Watching a 580-tonne, 90m long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) bust a hole from Manhattan to Long Island City reminds me of the tunnel cleaners in Labrinyth. Except, instead of David Bowie singing, it’s Long Island City commuters. More »
I love machines that can grab any piece of iron and twist it like it’s silly putty. I’m sure they made them in the US too, but these — called the Hebo system — is designed and built by German blacksmiths. More »
This is a “series of domestic sex machines” built for this music video by the band Elektrotechnique. I wouldn’t want to bone or (be boned by) any of these things. The Kleenex box in every shot totally makes it. More »
There’s something that’s oddly hypnotic about watching this hand-cranked machine slice, drop and catch these small spherical rare earth magnets one at a time. The little 5mm ball magnets start out as a connected string, and are continuously fed through the contraption in a loop. More »
Rule #1: Never stick your finger in a machine’s orifice until you know what that machine is called. Rule #2: Never stick anything in a machine’s orifice, period, no matter how it may tempt you with its erotically detached name and reliable thrusting motion. Rule #3: Ew. More »
Rube Goldberg contraptions are cool no matter what – but getting one to mechanise dinosaurs, WWII, the Cold War and the 2012 apocalypse is extra icing. Extra extra icing is the machine’s 244 steps—a new world record for convoluted mechanisms. More »
The fins of an engine turbine usually take days to finish. GE’s new Blue Arc machining gear does it in hours. How? Instead of just drilling away metal with a harder material, it’s scorched off with an electric blast. More »
