Steve Durnin's D-Drive is a fascinating new infinitely-variable transmission that doesn't use friction components or a clutch of any kind. Video of a prototype with detailed explanations is included.
posted by odinsdream
on May 15, 2010 -
44 comments
Physicists have 'solved' mystery of levitation Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing ... the
Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts. Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate. But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person.
posted by MythMaker
on Aug 19, 2007 -
30 comments
Reversible flow! In the 1960s, the National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films produced a series of films for education in fluid mechanics. This clip is part of "
Low Reynolds Number Flow"; you can find the entire collection streamed
here. Interesting demonstrations abound.
(1st link is QT; rest are RealPlayer.)
posted by Upton O'Good
on Aug 17, 2007 -
19 comments
The
astronomical clock in the French city of Besancon is quite a mechanical marvel. Built in 1860, its inner workings are comprised of more than 30,000 interoperating pieces, driving 37 separate clockface gauges. It is one of the finest intersections between art & mechanics that I've ever come across.
posted by jonson
on Jul 4, 2006 -
12 comments
Does dark matter exist? Dark matter has been suggested as a solution to the
galaxy rotation problem where individual stars don't seem to rotate the way Newton's laws would predict. Now, some scientists are saying that observations fit with Einstein's general relativity, without any dark matter needed. I just find it amazing that no one has tried this yet.
posted by delmoi
on Oct 10, 2005 -
45 comments
How engines work. This isn't new but it's a great resource for the mechanically minded and the mechanically challanged as well. It includes animations and step by step descriptions of how most existing engines work, from
Steam Locomotive to
Jet Propulsion. Simple yet informative.
posted by talos
on Mar 11, 2002 -
18 comments
