Costco is the Disneyland of retail stores. Their huge warehouses offer magical adventures and discoveries for adults, seemingly around every corner. But, did you know, that just like Disneyland, Costco has it’s secrets, too?
via Business Opportunities Weblog
The Secret Code of Costco’s Prices
I Rode A Bike On Water, And It Was Incredible
Walking on water? Pssh. I rode a bike on water. And it was glorious.
Okay, so this aqua-vehicle didn’t have any wheels. It was engineered and constructed by the Vallejo, California-based brand Schiller for the sole purpose of skimming seas, lakes, and chilled out rivers. The company launched with a splash in August, a quick ten-months after founder Judah Schiller made headlines by cycling across the San Francisco Bay. His gear at the time was a 20-year-old "Da Vinci-esque floatation system" attached to a thin steel rail European bike. But the success of that journey encouraged him to create a purpose-built machine. Enter: The X1.
I drove out to visit Schiller and CTO Marcus Hays in Sausalito, a small coastal enclave just over the Golden Gate from the city. It was the kind of crisp, foggy San Francisco afternoon that showed no sign of the sun until the clouds (mercifully) dissipated about halfway across the bridge. I was stoked to try the X1. I was told I wouldn’t get wet. I can’t say I was completely convinced.
The X1 was disassembled when I arrived at the dock; 55 total pounds of parts including a glossy white frame that looked like something you might see lined up in a slick gym on a sci-fi film set.
For the most part, assembly was a pretty straightforward process—though not one that I could have managed on my own without a manual. Pumping up the pair of pontoons that flank the frame took the most amount of effort.
And then it was assembled. I was ready to ride. I asked what I needed to know when I got out there. "Nothing," was the simultaneous response. Schiller and Hays carried the craft to the dock and plopped it in the water. I mounted. I grabbed the handlebars. I started pedaling. And then: I never, ever, stopped smiling.
The sheer joy of the experience was immediate—exhilarating and calming all at once—and it only intensified the further I traversed into the open water. I kept instinctively looking over my left shoulder for traffic, the way I would when I’m riding my road bike through the streets of SF, but I was completely alone out there, save for a few seagulls, and oh my goodness it felt incredible.
I was so close to the water, but even with the wind whipping around—and it did pick up a bit—I didn’t get a drop on me. Which is not to say I didn’t want to get wet. I know from experience that the Bay is cold and not particularly welcoming, but it was all I could do to not dismount, stand on one of the pontoons, and do a cannonball. In fact, it’s something that Schiller kind of anticipates. The pontoons won’t tip over—not if you stand on them, not if you pile some gear on them—which makes this the ideal vehicle for a body-of-water-adjacent camping trip. Or a quick ride with snacks.
One of the coolest thing the X1 has going for it is capitalizing on lower body strength. Most of us—even non-bikers—are going to have way more power in our legs than our arms, which can tire out pretty quickly on a kayak or something like a stand-up paddleboard. The Schiller team wanted to make sure all that quad oomph was successfully translated into knots. Sure enough, riding the X1 was surprisingly easy, kind of like pedaling a bike in middle gear on a flat surface.
Turning the handlebars from side to side took care of steering, and it was possible to pedal both backwards and forwards. At the risk of sounding ridiculously cheesy, I felt peaceful in a way that, well… I can’t remember the last time I felt that easy breezy. It was the ultimate chill sitch.
I didn’t have a watch, or a phone, so I wasn’t sure how long I was out there, but I knew I could have stayed mobile for about a million more hours. When I finally—reluctantly—went back to the dock, my cheeks hurt from laughing. It was GREAT.
So how do you get on one of these things for yourself? Unfortunately, Schiller’s good times do not come cheap—an X1 will set you back about $6,495 today, and they’re not done tweaking the design. But Schiller hopes that this heralds the beginning of a more robust waterbike community, with more opportunities to ride. I sure hope so.
Investing: Two Ways To Beat Average Returns
This article is by staff writer William Cowie. If you are serious about your financial future, you’ve got to be serious about investing. Enough has been said about that, so I won’t belabor the point. But here’s a financial maxim that can’t be said enough… Financial success comes from doggedly investing over a long period…
via Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Sense.
Investing: Two Ways To Beat Average Returns
House-Breaking Bear Shot by Florida Gun Owner
Lady Lake, FL – I’m a lifelong Florida resident, and we have a bear problem here. Some folks find that hard to believe, thinking that Florida is nothing but palm trees, roller coasters, and water slides. But we have a lot of wildlife – far too much of some species, as in the case of[…..]
via AllOutdoor.com
House-Breaking Bear Shot by Florida Gun Owner
The First Flying Wing Jet Could Have Won WWII for the Nazis
The B-2 Spirit blew more than a few minds when it made its public debut in 1988. But America’s flying wing was not the first of such aircraft. In fact, one such plane nearly darkened the skies over Washington at the end of WWII with a nuclear present from the Fuhrer.
The head of the German Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, was a notorious stickler, often demanding exceedingly stringent performance standards from the aircraft under his command. In 1943, he unveiled his most ambitious requirement set to date, quickly dubbed the "1000/1000/1000 rule". It dictated than any future aircraft purchased by the German air force must be capable of hauling a 1000 kg load over a distance of 1000 km at a speed of 1000 km/h. And given the state of jet engine technology at the time, that requirement eliminated just about every aircraft currently in development.
There was one however. A prototype built by brothers Reimar and Walter Horten and based on their dozen years of unpowered glider design and research. And it quickly caught the Reichsmarschall’s eye and purse strings. He paid the brothers a whopping 500,000 reichsmarks ($2.76 million in 2014 USD, adjusted for inflation) for it. It would become the Horten Ho 229, the world’s first flying wing jet. Had it entered the fray, this long range bomber could have done to Washington DC what the Enola Gay did to Hiroshima.
The Ho 229, which is also commonly referred to as the Gotha Go 229 because Gothaer Waggonfabrik actually constructed them, were single seater long range bombers capable of carrying two 1,100 pound (500 kg), nuclear tipped bombs clear across the Atlantic, drop them on DC, then fly back to Germany.
The flying wing design—wherein all vertical control structures (i.e. the tail) are removed to decrease drag—was nothing short of revolutionary and promised the same degree of performance advancement that jet engines provided over turbo-props. The prototype 229 measured 26 feet long with a 55 foot wingspan. Its central cockpit was constructed from welded steel tubing but the wings were made from a pair of plywood panels glued together with a mix of adhesive, sawdust, and charcoal. It’s conical inlet caps were crafted from multiple layers of carbon-impregnated laminate.
These materials were impregnated with charcoal dust as one of the earliest forms stealth. The coal’s carbon content absorbs radar, thereby drastically reducing the plane’s radar cross-section and making it appear much smaller than it really was, about the size of conventional twin engine prop aircraft of the day.
The jet was powered by a pair of 1,900 lbf Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engines that propelled the aircraft up to and estimated 977 km/h (not quite what Göring wanted but could likely have been achieved in later iterations) with a 60,000 foot service ceiling.
But, as the first of its kind, the Ho 229 was plagued by development issues and the first prototype crashing multiple times. But the Luftwaffe was undeterred, fast tracking the plane’s development and even going so far as to assign it to an active bomber wing. Luckily, the 229’s development came too late to help the German War effort. By the time it entered production in early 1945, the Allies were already marching on Berlin. The Gothaer Waggonfabrik factory, where the planes were being built, fell in April of that year.
Though all but one of the 229 prototypes were destroyed before being completed, Operation Paperclip (which sought to spirit German scientists away to America at the end of the war) ensured that the technology was not lost. Today, the only Nazi jet prototype left on Earth is represented by a static model at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Paul E. Garber Restoration Facility in Maryland while the genuine item undergoes a piecemeal restoration. [Smithsonian – Wiki – Military Factory – Fiddler’s Green – Horten Conservation]
Top image: The Ho 229’s canopy on static display at the Smithsonian, by Eric Long
via Gizmodo
The First Flying Wing Jet Could Have Won WWII for the Nazis
Artificial sweeteners may leave their users glucose intolerant
Saccharin and other sweeteners alter the bacteria living in our guts.
via Ars Technica
Artificial sweeteners may leave their users glucose intolerant
Where New York City’s Poop Goes
In Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant borders Newtown Creek and Long Island City to its North. The facility opened in 1967 and, since then, has undergone several renovations and expansions—including its massive silver digester eggs—to accommodate NYC’s constant growth and evolution.
Oh and in case I wasn’t completely clear: It’s entirely full of shit.
Newtown Creek is the largest wastewater treatment plant in New York City, handling some 250 million gallons per day. Most of that wastewater comes from Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and downtown Manhattan through a unique combined sewer system.
Keeping out the trash
A combined sewer system means that street water and waste water from apartments wind up in the same sewer main. If that doesn’t sound like a great idea, that’s because it’s not, but a system like this is easier to build than one that separates the two. Unfortunately it also makes the process of cleaning New York’s expelled waste water more complicated than most cities. Because street water will end up in the pooptubes, garbage and other debris can cause damage to the treatment plants’ equipment. That’s where the sorting machinery comes in.
To make sure larger chunks of non-poop trash don’t get into the plant, the system utilizes several gates and screens to make sure only wastewater is entering the facilities. Sewer Overflow Regulators block floating trash from getting in by routing unfiltered water through pipes that block floating items while letting water (and poop) flow through unabated at the bottom.
Whatever makes it past this first defense is fished out with Mechanical Bar Screens, pictured above. Just like the Overflow Regulators, these screens filter the water that’s flowing through the top part of a pipe. A huge mechanized scraper periodically wipes off the bits of trash that get stuck to the screens. Meanwhile, the poops and wastewater keep flowing onward below.
After any trash is taken care of, the wastewater treatment process proper can begin. To start, the Newtown Creek facility utilizes things called degrittors and detritors. These machines essentially take solids (which is to say "poops") and smooshes them all together to take up a smaller amount of space in the waste water.
From there, the Newtown Creek plant tries to replicate the process that waste would undergo when breaking down naturally, except in a massive and controlled environment. After solid wastes are consolidated, the water enters secondary treatment area, where aerobic bacteria eats away at the poop and turns it into sludge.
After sludgification, the water reaches settling tanks that remove the sludge and floating scum. Water travels across a slight slope while unwanted poop particles rest along the bottom and get suctioned out. The sludge then travels back to the aeration tanks for a second pass while the water heads to a disinfection stage. In disinfection, concentrated bleach is poured in, after which the no-longer-poopy-poop juice is released into Newtown Creek as clear and fresh smelling water.
Tough shit
The Newtown Creek facility’s aeration tanks do a pretty good job of breaking down poop into sludge, but when the sludge can’t be broken down any further, it’s spun into a thicker solid and sent to one of the facility’s eight massive digester eggs.
Each egg basically acts as a stomach where poopsludge can be "digested" for 15 days. Inside the eggs are more anaerobic bacteria that further the process in a balmy 98 degree poopvironment. Just like in the human body, the breakdown of waste produces a methane gas byproduct, but this methane is used to power the plants boilers instead of going into farts.
Above the massive digester eggs is a walkway that wraps around the whole complex, providing a great view of northern Brooklyn, Long Island City and the Manhattan skyline from atop the tanks of shit. It’s a view you can see for yourself: the Newtown Facility is open for tours, and they’ll take you up on the eggs if you go.
Even these massive digester eggs can’t process everything though. After digestion there is inevitably some sludge waste that just can’t be broken down. This tough shit is transported to a separate facility by poopboats. Once there, its dewatered and turned into a thick, spongy solid and ultimately is delivered to a landfill.
Touring the facility from start to finish, I was struck by one thing in particular: The place doesn’t smell bad. Because emissions are mostly captured inside a set of tanks, the grounds smell at least as good as the rest of Brooklyn. I’m not completely sure how the open-air poop-sludge pools manage not to smell, but they don’t! It’s really impressive how little odor there is.
Poop jokes aside, without facilities like Newtown Creek our waterways would be horrible. The Newton Creek plant and the people who man it manage to turn millions of peoples’ waste back into into clean, environmentally safe water. They don’t even mind it! What they do mind though is litter.
A small piece of trash that sneaks by the facility’s defenses can easily break the whole, complex system. When a machine breaks it can costs thousands, if not millions, of dollars. So think twice about what you throw down to toilet—and don’t litter in the street. Somebody has to deal with that shit.
Schiller X1 Water Bike
The Schiller X1 has two propellers that are steered with the handlebars, eliminating the need for a rudder. It can be assembled and disassembled in 10 minutes and can fit in most vehicle bike racks and trunks. Video here.
via The Awesomer
Schiller X1 Water Bike
This Simple Contraption Lets You Make 100 Water Balloons Every Minute
Like with nuclear war, a water balloon fight isn’t about pinpoint accuracy. What’s most important is raining down as much soakage on your opponent as quickly as possible. Which means that the Bunch O Balloons, which promises to let you make 100 throw-ready water balloons every minute, could be the most important addition to your summertime arsenal.
The Bunch O Balloons looks like a green 37-armed octopus with tiny empty balloons hanging off of every tentacle. The whole thing attaches to the end of a garden house and when the water’s turned on the balloons all automatically fill at the same time. When full they’re all easily dislodged with a simple shake, while small black elastics automatically seal them shut.
Bunch O Balloons’ creator, Josh Malone, is attempting to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to put his invention into production. With a pledge of just $15 you can get a single pack which includes three hose attachments and a total of 100 water balloons—just add water.
It’s certainly more expensive than buying a bag of normal balloons, until you factor in the hours spent manually filling and tying 100 of them. Suddenly, $15 sounds like a reasonable investment if it keeps your kids occupied for an entire summer afternoon. [Kickstarter – Bunch O Balloons]
via Gizmodo
This Simple Contraption Lets You Make 100 Water Balloons Every Minute
New Treatment Stops Type II Diabetes
multicsfan writes Researchers have found that an injection of protein FGF1 stops weight induced diabetes in mice, with no apparent side effects. However, the cure only lasts 2 days at a time. Future research and human trials are needed to better understand and create a working drug. From the story: "The team found that sustained treatment with the protein doesn’t merely keep blood sugar under control, but also reverses insulin insensitivity, the underlying physiological cause of diabetes. Equally exciting, the newly developed treatment doesn’t result in side effects common to most current diabetes treatments."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.