Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2022 i Popular Mechanics South Africa

WE ALWAYS WORK several months in advance to get a particular issue of Popular Mechanics to the printers, on to the shop shelves and into your hands. As I write this, I’m well into my stride for the run-up to the end of 2021. The last few weeks before a year wraps up always seem frantic. Everyone suddenly wakes up to the fact that a lot needs to get done before their summer holidays kick in (and, of course, this wake-up call is always perfectly synchronised). Because, let’s be honest, not much productivity happens from around the middle of December until the second week of January. So I’ve been attending launches and events (some virtual, others in real life), prepping for 2022’s magazine issues, liaising with clients and ad sales…

While Carr’s debate surrounding ‘2+2=5’ is somewhat postmodern in nature, the equation has a storied past as a tenet of anti-intellectualism. For instance, Fyodor Dostoyevsky set up the unnamed protagonist in his 1864 novel Notes from Underground to believe that 2+2=5. Dostoyevsky mused that such an objection of external logic represents the free will that makes a person human. Meanwhile George Orwell, in a 1943 essay, described Nazi propaganda as a denial of science, noting that if Hitler proclaimed ‘two and two are five’, it would be received as the only certain truth. Orwell repeated this idea in his novel 1984.…

OUR COUNTERPARTS AT the US edition of POPULAR MECHANICS voted this their ‘best knife sharpener’ of 2021, and after getting our hands on one to try ourselves, it’s easy to see why. When it comes to knives, there’s nothing worse than a dull blade. Not only is it actually more dangerous to use – you have to utilise excessive force to get results, risking slipping and severe injury – but it completely diminishes the core purpose of the tool: cutting, as efficiently and effectively as possible. A quick read through the instruction leaflet has you set up and ready to sharpen in no time. Position your knife firmly in the blade clamp (this component rotates 180°, allowing you to sharpen both sides of the knife edge). Snap the sharpening rod with…

According to the World Health Organization, a person needs around 20 litres of water a day – enough for cooking, cleaning, washing and drinking. But when you live in an arid climate and have a population of nearly 10 million people, it’s almost impossible to get to that quantity without being creative. With an average rainfall figure of 100 mm per year – a tenth of the global mean – the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the driest regions on Earth. So how does it get water? Right now, there are three sources: ground water, desalination, and what falls from the sky. In 1982, the UAE’s first cloud-seeding operation took place in Abu Dhabi. In the 1990s, further weather-augmentation experiments were carried out and by the turn of the…

FOR RACING EMAX TINYHAWK Racing drones can become a serious (and expensive) hobby for those who pursue it. This budget-friendly option comes in a kit that includes a controller and FPV goggles for the full experience. And, while far from the fastest, it can reach speeds up to 55 km/h. Just as important: It’s durable enough to withstand crashes as you hone your skills. BEST VALUE RYZE TELLO (±R2 000) Finding a reliable, capable drone for less than R2 000 is possible as long as your search includes the Tello. While there’s no mistaking this for a pro-level piece of equipment, it benefits from a partnership with DJI that gives it some decent capabilities – such as 13 minutes of fly time, a range of 100 m, and a top…

MAYBE YOU’VE SEEN IT AT THE bottom of a restaurant’s beverage menu or a brewery’s extensive beer list: the ‘NA’ or ‘non-alcoholic’ option. There, it might feel like an afterthought but the non-alcoholic movement, especially when it comes to beer, is gaining traction in the adult-beverage market. Non-alcoholic beer dates back to Prohibition, but it’s having a resurgence, fuelled by changing consumer habits and brewers’ successful tinkering with the complex processes required to make it. Between July and September 2020, NA beer sales were up approximately 38 per cent in the US compared with the same period in 2019, according to data analytics group IRI. Craft operations dedicated to NA suds have sprung up across the United States, not to mention beer giants such as Heineken and Anheuser-Busch – the maker…

FOR A SPIRIT THAT ONLY REQUIRES THREE ingredients to make, Scotch gets surprisingly complex. Like wine, each glass hails from one of several distinct regions that forms its final flavour. That terroir primarily comes from the turf-like material that makes Scotch smoke, but it also shows up in the barrels used for ageing. Knowing your Macallans from your Lagavulins takes some science, a bit of history, and plenty of tasting. Scotch’s story starts with peat, a decomposed plant matter that accumulates over time and compresses naturally. One-fifth of Scotland’s land mass is covered in peat bogs; for centuries, thanks to the country’s lack of forests, Scots used peat to heat their homes, cook food, and especially make whisky. Peat comes in during the kilning stage of production. Distillers place barley –…

A WHISTLE’S SOUND is more than a noise. It’s a sound of authority. It’s a distinctive message, whether that’s a warning, a penalty, a call for help, or a sound among an orchestra. It’s something I never knew when I first started at ACME Whistles in sales in 1982. I was fortunate enough to take over a decade later, and before and after that time, we have always strived for innovation in the many markets we serve. Today I might speak to a top referee organisation. Tomorrow I might speak with police and security people. Then bands and orchestras. Then dog trainers. It makes for a very interesting and varied life because you get a wide variety of products that are essential for a person’s duty. Because people often want…

In 2011, China revealed the Chengdu J-20 ‘Mighty Dragon’ as its first fifth-generation stealth fighter. The fighter has flat, angular surfaces to minimise its radar signature, large forward canards for enhanced manoeuvrability, and an estimated top speed of Mach 2. The J-20 packs two engines, internal weapons bays, electro-optical sensors, and an advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. It’s hefty enough that it could act as either a long-range fighter or a fighter bomber. And it can target American airborne tankers, intelligence, and early warning aircraft with the new PL-15 long-range, radar-guided missile, forcing American fighters to fight without critical support aircraft. The Su-57 fighter – NATO classification name ‘FELON’ – is the first stealthy Russian design, with angled surfaces to reduce radar returns and a radar-absorbing paint coating. The…

You already know modular maths, thanks to how we read clocks. Modular arithmetic gets its name from the modulo operator (mod for short), which dictates how you’ll count through a series of numbers. On a clock, the mod is 12. We count up to 12 and then start over again. Which is why 3 pm is not 15 pm, but 3 is congruent (essentially, equal) with 15 (mod 12). The modulo operator can be any positive number, and acts as the key for understanding how the values of numbers have changed. For example, in mod 2, the numbers 3 and 5 are the same. In modular arithmetic, your mod value is how many numbers are in your mod. But unlike the numbers on a clock, we start with 0 where…

Non-alcoholic brews are having a moment, but nowadays beer lists are also starting to include options that range from 2 to 4 per cent ABV. Previously, social drinkers looking to mitigate their alcohol, sugar, or carbohydrate intake might turn to a low-alcohol option, such as a session, which usually hits 5 per cent ABV or lower. But ‘the trend now is to go even lower,’ Philip Brandes at Bravus Brewing Co says. Beer in the 2 to 3 per cent ABV range can be made more or less normally, but using less fermentable sugar like malt, says chemistry professor Roger Barth. ‘The body can be bumped up with maltodextrin or some other carb that is unfermentable by brewer’s yeast,’ he adds. ‘One can also fiddle with mashing conditions, usually by…

GLENFIDDICH 14 YEAR BOURBON BARREL RESERVE (43% ABV) If you’re a bourbon buff, this Speyside expression – aged in ex-bourbon American oak casks, then transferred to new bourbon casks – goes down smooth. The oak whiff is unmistakable, with a sweet, fruity palate and caramel finish. BENRIACH SMOKY TEN (46% ABV) For a crash course in peat, sniff this bomb – a nod to Speyside’s pre-Industrial Revolution past – that offers strong hints of smoked vanilla and Korean barbecue. Oak, vanilla, and honey from the bourbon cask combine with Highland peat smoke for notes of pepper and leather, too. JURA 18-YEAR-OLD (44% ABV) First matured in American White Oak ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux barriques, this is an Islands whisky for wine fans. Catch cinnamon…

The story from several issues ago about ‘Mad Mike’ Hughes intrigued me. The lifelong drive that this man had to achieve his extreme goals is commendable, even if what he was aiming for was extremely dangerous. I guess you could argue that dying was always going to be the most likely outcome. But it’s people such as this, throughout history, who have been responsible for some of humankind’s greatest achievements and advancements. Just look at Benjamin Franklin risking life and limb flying a kite during a thunderstorm, as part of his research into harnessing the power of electricity. And there are countless other examples, too, such as the Wright brothers’ early attempts at flying. Perhaps Mad Mike’s ambitions were selfish, and a bit outlandish, but it’s hard to argue against…

COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH Average daily temperatures in Oymyakon, Russia, the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world, hover around –45°C in the winter. The frigid town’s record low is –68°C. Only Antarctica’s Vostok Station has recorded a lower temperature. HIGHEST ELEVATION La Rinconada, Peru, a gold-mining town in the Andes Mountains, sits at more than 5 090 m above sea level, making it the highest settlement in the world. Scientists are working with locals to understand the effects of the thin air – half the oxygen of that at sea level – on their bodies. DRIEST INHABITED PLACE Chile’s Atacama Desert has long been heralded as the driest place on Earth. Quillagua, a town situated on the north-western outskirts of the desert, holds the record for driest inhabited location…

ON PAPER, IT’S ONE OF THE SIMPLEST maths problems in the world: 2+2. If you’re counting something, such as screws at the hardware store, it’s pretty straightforward. But the lines blur in other contexts. If you add two cups of vinegar to two cups of baking soda, and the reaction produces five cups of a fizzy mess, does that mean 2+2=5? We bring assumptions into the world of mathematics. In this case, the simple ‘counting numbers’ – the whole integers 1, 2, 3, and so on – signify a gulf between math’s abstraction and application. Using ‘2+2=4’ as food for thought, mathematicians are exploring the circumstances in which 2+2 doesn’t actually equal 4, at least not neatly, and we can extend those interpretations to larger questions in epistemology – how we…

VIBRANZ ORION SERIES MYSTIC OILS Inhaling one to two drops of these plant-based essential oils will balance your mind and body, Vibranz attests. The oils supposedly harmonise with the frequencies of your cells. Dr Barzilai says: ‘Bull****. Cells are not synchronised in any way that you could just breathe oil [and see results].’ DEFYTIME AGING CARE CREAM Activated molecules within this face and neck cream detect telomeres in your skin to vanish wrinkles and inhibit shortening, a key cause of ageing. The price tag is steep: $1 500. Dr Barzilai says: ‘Elongating telomeres or over-expressing telomerase can be harmful and possibly cause cancer, and having nice skin doesn’t mean you won’t die.’ AGELESS RX NAD+ INJECTION One injection can drive up to 100 mg NAD+ into the bloodstream via fatty…

These fractions within fractions let mathematicians study irrational numbers, such as Pi and, and find patterns in their infinite decimals. Finding patterns in complex, irrational numbers is crucial to fields such as crypto-graphy and encryption. The easiest way to jump into a continued fraction is to start with a ‘simple and finite’ continued fraction, where you’ll have nothing but 1s in the numerator position of the continued fractions, and it will resolve in just a few steps. Continued fractions for an irrational number, such as Pi, go on ad infinitum. Take 37/13. That’s one of those awkward improper fractions. You can also write 37/13 as 2 plus 11/13. That’s step one in converting to a continued fraction. To get to the next nested layer, you again need an improper fraction…

BY THE EARLY 2010s, YOUTUBE HAD BLOWN up, allowing us to create and consume amateur content in quantities that we never had before, and people were hungry for more angles. GoPro had cornered the action-sports market with small, affordable cameras that captured incredible first-person POV footage, but there was a clear hole in the hobbyist videographer’s repertoire: aerial. Sure, major companies such as Red Bull could afford to rent a helicopter to shoot an epic stunt, but it was almost completely inaccessible to consumers and the indie set. Inventive filmers would attach GoPros to remote-control planes, helicopters, and even weather balloons, but none of those were particularly easy to fly. Then, in 2013, DJI introduced the Phantom drone. ‘DJI was one of the first companies to understand that a consumer…

MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN Talk (don’t yell) to alert the bear to your presence as you slowly back out of the area. If a bear is too close or doesn’t leave, do not run – that signals that you’re prey. CARRY BEAR SPRAY AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT ‘Most charges come from 15 m or less. That takes [a bear] 1.6 seconds,’ says Neal Wedum, retired Glacier National Park ranger. Be prepared to deploy bear spray by practising pulling it from the holster and flipping off the safety (in an outdoor area) so it becomes an instant reaction. Carry the can in the same place on your belt or pack so you reach for it without thinking. SPRAY IF CONTACT IS IMMINENT Aim low, and spray even when the bear…

Prep time:15 min Serves: 4–6 SUMMER GAZPACHO WHAT YOU’LL NEED ▪ 1 kg ripe Roma or cherry tomatoes▪ 20 almonds, toasted▪ 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped▪ ¼ garlic clove, peeled▪ ¼ red onion, peeled and chopped▪ 1 cucumber, chopped▪ 5 tbsp red-wine vinegar▪ 1 tsp paprika▪ 1 orange, juiced To serve ▪ Handful exotic tomatoes, chopped▪ 3 tbsp olive oil▪ Handful chives, roughly chopped at an angle STEPS TO SUCCESS 1 Blend all the ingredients together till smooth, except for 10 almonds. Now pass it through a fine sieve, and leave it to rest in the fridge. 2 Serve topped with exotic tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, chives and the remaining almonds, roughly chopped. BANANA-BREAD RAWNOLA WHAT YOU’LL NEED ▪ 1 banana▪ 1 tbsp cinnamon▪ 5 tbsp water▪ ¼ tsp…

THE WORD ‘MORTISE’ originates from the 13th century French word mortaise – a hole or groove into which another part is fitted to form a joint. ‘Tenon’ has been in English usage since the late 14th century. It describes a projection that’s inserted to make a joint. It’s derived from the French tenir, which means ‘to hold’ or ‘hold on’. The applications of mortise and tenon joints vary enormously. They’re used on items as small and delicate as jewellery- or trinket boxes, or projects as large as the construction of wooden ships and cathedral arches. The first-known artefactual evidence of mortise and tenon joinery is from a wood-lined well discovered in Altscherbitz near Leipzig in eastern Germany. It’s been dated at around 7 000 years old and is regarded as…

AUTOMAKERS DEDICATE A HUGE amount of testing and material science to keeping your car from oxidising. Some build with aluminium and magnesium components, which are lighter, stronger, and corrode much more slowly than steel. But those better metals are still expensive and used sparingly. For most car owners, rust is still an issue, which is why you need to periodically check your vehicle, regardless of where you live or the time of year. How to prevent rust The best advice is the most obvious: Wash your car regularly to clean off the road grime, salts, and dirt that lead to corrosion. It’s worth paying extra at the car wash for the undercarriage spray. Some not-so-obvious DIY advice: Especially in winter, take a hose to the space behind the wheels, where…

HANG TIME My hack is a simpler way to mark where on a wall to hang a picture frame, or mirror. Rather than having to perform many measurements to get the location of the nail, screw, pin or plastic hook just right, I use a shaped piece of stiff wire (the hanger) to mark the spot on the wall. Pic 1 shows how I’ve bent the wire. The end has a sharp point for marking the wall, and the wire is sturdy enough to hold up to a 5 kg frame. I suspend the frame on its string on the hook of the hanger, and holding the wire by its loop, I position the frame exactly where I want it on the wall (see pic 2). Sometimes, before using the…