Recently in TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Tesla Model S Onboard Systems Battery Runs Down While on Charger
…and the the fun begins.
Posted at
10:34
Friday, May 14, 2021
Inside a 10 Gigabit per Second USB-C Cable
Cross section of a 10 Gbps USB-C USB 3.x cable, potted in resin for photography.
— Evil Mad Scientist (@EMSL) May 14, 2021
This cable has 8 shielded "micro coax" cables for its high speed signals, each of which is only 1 mm across.
Outtake from a photo shoot with @TubeTimeUS pic.twitter.com/bseGkiBn5S
The tip of a ball-point pen is shown for scale. Not all such cables use these micro-coaxial conductors: some use shielded twisted pairs. The conductors in the centre are for compatibility with USB 2.0.
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12:04
Thursday, May 13, 2021
The True Cost of Processor Manufacturing: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 7 Nanometre Process
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12:10
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
The Joys of Surface-Mount Components
The designers of this PCB didn't think soldermask alignment would be so bad, or that copper-to-copper clearance would be an issue... this solder bridge was hidden under a part...and *not* easy to find. pic.twitter.com/5E6YVvT6be
— Ben Krasnow (@BenKrasnow) May 11, 2021
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07:59
Sunday, May 9, 2021
HP 9825 Repair Part 7: How Dynamic RAM Works (or Doesn't)
In the next installment of the “everything is broken” saga, the focus moves on to the random access memory (RAM) of the Hewlett-Packard 9825 laboratory computer. The refresh circuitry appears not to be working, which causes the system to rapidly forget what's been stored. What's refresh? Perhaps a deep dive into the history and technology of dynamic RAM will refresh your memory!
The HP 9825 uses the 4116 dynamic RAM chip, which brought back…memories…as I designed a 64 Kb memory board in 1979 using this same iconic chip.
Posted at
11:41
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Judging Theories of Everything, with Lee Smolin and Eric Weinstein
There's even a brief discussion of the forthcoming Pentagon disclosures on UFOs at the end.
Posted at
14:26
Friday, May 7, 2021
GoPro Inside a Dishwasher
If he'd added detergent during the initial rinse cycle (note that the detergent dispenser has an indentation to the left of the compartment that holds the dose for the wash cycle intended for this purpose), the grotty cruft on the plates would likely have been removed much earlier in the cleaning cycle, with more flushed out with the rinse water before the start of the main wash. See SCANALYZER for 2020-12-22 for details.
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13:28
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
That Time a DC-8 Flew Faster than Sound
Here is an interview with Richard H. Edwards, flight engineer on the 1961-08-21 supersonic flight.
Posted at
12:46
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Rendering 3D in the Brain—The Pulfrich Effect
Here is more about the Pulfrich effect.
Posted at
12:35
Monday, May 3, 2021
International Space Station Transits the Moon
The ISS passing in front of the Moon at 7.67 km/s
— Latest in space (@latestinspace) May 2, 2021
🎥Peter Rosén (IG:@pixmix_photo)#space pic.twitter.com/W4oEQRTiJL
Posted at
12:15
Saturday, May 1, 2021
The Mind of a Chess Grandmaster
Here is @Kasparov63 recounting one such test in Frankfurt, 1987, two years after he first became world champion. And how they made it easy for him. From How Life Imitates Chess. pic.twitter.com/RQgeOU32IA
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) April 30, 2021
Posted at
14:11
When a Boeing 747 Flew with 1088 People on Board
Here is more information about Operation Solomon, of which the flight was a part. The exact number of people on the flight was stated in contemporary reports as between 1078 and 1122, with agreement that two were born on board during the flight.
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13:36
Friday, April 30, 2021
Weed Eater Wars!
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14:12
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Black Plasma
Sodium ions absorb light from a sodium vapour lamp, resulting in a black plasma flame. The trick only works with monochromatic sodium light.
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14:20
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
“Slash Resistant” Portable “Safe”
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13:31
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Deep Dive—SpaceX Starship: Why Do a Belly Flop, and Why So Close to the Ground?
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10:53
Friday, April 23, 2021
How Did the ‘Impossible’ Perfect Bridge Deal Happen?
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11:45
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Empire of Grifters: “Quadro Tracker”
The amazing “Quadro Tracker”—invented by a former used car salesman named Wade L. Quattlebaum—is like Doc Smith’s “object compass”, except with dead ants, it claimed to be able to detect lost golf balls, drugs, weapons, explosives, missing persons, and game animals. Around 1000 units were sold at prices ranging from US$400 to US$8000 each to gullible school districts, law enforcement agencies, and airports, including the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Quadro Corporation, who marketed it between 1993 and 1996 before being shut down by the FBI and its principals indicted for mail fraud, said it worked via “static electricity produced by the body inhaling and exhaling gases into and out of the lung cavity” to “charge the free-floating neutral electrons of the signature card with the major strength of the signal”.
At trial in January 1997, the three principals of the company were acquitted of mail fraud and conspiracy.
learning about the "Quadro Tracker", a bomb/drug/person-locating device a bunch of cops & school districts bought in the 90s that turned out to just be a box of dead ants pic.twitter.com/PBxOk23PTb
— Jack Grimes (@Jackapedia_) April 21, 2021
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12:31
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Classical Music Medley Played by a Model Train
Here is more about Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany.
Posted at
10:27
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Lined Up to Land on a Taxiway: Air Canada Flight 759
“Where's this guy goin'? He's on the taxiway.”
Here is more about the incident. “Air Canada has stopped using flight number 759.”
Is “whoa” the most-misspelled four-letter word in the English language?
Posted at
13:02