Fully Operational Thermite Cannon
PD&D has reported on some pretty crazy do-it-yourself engineering projects over the years, such as a railgun that fires at 27,000 Joules, a fully automatic snowball machine gun, and even a turkey-incinerating flamethrowing drone.
Well, now it’s time to bring you the next crazy do-it-yourself project from British plumber-turned-inventor Colin Furze. The YouTube sensation recently uploaded a video of his latest creation: a steampunk-style thermite launcher.
Refrigerator Laser Stops Food Poisoning
To prevent any potential food poisoning incidents, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institutes of Science and Technology have developed a microbe-detecting laser. The device is able to detect the movement of bacteria on last week’s dinner, all without ever touching the food itself.
The team’s paper reads, “By simply measuring dynamic speckle intensity patterns reflected from samples and analyzing the temporal correlation time, the presence of living microorganisms can be non-invasively detected with high sensitivity.”
World’s First Fully-Electric Car Racing Series
Last week, PD&D’s editorial content director, Janine Mooney, flew down to sunny Long Beach, California to broadcast live from the Andretti Formula E Paddock prior to the Formula E race on April 2, 2016.
The FIA single-seater championship is the world’s first fully-electric car racing series, designed to help promote electric cars, and to serve as a research and development platform to test the technology.
This year, Formula E is an “open championship,” meaning teams and manufacturers have the chance to showcase their own electrical energy innovations, such as improved powertrains and battery technology.