John Edlund and His Life-Preserving Valise, 1915
When the Titanic sunk in 1912 south of Newfoundland, the world mourned the deaths of more than 1,500 people, and were outraged by the news that there were not enough lifeboats for all of the passengers on board. As a result, more stringent regulations were established for the number of safety vessels a ship had to carry. But a Canadian inventor had his own idea: passengers could carry their own personal lifeboats — in their suitcase. Continue reading »
Inside a Porsche Factory From the Early 1970s
The body of the Porsche 356 was manually manufactured at the Reutter bodywork. The car body cover itself was attached to the chassis frame welded to several parts. The joints were filled with soft foam (which was a very tedious and time-consuming process) and then sanded. In 1965, the production of the Porsche 356 finished. At the end, they were already making 25 body-pieces a day. Continue reading »
Vintage Cover Photos of Popular Mechanics Magazine in the 1930s and ’40s
Popular Mechanics (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation of all types, space, tools and gadgets are commonly featured. Continue reading »
Amazing Photos of the 1948 Panhard Dynavia
Before the end of World War II, French automaker Panhard et Levassor foresaw that post-war demand for their typically large and expensive cars would be limited and that a smaller less expensive model would be needed. Designer Louis Bionier began development of a small two-box “voiture populaire” (people’s car) that would be powered by engineer Louis Delagarde’s new air-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine driving the front wheels. Continue reading »
Volga-Atom: How in The USSR Created a Car with A Nuclear Reactor
Up to the Chernobyl accident, the development of the Soviet Nuclear Energy went with confident pace. Nevertheless, many ambitious projects by the Soviet nuclear scientists as a result reject. According to one of the versions, such fate in the 1960s has suffered a six-way car with an atomic engine.
The Soviet inventive thought lagged behind the American, while in 1958 the second secretary of the USSR Embassy in Washington did not see Ford Nucleon at the industrial exhibition. According to a number of sources, the Soviet analogue of the atomic machine began with Nikita Khrushchev’s light hand. Continue reading »
Stunning Vintage Photographs of San Francisco’s Sky Tram, 1955-1961
From late 1955 to 1966, an aerial tram ran from the Cliff House to Point Lobos. Continue reading »
Meet the 1970 AMC Gremlin, America’s First Subcompact Car
The AMC Gremlin is a subcompact car that was made by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) for nine model years. During its manufacturing run from April 1970 through 1978, a total of 671,475 Gremlins were built in the United States and Canada.
The Gremlin was described at its introduction as the first domestic-built American subcompact car. Continue reading »
The Gepetto of Prosthetic Limbs: These Early Prostheses Made by James Gillingham From 1900 Were Decades Ahead of Time
James Gillingham/SSPL/Getty Images
Nicknamed the “Gepetto of Prosthetic Limbs,” James Gillingham (1839–1924) was a British boot and shoemaker at his Golden Shoe shop until 1863 when he began making artificial limbs made from leather and molded like a pair of shoes. Continue reading »
Stunning Vintage Photos of Woody Station Wagons From the 1960s and 1970s
The iconic American woody (or woodie) wagon dates back to the very beginning of automobile manufacture when car frames were originally made of timber. As metal took over and timber content diminished throughout the 1920s, certain models stubbornly refused to go all-metal. Continue reading »
Artist Uses Neural Network To Create These Images Of The Hit Series Stranger Things
According to Antti Karppinen (previously featured): “I am a photographer & visual artist because I want to create something special, something people can relate to and feel. Telling stories visually is my strength. In the digital era, the most impressive stories will be told in pictures. Continue reading »
The Albee Rolligon: An Innovative Transport Truck From the 1950s
One of the earliest applications of Albee’s low-pressure tires was this three-roller Dodge Power Wagon. Ground pressure was drastically reduced due to the large ground area in contact with the bags, and the low air pressure (from 2.5 to 6 PSI) in the bags. Continue reading »
The DALL-E 2 Neural Network Has “Redrawn” Classic Paintings by Famous Artists While Preserving Their Style
The algorithms captured “Morning in a Pine Forest” from a wide angle, added Monet Lisa’s legs, and “built” an entire room for “The Girl with the Pearl Earring.” Continue reading »
Stunning Photos of Elvis Presley’s 1960 Luxury Gold Cadillac
Did you know Elvis Presley owned his own golden Cadillac. The car was a Cadillac series 75 Fleetwood limousine. It featured several golden components such as gold trim seats, and even a gold plated TV. The paint color was called diamond dust Pearl, and actually contained crushed diamonds and fish scales in the paint itself. The vehicle received 40 coats of paint to achieve its sparkling exterior. Continue reading »
The RoAcH CoAcH: How the Designer Imagined the Cars of The Future from The 1970s
The RoAcH CoAcH, originally built by RoAcH, Inc in the 70′s is alive and well and living in Dayton, OH. The brainchild of RoAcH, Inc., the custom show car was designed by Ed Newton and built by Dan Woods, Don Boeke, and a band of merry men. The car was a ISC show-car for years. Continue reading »
In 1908, a Doctor Used X-Rays to Highlight the Damaging Effects of Tight Corsets on a Woman’s Body
Ludovic O’Followell, a French doctor who in 1905 and 1908 published books on the effects of the corset on female health. O’Followell, however, had something that all the previous arguments and illustrations did not: he used a brand new technology to bolster his arguments. Continue reading »
Japanese Engineers Created a Huge Robot for Laying Railway Tracks and Performing Dangerous Work
The Japanese railway company officially announced the development of a very impressive robot, which can be partially considered humanoid. It has a head and hands, thanks to which the latest development will allow you to lay paths and perform heavy or dangerous work without risk to humans. Continue reading »
Unique. Electric. Aesthetic. Minimalistic. An American Company Has Created a Very Beautiful Retro-Style Electric Car
Olympian Motors is a new, disruptive automaker, building ‘software-defined’ Electric Vehicles with a unique ‘fabless’ production model. Continue reading »
General Motors’ Miraculously Surviving Electric Car Found in A Parking Lot — May Be the Last EV1 in The World
In one of Atlanta’s usual multi-level parking lots, an EV1, developed by General Motors in the late 1990s, was found in 2019. The entire run was later recalled and put under the press, but one car miraculously survived. Continue reading »
MetaWriter Software Vending Machine, 1983
When Nolan Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications, he agreed not to compete with the company for a specified period. When ban expired, Bushnell has introduced a software vending machine, the Cumma Metawriter, in 1983. Continue reading »
Beautiful Photos of the Chrysler Turbine Car
The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupe powered by a turbine engine and manufactured by Chrysler from 1963–1964. The bodywork was constructed by Italian design studio Carrozzeria Ghia and Chrysler completed the final assembly in Detroit. Continue reading »
Bringing the Batmobile to Life: The World’s First Functioning Electric Batmobile Is Ready to Fight Crime
Artist, Nguyen Dac Chung, and his Hanoi-based workshop, Macro Studios, crafts intricate superhero costumes that would rival the best at Comic Con. The piece he’s most proud of? The Dark Knight’s most iconic weapon in his crime-fighting arsenal – the Batmobile. Continue reading »
Beautiful Photos of the Ferrari 166 S
The Ferrari 166 S was a sports racing car built by Ferrari between 1948 and 1953, an evolution of its Colombo V12-powered 125 S racer. It was adapted into a sports car for the street in the form of the 166 Inter. Continue reading »
Taiwanese Modder Turns Doom Eternal’s BFG 10000 Into The Ultimate Gaming Rig
Most modern PCs are manufactured in a way that shows off the hardware running inside of them, but few gaming rigs can top the appeal of a custom design. Continue reading »
Chinese Man Makes Power Bank Able To Charge 5,000 Smartphones
YouTuber Handy Geng noticed that all his buddies had bigger power banks than his. “I’m not so happy with that,” he writes. It bothered him! In the video below, he claims he could not sleep. So Handy Geng decided to change that by building the biggest power bank of all. Continue reading »
How to Design a Nuclear Reactor – an Illustrated Rough Guide, 1956-1998
Sizewell B PWR, Nuclear Engineering International – The World’s Reactors, No. 83, Sizewell B PWR, Sizewell, Suffolk, UK. Wall chart insert, Nuclear Engineering, December 1982
The University of New Mexico’s Centennial Science and Engineering Library hosts these images of Nuclear Engineering Wall Charts. The graphics appeared in Nuclear Engineering International magazine from it inception in 1956 to 1998. Nuclear power has had its successes and disasters – but it’s rarely looked better. Continue reading »
