Mount Taranaki, on the North Island of New Zealand, is a large-scale circle that’s visible from space: a stratovolcano with six miles of forest around it. But that didn’t happen naturally. Oh, and there’s a good chance that, in the next fifty years or so, it might explode. GOOD VIDEOS […]
If you invent a new theme park or amusement ride, how do you test it to make sure it’s safe? There’s no Federal Bureau of Zip Lines. I visited one of the companies that does just that sort of testing – and, now, inventing. More about Holmes Solutions: https://holmessolutions.com/ And […]
Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, has the Guinness World Record for “steepest paved road over a continuous distance of more than ten metres”. Which is enough to bring in quite a few tourists. What’s the history? And what counts as “steepest street”? Thanks to Mayor Dave Cull and to […]
Near Hindon, on the South Island of New Zealand, there’s one of only two remaining one-lane road-rail bridges in the country. No barriers, no lights, no sirens: if you’re driving across this, you need to make sure to listen out for the train horn. Thanks to all the Dunedin Railways […]
Olds Engineering, a traditional workshop and foundry, sits in Maryborough, Australia. It’s not the sort of place you’d expect to find a new industrial invention in the 21st century: and yet the Olds Elevator, patented by Peter Olds, is just that. More about Olds Engineering: https://www.olds.com.au/ and the Olds Elevator: […]
The Byron Bay Railroad Company runs the world’s first 100% solar-powered train. It wouldn’t work everywhere – but in the bright sunshine of Australia, it might just be the right tool for the job. More about the railroad: https://byronbaytrain.com.au/ Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I’m at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at […]
If you believe the hype, then the Metropolitan Area Underground Discharge Channel stops Tokyo flooding. It doesn’t. But it is one colossal part of a huge network of flood defences that protect a city that would otherwise be… well, very wet. MORE ABOUT THE DISCHARGE CHANNEL: The Discharge Channel’s site […]
Language changes over time, and that’s fine. Time for a dose of descriptivism, as the Language Files return. Pull down the description for the references! MORE LANGUAGE FILES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLDEnHuhD7CTZES3KXFnwm0 Written with Gretchen McCulloch and Molly Ruhl. Gretchen’s new book, BECAUSE INTERNET, is available soon: 🇺🇸 US: https://amzn.to/30tLpjT 🇨🇦 CA: https://amzn.to/2JsTYWH […]
A decade ago, engineers found the Humber Bridge had the same problem as many of the world’s suspension bridges: unexpectedly fast corrosion. Here’s how they fixed it, and how they’re checking that it’s staying fixed. Thanks to all the team at the Humber Bridge board, at Cleveland Bridge, and Visit […]
The fetch-execute cycle is the basis of everything your computer or phone does. This is literally The Basics. • Sponsored by Dashlane —try 30 days for free at: https://www.dashlane.com/tomscott Thanks to Dashlane for sponsoring the video! If you’re techie enough to watch this video, you should be using a password […]
