Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Popular Mechanics South Africa

This is a relatively calm scene for Katlyn Lewis (left) and Anna Cressler, members of the Wyoming interagency hotshot crew (IHC) that battled the Rankin Fire in South Dakota. Using handheld ‘drip-torches,’ the hotshots light the grass in order to keep the larger, uncontrolled fire from spreading, ‘We are putting in a black line to stop the wildfire. When it gets there, it won’t have anything to burn,’ says Cressler. Wearing leather boots and flame-resistant Nomex shirts and pants, hotshots use the terrain to move their controlled fire towards the wild fire in order to starve it. They’re careful to get every bit of grass: ‘We’re doing cleanup,’ Cressler says. ‘That’s why it doesn’t look like we’re in a very concrete line-up. Usually, it’s very structured, but here, we’re getting…

PISTOL GRIP TOOL Debut: Hubble Space Telescope, 1997 NASA commissioned a tool astronauts could use to service equipment while wearing space suits. The PGT is a basic drill-driver, down to the battery that plugs in below the grip, but with a screen that allows precise torque selection. EPSON STYLUS 800 AND HP ENVY ZERO-GRAVITY PRINTER Debut: STS-95 Shuttle Mission, 1998, and ISS, 2018 ISS, 2018 Inkjet printers move ink with capillary action, not gravity. So the Epson 800, the first printer on board the ISS, was modified mainly to keep the paper from floating away. Today’s printer started as an HP Envy 5600 – before all the parts for unnecessary functions, such as scanning, were removed. The designers also 3D-printed lighter parts, including a tab to point the carriage downward…

IT’S THE YEAR 2037. A SPACESHIP CARRYING AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS HAS JUST EMBARKED ON A HISTORIC MISSION TO MARS. Rocket lift-off was perfect and everything is going according to plan. Now the spacecraft nears the Moon and prepares to dock at a fuel depot in high lunar orbit. At this space-based truck stop, it tops off its tanks with propellant manufactured at a factory on the lunar surface, and heavy with fuel, takes off again for the long journey to its final destination many millions of kilometres away. Do you believe this scenario? NASA does. And the agency is already engaged in the most audacious project in its history. The goal: turn ambitions of Moon-made rocket fuel and a mission to Mars into reality. NASA’s Gateway programme is the first stepping…

Formula One is unique in that it’s the sport most dependant on technology. Composite materials have changed golf, tennis and athletic equipment over the years, and rugby, cricket and football kit is constantly evolving too, but owing to the never-ending evolution of machinery and compounds, Formula One in 2019 bears virtually no resemblance to that of any other racing era that’s gone before. The pressure on Liberty Media and the FIA, Formula One’s owners and governing body respectively, to grow and improve the sport year by year has created a monster – a monster worth $4.4 billion as of 2016 when Liberty Media took controlling interest of the championship. As a result, the logistics of the spectacle and how this slick turnkey operation manages to travel to 21 countries, across…

Aside from warm weather and no school, one thing you might associate with summer is bees. While bees can sting you – and usually they won’t, if you leave them alone and don’t try to swat them – they do a lot of good things, too. We asked Ian Kaplan and Brock Harpur, assistant professors of entomology at Purdue University in Indiana, to teach us a few facts about these buzzy (and sometimes fuzzy) little creatures. THERE ARE A LOT OF BEES There are more than 4 000 bee species in the United States, and over 20 000 in the entire world. Some bees, such as honeybees, live in hives. But most bee species actually live alone and nest in the ground, no wax or honey in sight, including this…

Picture a chaotic Venn diagram with hundreds of circles representing the world’s knife laws. California’s limits on button-release switchblades. UK laws restricting lock knives. Japan’s ban on blades exceeding six centimetres. Now imagine the middle of that diagram as the only sweet spot for legal knives. Inside it, you’ll find the compact Benchmade 380 Aller ($160, or ±R2 250), a new everyday-carry (EDC) knife designed to keep travellers in compliance with local regulations virtually everywhere they land. It’s the latest product from Benchmade Knife Company, one of the leading knife makers in Portland, Oregon. If that doesn’t sound like a fully formed endorsement, it’s likely because you don’t know that, goat yoga and hemp beer aside, Portland is known in blade circles as the knife capital of the US. Seki…

Make me want to do this Easy. Take a ride. Most flight schools and small aviation companies will charge you no more than a few hundred rands for a taste – usually an hour ride, with an instructor. You get to grab the controls for part of the time, zip around, maybe fly over your house. It’s usually called a discovery flight. Do this. When you fly in a small aircraft at a low altitude, the sensation is not so much that the world below gets smaller. The overwhelming sensation is that the sky gets bigger. Bigger than you’ve ever seen it, even from some endless beach, or from out in the desert, or from the multilayered polycarbonate window of a commercial airliner. The sky pulls you up and surrounds…

Challenge 1 You can’t just point and shoot. Do that and your spacecraft will miss Mars. So, rocket scientists use a manoeuvre called a Hohmann transfer orbit to send a vehicle from a small circular orbit (say, Earth’s) to a larger one (Mars’s). The transfer orbit must be timed precisely so that when the spacecraft leaves Earth it arrives at destination orbit at the same time Mars reaches the same position. Earth and Mars only come into the right orbital alignment for a Hohmann transfer once every 26 months to allow a survivable six-month journey with the use of available propulsion techniques. How going back to the Moon helps: It would be relatively easy for a Mars-bound vehicle to ‘stop by’ Gateway at its very high orbit at a relatively…

FOUNDER Connie Baker, Head Distiller DISTILLERY Marble Distilling Co. Carbondale, Colorado When we were planning Marble, my husband and I visited about 50 other distilleries. We were shocked by the amount of water and energy loss in this industry. Unlike many urban distilleries, which are often in repurposed buildings, we undertook a ground-up project in a vacant lot because we wanted to follow green building specifications and build a first-of-its-kind sustainable distillery. Today we are a zero-waste facility. It’s about the water. We are incredibly proud of our pristine water, hauled from our own well in Marble, Colorado. That water comes from the headwaters of the fast-moving Crystal River, which drains from a glacial valley and is mainly filtered through Yule marble. (Trivia: The Yule Marble Quarry was the source…

EVEREST GIVES you all you’re probably looking for in a large SUV – enough space inside to stow a full U/13 soccer team (okay, the driver plus six occupants, which will leave you a few players short), cubic metreage that can accommodate all the raw materials for that DIY project you’ve been putting off (especially with seats six and seven – that row’s legroom is more suited to shorter people – folded down), or, most importantly, territory enough for camping gear galore for trips into the wilderness. Fold flat the second row of seats and throw down a bedroll, and you can lie fully stretched out in the back (staring up at the stars, if you’ve bought the model with the panoramic glass roof). The biggest news and primary adaptation…

1 SEPTEMBER 1966 Just point ’er in and push the button In 1966, we introduced a new invention called the ‘Sidler’. Built by Archie Butterworth, this device attached to the back wheels of a car, enabling it to move sideways into a parking space using hydraulic rams. It could be fitted to any kind of car, whether front-wheel- or rear-wheel drive. 2 SEPTEMBER 1939 Driving a Bullet on Wheels Captain George ET Eyston lived for speed, having broken the land-speed record three times in his streamlined automobile, aptly named Thunderbolt. Using photographs and cockpit diagrams, this article showed what it’s like being one of the fastest men on the planet, travelling at speeds above and beyond 500 km/h. 3 SEPTEMBER 1954 What’s All This Talk About Hi-Fi? No one likes…

IT’S 3 JUNE, 1965, and astronaut Ed White, in orbit over Hawaii, emerges from a space capsule, becoming the first American to conduct an extravehicular activity, or EVA. Connected with a single tether, he manoeuvres using an oxygen gun for propulsion, and poses for pictures. ‘I feel like a million dollars,’ White says. These days, EVAs are not done for the photos. They’re required for maintenance and operation of the International Space Station and are planned to the minute. Astronauts seldom have time for a selfie or joyriding with jet guns. Statistically, doing an EVA is just as dangerous as launching and re-entry,’ says Garrett Reisman, professor and former NASA astronaut with a seven-plus-hour spacewalk on his résumé. EVAs are difficult, dangerous, and time-consuming, so it makes sense that engineers…

1 / LEATHERMAN FREE P4 RRP R3 499 awesometools.co.za Editor’s notes: This is the multitool I want with me if I’m stranded in the wilderness. The non-slip texture and dimensions make it satisfying to hold, and the opening action of the pliers and tools is highly satisfying. Tools can be (mostly) operated with one hand, but this isn’t hugely important to me. The blade, serrated blade, saw and scissors cover all cutting needs. Favourite feature: Tough pliers with wire cutters. Components: (21 tools) Needle-nose/regular pliers; replaceable wire/hard-wire cutters; 420HC blade and serrated blade; spring-action scissors; saw; pry tool; package opener; awl; can opener; wire stripper; 25 mm ruler; wood/metal file; bottle opener; electrical crimper; Phillips/medium/small/extrasmall screwdrivers. Specs: 244 g; 108 mm closed length; 70 mm blade length; 25-year warranty. Note:…

First off, let’s get the lingo right: They’re Extravehicular Mobility Units, EMUs for short. And they’ll be waiting for you to slip into on the Moon’s surface when you arrive. ‘Unlike Apollo, where we stayed for a maximum three days, we’re going to need suits that are very robust,’ says Shane Jacobs, PhD, lead spacesuit designer for the David Clark Company. ‘[They] will have to be very reliable, and have to be serviced, maintained, and used for many, many, many extravehicular activities, for hours at a time.’ Here’s a look at the next EMU. – JP Gloves They must be nimble. ‘If a human can’t get in there and do those fine, dextrous tasks, then that eliminates one of the main reasons we’re putting the human at the work site,’…

You’re already glued to your cellphone, so why not put it to good use and use it to lose weight, get fit or sleep better? It’s not quite that simple, says Amy Lehner. ve tried my share of digital health- and fitness aids over the years. The sleep app did nothing to improve my morning ‘alarm … snooze … alarm … snooze, snooze, snooze’ routine. The food-diary website just left me feeling guilty when I realised that I’d eaten my daily kilojoules by lunchtime. And the pedometer met an untimely end when it fell into the toilet. mHEALTH BRINGS IN THE MOOLAH Those websites, apps and wearable devices are big business and there is even new terminology to describe them: ‘eHealth’ (electronic health, for all healthcare services provided online) and…

As are melktert and koeksisters, biltong is a food that defines us as South Africans. So knowing how to make it is an important skill to master. Prep time: 1–2 days Drying time: 5 days Serves: 4 Difficulty: Medium WHAT YOU’LL NEED: 2 kg silverside beef For the brine ½ cup red-wine vinegar2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce For the spice rub cup brown sugar2 tbsp coarse salt1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda½ cup coriander seeds, crushed1 tbsp barbecue spice1 tsp black pepper TOOLS FOR THE TASK: A sharp knife Hooks A biltong maker (with a light fitting) As South Africans, biltong is a part of our heritage. Americans might have jerky, but when compared to biltong, it ranks as a distant cousin no one really likes. Watching a rugby match just isn’t…

POPULAR MECHANICS TOOL RATING 5/5 IT’S RARE FORany woodworking innovation to turn the entire industry on its head. But this does happen, and products that come to mind that occupy a spot on this lofty list include plungecut track saws, many of the 18-volt cordless power tools, biscuit joiners and random orbital sanders. And then there are Festool Domino joining machines. Simply put, the Festool Domino, which was first introduced more than ten years ago, is a genius power tool. The joints that the Domino joiner makes are a form of the aeons-old and incredibly strong mortise and tenon joint, but instead of the tenon being part of the actual timber, the Domino cuts a mortise into each of the two pieces of wood that are being joined, and then…

IT’S BIG, IT’S BOXY, but man, is this car luxurious! The doors on this sizeable Swede close in a way that immediately tells you a lot of attention has been paid to build quality. They don’t slam – it’s like there’s some sort of anti-sound technology at play as they close. Then there’s the sense of being cosseted in the cabin – the ride quality, the lack of road noise, the crisp calibre of sound flowing through the Bowers & Wilkins system, the knowledge you’re surrounded by the best vehicular safety technology money can buy… The experience, of course – as driver or passenger – comes down to what you want from a car. A vehicle that’s more basic, maybe older and with fewer features and less technology, has you…