Few things are as enticing to young engineering students as the opportunity to build their own go-karts from scratch, and 18-year-old engineering student Jasper Edwards is living the dream. The UK-based engineer, who works out of his own garage, creates his karts starting with shopping carts and wheelchairs scavenged from local junkyards. Using the existing form factors, Edwards then outfits the karts with motors to propel them at speeds of up to 50 MPH. If this isn’t one of the best and most entertaining use cases for upcycling, then I don’t know what is. In this short documentary made by members of the Edwards family, Jasper gives us further insight…

Some say 3D printing is not useful and is dying, but in fact our world is being slowly changed in fundamental ways behind the scenes. In factories around the world, designers and manufacturers are exploring the advantages of 3D print technology, trying to find ways to optimize their work. With the recent increase in awareness of metal 3D printing technology have come a number of components for powerful new applications. Perhaps one of the most profound applications I’ve recently seen is that of SpaceX. The company has been extensively using metal 3D printing to build stronger and lighter components for their series of rockets. That makes intuitive sense; if you’re…

You could do worse than designing a new standing desk. And there seem to be enough new ways to approach standing to keep the options coming out. Gaze Lab thinks there’s a smarter way to manage desk fit and screen placement. With the Gaze Desk they want to solve these problems and then some, making it the smartest smart desk on the market. The Gaze Desk has a motorized, adjustable dual-tier design, but most sit-and-stand desks adjust for sitting and standing, right? Well, Gaze approaches this a little differently. The desk incorporates a dual mechanical lift design to control the front and back tiers separate from or together with each…

I bet you have one bag you really love. And then an excess of other bags you don’t use at all. If you collect the goody bags at your favorite Tech/CAD conference each year, you probably have a massive stack o’ bag history in your closet. “I’ve made them into a bed. I SLEEP ON THEM.” I believe you. Some would say you can’t have enough bags, but I’ve found a bag, a messenger bag, that may be the everyday bag you’re looking for.

One of my 200 dream cars begins with Porsche and ends with 911 GT3 RS. Until I can sell enough plasma to purchase a used one that needs the rusted out floorboard replaced, I’ll settle for the highly prized 1:8 scale LEGO Technic version. And until one of you buy that and ship it to me, I’ll settle for gazing up this 3D model of the beautifully bricked out Porsche 911 FT3 RS, built by GrabCAD user DK.

Music. Just what you need to get you through a tough task. It’s why we bring you SolidSmack Radio each week. What’s keeping you from enjoying that? The right pair of headphones. If it’s not tangled wires, it’s battery life. If it’s not battery life, it’s someone yappin’ in your face. The first two issues is what Utah-based ELWN hopes to tackle with their new FIT earbuds. Wireless earbuds, mind you. ELWN FIT earbuds are designed specifically to enable extended battery life and be the most comfortable fit. For taking in your tunes, watching your work out videos or receiving calls, ELWN promises to provide “endless” hours of run-time. Well,…