It’s not uncommon for cartoon characters to find themselves unwittingly dragged through all the chaos of a saw mill. From the audience’s perspective, it’s usually hilarious. But when you send a small camera on a log through a saw mill, scary doesn’t even begin to describe the experience of being pulled through all…
Pipe bending machines make short work of twisting and shaping metal tubes into everything from car exhausts to trombones. Yoshihito Isogawa’s pipe cleaner bending robot works essentially the same way, although it’s more of an exercise in pushing Lego to its functional limits, as opposed to filling an automated void in…
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s a repetitive job no human wants to do, there’s also a machine we’ve invented to do the work for us. Like the hyper-specific RAP 10 trimmer from Orlandi, the sole function of which is to trim tiny shrubs into perfect, aesthetically-pleasing spheres. Why can’t I…
Hidden away in factories across the globe are purpose-built industrial machines that the world not only deserves to know about, but also deserves a chance to own. Like this high-speed meat slicer that would finally help you realize your dream of having bacon for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner.
If you thought lumberjack would be one of the last jobs to be replaced by robots and automated machinery, you’ll want to replan your future after watching this tree-climbing, chainsaw-wielding contraption shimmy up a trunk while slicing off every single branch in its path.
How often have you pulled a rarely needed book off your shelf and needed to blow a layer of dust off of it? Now imagine what libraries have to deal with, given the tens of thousands of tomes in their collections. But it turns out someone’s already invented a machine that cleans books like a tiny waterless carwash.
On Tuesday, The New York Times decided to reignite the age old debate of walking versus standing on escalators. And do you know what the paper concluded? “You shouldn’t walk on escalators.” This is a patently incorrect and essentially un-American conclusion for at least four reasons.
This particular engine we’re looking at has four strokes: the intake, the compression, the combustion (or power), and the exhaust. Smarter Every Day visited the guys of 805 Road King and their see through engine to show us exactly what’s going on in an engine when we fire it up and it’s pretty fascinating stuff.
Instead of watching the ball drop this New Year’s Eve, might I suggest an alternative plan that’ll probably be much more fun (if you’re in the right mind space): watch this turning machine shape a metal rod into a funky wave. Just watch it for the rest of 2016. Maybe watch it for all of 2017 too.
Here’s a short documentary from Jack Flynn and Nick David about making Harris Tweed on the Island of Harris and Lewis in Scotland. You get to see the people whose lives center around making this traditional fabric; hear their stories about how important it is to the island, their families, and their heritage; and most…
We were totally wrong in assuming that chain link fences were made by a warehouse full of people tirelessly bending wires with pliers. It turns out this giant machine does it all autonomously, bending, twisting, and weaving wires like it’s making a giant metal sweater you never want to wear.
In order to stuff the perfect turkey, you’ll need one cup of celery, one cup of carrots, an axe and a dog, explains prolific inventor Joseph on his YouTube channel. Once you successfully con your dog into chopping veggies for you, you can use that very good boy (or girl) to warm the butter you’ll need to lather your…
This wonderful photo series comparing the size of things by Kevin Wisbith is a really fun way to earn some brain wrinkles, because it gives you a better sense of the true size of random buildings, ships, machines, and other objects. You get to see things like the Death Star hover over Florida in space, a B-2 bomber…
Damn, dirty butt grout doesn’t stand a chance against this terrifyingly powerful grout cleaning machine. It totally whoops on the dirt and makes gunky floors look brand spanking new, possibly even newer than new. Like it might’ve vaporized the floor it just washed. Everything gets totally erased in seconds.
Harvesting the edible parts of any plant in a timely manner usually requires some very specialized tools. Poppy seeds get hoovered up by a giant old-timey lawnmower. Potatoes take a shovel escalator before ending up your plate. And currants—those tasty little berries that usually get made into jam—well, they get this…
A few years ago, a burrito joint near my college campus installed computers so that customers could place their orders without ever having to make eye contact with a cashier. It was meant as a convenience, but my friends and I felt oddly detached ordering food through a computer. And we wondered: Did this signal the…
The most important meal of the day is also the most annoying to make because you’re groggy and in a rush and haven’t had your cup of coffee yet. Genius men Peter Browne and Mervyn Huggett solved that eternal problem of making breakfast by building a machine to, well, make breakfast for them. Yep, like in Pee Wee’s Big…
Of all the objects you use on a daily basis, you’ve probably never stopped to wonder how plastic drinking straws came to be. But if you like complicated machines that are simultaneously extruding, cutting, and sorting, you’ll be more than satisfied with the high-speed process behind making two-toned plastic drinking…
Mother Nature always forgets to end winter in places like Norway so it’s up to these giant snow blower tractors to clear the road. You can see how it works in the video below, the monster snow blower blasts through the layers of thick snow and carves out an open path, revealing the mountain road that was buried…