It would seem like an impossible endeavor to top NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson’s Super Soaker water gun, but a team of German engineers may have taken the water weapon crown with their Spyra One- a water rifle that fires ‘water bullets,’ meant to improve accuracy and distance. Whereas the Super Soaker requires you to fill a water reservoir manually and pump air to create firing pressure, the Spyra One uses a motorized pump that does all the work for you. Filling the Spyra One is done by simply submerging the business end into a bucket of water, lake, or another water source, and an internal pump automatically fills its tank.…
Those of you who know us well know of our longstanding love for the iconic rOtring 800 Mechanical Pencil. But heck, it isn’t the only great mechanical pencil to have on your desktop. For those who are particular about sharp lead points — AT ALL TIMES — the brilliant engineering behind writing tool manufacturer Uni’s Kuru Toga mechanical pencil just might be the best thing for you since, well, sliced bread. Ideal for sketching, writing, engineering linework, or just about anything else that requires a nice bit of lead to the paper, the Kuru Toga features a mechanism that rotates the lead ever-so-slightly each time it’s lifted from the page—meaning, you’re always…
Don your favorite bathrobe, cream that coffee and get comfortable with this week’s SolidSmack Weekend Reader. The Weekend Reader features a handful of the most interesting articles featured on the ‘Smack over the past week ranging from tips and tricks to inspirational designs, processes, and more. So lay back, relax and take a load off while reading the top stories on SolidSmack this past week. Oh and uh…don’t forget to shed some much-needed sunlight on your face, too. LEGO Designers Created a Life-Sized—and Drivable—LEGO Bugatti Chiron Remember LEGO’s Bugatti Chiron model kit earlier this year? Well, apparently they thought 3,599 pieces wasn’t enough… so they made a life-sized version to…
We heard the crunch as we stepped up on the platform. Wood. Metal clamps. Held together with what looked like veins of a five-day-old onion thrown against the wall and dowsed with curry powder. The smell wasn’t too dissimilar. We had two choices, continue on and make the ridge before dark or settle in, grill up some Sri Lankan chicken, and watch these links hatch. Michal Kus – He has plenty of full-color concepts, but his sketches and line art is just incredibly intrguing. Process video inculded with some as well. Base Sketch to Polished Scene – This is the process Amir Zand goes through to turn a very basic…
A group of self-described “anarchist biohackers” has designed a lab reactor that people can make at home out of 3D-printed pieces and off-the-shelf parts, which could potentially enable people to synthesize their own medications. The Four Thieves Vinegar Collective was founded by mathematics professor Michael Laufer in 2015, on a platform of ensuring that people have cost-effective access to medication. It rose to prominence in 2016, when price hikes on the EpiPen inspired the group to create plans for a homemade autoinjector cheekily named “EpiPencil.” The EpiPencil could be made for $30, and reloaded for $3, as opposed to the $600 for the brand-name version. Ultimately, the collective’s goal is…
They may seem useless at first, but you can’t deny mobile device stands make up a rather quirky part of the consumer market. These hefty, often colorful accessories are for those who lack the extra appendages to hold their devices upright while doing something else. The Montelouro is no exception. Crafted by Rafael Fernández Sánchez through his one-man company Oitenta, this stand sticks out from the others not just from its glacier-like appearance but though its ability to hold just about any mobile device imaginable within its crevices. In actuality, the Montelouro gets its shape and name from a hill near a beach Rafael spent as a child. All the…