2016-08-14

Notes.

Hello! I'm Eric, happy to be stepping in for Spencer this week. I'm based in the Bay Area and am excited to share some tech and manufacturing links with you all.

Wayfinding & Strategy.

• LIDAR-on-a-chip, from MIT and DARPA. Tiny, cheap, and without moving parts. This is big.
• Two interesting departures from Google: Chris Urmson is leaving the Self-Driving Car team and Bill Maris is leaving Google Ventures, a firm he founded in 2009, "because everything is great". Works for me.
• Audi has invented an electromechanical shock absorber system for their future vehicles. And I really hope BMW i3 owners won't need a new battery anytime soon, as it'll set them back $16k.
• From December of last year, Dr. Robert Zubrin answers "Why should we go to Mars?" in a brilliant way.

Making & Manufacturing.

• After 30 years, Heathkit is back with a new DIY Clock Kit.
• For those interested in CAD and CAM, I highly recommend Michal Zalewski's Guerrilla Guide, which I return to frequently. This time I referred to it for my initial experiments with resin casting.

Distribution & Logistics.

• A quick read about Amazon's shipping strategies and how they're changing. They recently showed off their first branded airplane and received a patent for drone docking stations.
• Alter the NYC subway system to your heart's content.

Inspection & Testing.

• The LBL will use 5,000 tiny robots to direct fiber-optic cables for measuring light from quasars.
• It's about time you volunteer your desktop computer to aid in scientific research while you're asleep (it's easy to set up and free).
• NASA revealed some incredible footage from their high speed, HDR camera for evaluating rocket motor tests. And SpaceX put out one of the trippiest high speed videos I've seen.

Tangents.

• A detailed chart of energy usage in the US. Here's some background info.
• A neat magic angle sculpture built with LEGO.

Credit to Sam and Ezra for sending links this week. If you see something, send something :)

And.

A Han Solo in Carbonite Fridge