for your Guinness record (to stave off the competition for upcoming years) Good project!
- DIY
A DIY Proposal
When I finally made peace with the realization that I actually wanted to marry my girlfriend, thoughts about the typical next steps made me cringe: backroom bargaining in the diamond district, endless visits to mall jewelry stores to try to learn about cuts and clarity, spending way too much money I'd rather spend on traveling or tools or meat. Fortunately, my nascent furniture-building hobby has accustomed my girlfriend to appreciating my lovingly flawed home creations, so I decided to go the same route with the ring.
3.5.2009 at 11:22pm - Comment by Phoenix17Wow, good job. I make knives once in a while as a hobby, so I can appreciate the fine, tedious work you put in. I also understand the desire for something unique- she's worth it, and you want to show it. She is a very pretty girl, too. Congratulations on your fine work, it is beautiful! Your article mentioned you were interested in making things- knives are a similar thing, kind of their own zen. If you're interested message me.
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December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
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