LiquidPiston has invented a new rotary type engine that is piston-less, valve-less, and weighs only four pounds. They published a proof of concept video for the XMv3 engine, shown powering a small go-kart, that builds evidence that the High Efficiency Hybrid Cycle (HEHC) engine could be the compact, energy-efficient engine of the future.

Mondays might not be your favorite day of the week, but the good news is that we’re all in this together ladies and gentlemen. As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Each Monday, we’ll link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you. Be sure to check in each Monday morning for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight from the source of your favorite…

Captured in the rain and looking toward the hill, we ran. The rumble of the swarm oscillated with the falling water to the point we couldn’t hear our own footsteps. It might as well have been the silence of white noise, and suddenly… it was. For out of the hill rose a beast with a roar that quieted all with these links. Cedric Peyravernay – In love with the character art from Cedric Peyravernay. Rough, gritty concept style, with loads of layer and surreal details. Holding an Explosion – There are potato cannons and then there is the transparent cannon Destin from Smarter Every Day made to observe what happens…

If you haven’t heard of Minecraft, some may consider you lucky. Others may be shocked. It’s a block-based, build-it-yourself video game that has become popular over the years with gamers of all ages, especially younger ones. It allows people to create virtually anything in their blocky worlds, encouraging users to pump their creative juices. One startup plans to take the game further by using it as a foundation to teach users to build their own computers and learn electronics. Piper, a startup promoting invention and creation through DIY electronics for kids, has created a kit that allows kids to create real life circuits and see how they interact in Minecraft.…

I’m reading a piece in Newsweek describing how the 3D printing bubble has “burst”, and wonder how such a thing could be true. The story describes the story familiar to Fabbaloo readers in which, after the initial 3D printing patents expired, several companies raced to produce and capitalize on low-cost 3D printers, largely through a massive publicity campaign to gain the public’s attention. Of course, the whole thing eventually collapsed when everyone learned that 3D printers weren’t the magic machines they were led to believe. That said, there are still huge opportunities to apply 3D printing in ways that make sense for 3D printing and for business. Back to the…

In this video, we’ll build on last week’s hex nut code to add a drop-down list of standard metric nut sizes. We’ll begin with a simple example using simple reusable code snippets, and then use that knowledge in our live code. Don’t know what FeatureScript is? Look here. Onshape FeatureScript: Pump Up the Presets This is the second in a series of videos using a simple hex nut as the foundation. Through these, we’ll cover all of the basic concepts needed for creating full-fledged Onshape features. The video content explains the overall process, with full-text descriptions, and code. Watch it Here Next we’ll be adding cosmetic details like threads and…