In 1995 episode of Computer Chronicles, Stewart Cheifet greets us from inside one of those fancy new cyber cafés you’ve undoubtedly been hearing so much about, asking “Who says online users are a bunch of antisocial geeks?” And a whole eighteen years later we can still pretty much respond with “Everyone, Stewart. Everyone does.” More »
The idea of putting a decaying radioactive isotope inside your chest might make you a little uneasy—and rightly so. But in 1967, the National Heart Institute and the Atomic Energy Agency set out to make it happen in the form of a plutonium-238-powered atomic heart. Think Tony Stark with nuclear waste in his chest. More »
When I see a fire hydrant, I selfishly hate it because it hogs a perfectly good parking spot. When I see an exploded fire hydrant, I absolutely love it because it’s the urban sign for summer. When I see the schematics behind an early 20th century fire hydrant? I’m in awe of how beautiful the breakdown can be. More »
Everybody always imagines the future looking way cooler than it actually does. The Los Angeles Times just re-proved the point by republishing a 1988 issue in which it made a slew of guesses about 2013. Some of them were right, but unfortunately cars still don’t look that cool. More »
Did you know Albert Eistein wanted to make a fridge? Seriously. The greatest brain in modern physics dedicated a lot of time in trying to create a long lasting, energy efficient, environmentally friendly refrigerator. More »
Forget dropping thousands of dollars on the monstrously spec’d gaming laptops sold by the likes of Alienware. As long as you’re not itching to play the latest titles, you can look to the hacker who created this brilliant working NES laptop for some money-saving DIY inspiration. More »
Death by ICBM was a near constant threat to both sides during the Cold War. America’s answer: a long-range, phased-array early warning system designed to find, identify, and track these sea-launched ballistic missile threats. It worked so well, the Air Force still uses it. More »
It probably can’t quite compete with all the memories they have of landing on the moon, but the second best souvenir the Apollo 11 astronauts have of their adventure has to be this solid gold model of the Lunar Module given to them by Cartier on their return. More »
MP3s, compact discs, and even cassette tapes made our music portable, but before they arrived, vinyl records were pretty much the medium of choice. And with a little help from Sharp, people were still able to enjoy those giant (relatively speaking) twelve-inch discs wherever they went with this impressive old-school vinyl bombox. More »
It’s assumed that just because modern machines use lasers and other electronic technologies, they’re far more precise and accurate than mechanical contraptions from many years ago. But as Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe discovered at a tannery, that’s not always the case. More »
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
