2019-05-01 Popular Mechanics South Africa PDF

WOODWORKING TOOLS: JAPANESE HAND SAWS PAGE 66
GEAR & GADGETS PAGE 28
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Grain handling and storage Here’s a rendering of

the SpaceX Starship
Prep for spray painting
re-entering Earth’s
I-Pace: Jaguar’s electric contender atmosphere after
your trip to Mars.
CONTENTS
REGULARS COLUMNS ENGINEERING, PRACTICAL
TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE
06 Editor’s note 24 The body mechanic: & INNOVATION
The disease detectives. 66 Woodworking: Japanese
10 Readers’ letters
44 Rocket launch: We have hand saws.
26 The IT guy: What I’m looking lift-off near Arniston. Almost.
12 Readers’ feedback:
forward to. 70 Tool review: The Bosch
Your thoughts on our
48 Technology and nature: PBD 40 Bench Drill Press
Elon Musk feature. 73 My patent story: Halt Are they at odds, or can they gets top marks.
electricity with a wrench. work together?
13 Popular wisdom
74 Ask Roy
75 Owner’s manual: Tackle that 60 Grain handling and storage:
16 Calendar
home-improvement project. 77 How to adjust a
Solutions to one of South
17 Time machine bicycle’s derailleur.
Africa’s key crop harvests.
18 Large photo of the month 78 Shop notes
THE TOURIST’S
28 Gear and gadgets: Hardware GUIDE TO SPACE PROVISIONS
you should know about.
32 So you’ve booked your 54 Coffee: Get into the moka
DRIVING
98 Do it your way: Useful tips. Moon cruise. What on Earth way of life. 80 Motorcycles: Road-
do you pack?
trip essentials.
58 The lunch pail: Spice things
42 Know before you go: up with ramen noodles.
HOW YOUR 82 Ionic beast: Jaguar’s electric
PM Q&A exclusive with
WORLD WORKS car just rolled up to the plate.
Elon Musk.
20 Stunt of the month: The
epic ﬁght in Hellboy.
PM FAMILY
22 Great unknowns
88 Start a garden, learn how
to solder, a cool toy, cloud-
slicing lasers, and more!
PHOTOGRAPHY: SAMANTHA PINTO/HMimages.co.za
Turn to page 54 to find out

how a moka pot works, and
to ensure you enjoy well-made
coffee for the rest of your days.
www.popularmechanics.co.za MAY 2019 5

FROM THE E DITOR
CELEBRATE
GOOD TIMES,
COME ON! One of my friends last year
took it upon himself to text
A
me a unique birthday message
M I THE ONLY ONE every single day of May, and
who understands went to great effort, I think, to
the concept of create a fresh nickname for me
celebrating a in each new note. He’s a good
‘birthday month’!? friend. I cherish him.
Surely there are I’ve been told that this is
others like me out something I’ll grow out of.
there? I really don’t feel like it’s a That it’s a bit unbecoming of
lot to ask. It entails your loved ones, someone of my age. Well, it
friends and co-workers making hasn’t happened yet, which
you feel extra special for the entire probably means it never will.
month in which your birthday falls Truth is, why shouldn’t
– or, well, at least up until your we be able to take just one of
actual birthday day. (It’s the 12 months available to us,
really not my fault that to feel a little better than we
mine falls on the usually do, for no other reason
very last day of the other than our arrival on Earth
month.) Yep, you all those years ago? There’s
guessed it – I’m certainly more than enough
a May baby. that happens on a daily basis
to bring us down, stress us out,
and make us feel unhappy.
If it’s your birthday this
month, have a great one! Also,
feel free to distribute some
blatant gift hints about the
products featured in our
‘Gear and gadgets’ pages. Or,
maybe someone close to you
is celebrating their birthday
– consider spreading the love
over the rest of the year by
giving them a subscription
to Popular Mechanics.
We strive to fill the pages
with fascinating articles,
cutting-edge tech, answers
to unconventional questions
and, perhaps, information we
don’t need to know about, but
which enriches our lives in
some small way.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREAS EISELEN/HMimages.co.za
Till next time, when I’ll be

a year older,
MARK SAMUEL
Editor
@marksamuel.za
COMPETITION WINNERS: Details online at www.popularmechanics.co.za

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LETTERS
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

WRITE TO US popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za
WINNING LETTER
ADMIRED his refuge. Unfortunately,

he has terminal cancer and
of my future to honour him
and also de-stress from
an ‘after’ pic, once the cabinet
is fully restored.
MENTOR has about a year or two left,
which breaks my heart, but
the hecticness of being a
future doctor.
– Mark, Editor
I recently purchased I’m going to use my run-down CAROLIEN KRUGER

an old, very neglected cabinet as a way to learn from
drinks cabinet with money him and carry his handyman Your letter really moved me,
I earned working part-time legacy forward. Carolien. I’m very sorry to hear
for a craft-beer company He has already shown about your father’s condition; the
while studying medicine me how to heat and strip the PM team has you and your family
full-time. I have never varnish off the cabinet and in our thoughts. I hope you get to
restored furniture, but my how to use his Bosch sander. spend as much time as possible
dad has been restoring and I thought they were called with your dad, learning his skills
building everything from power tools for a reason but and soaking up his experience.
floors, cupboards, cars and I, a 1.6 m female, managed I also hope that the Bosch Bench
a beautiful bookshelf for to almost break it when he Drill prize from BPM Toolcraft that
all my medical textbooks. wasn’t supervising! you’ve won is a useful addition
His hands are like Anyway, long story short, for your future woodworking
sandpaper and his garage I want woodwork to be part endeavours. Be sure to send us
DO THE LOCOMOTIVE locomotive was complete. After

My favourite section in Popular completing a few display units, I have
Mechanics is ‘Time machine’. It now achieved my ultimate goal: ‘to
echoes everything I treasure from make the big wheels turn’ with a flip
days gone by, especially the time of of a switch. My grandson donated his
steam locomotives. I have admiration broken-down battery-operated remote-
and respect for the power of steam controlled car motor, and it’s now been
in motion. Those bygone years are fitted between the rail tracks with the
a time when steam power made appropriately sized wooden pulley and O
perfect sense. rings. The second axle of the locomotive’s
I come from a family of railway driving wheels – also fitted with a pulley
employees, so holidays always meant and O rings – allows the wheels to turn by
a trip from the North Eastern Cape friction when the pulleys make contact.
to Cape Town using the ever-present My efforts bring much joy to my
and very reliable steam power. As a family and me. My seven-year-old
youngster in the 1960s, and after granddaughter has taken to drawing
a two-night trip on the train, as and writing about trains, and her
soon as my feet hit the platform five-year-old brother has locomotive
at the station, I rushed off to see knowledge that many youngsters his
the glass-encased miniature steam age have never heard of.
locomotive, where I would drop my FRANTZ PUCHERT
penny in the slot – I was entranced by
the detailed engineering in motion. To let you in on a secret, Frantz, ‘Time
My younger brother and I were machine’ is also one of my favourite sections
reminiscing about our late father of the magazine, even though I need to read
and about wanting to keep his every feature in the entire mag multiple
memory alive, so he suggested times before you guys see it. I can often be
I build a locomotive using the found wasting a little too much time paging
medium and tools that I love. I am through the old back issues we have in our
a keen woodworker and scroll-saw archives – those mags are a treasure trove
enthusiast. A retired bank official of amazing information.
with no engineering experience, Judging by your photos, your model-
excitement took hold and soon I creation work is truly outstanding, and
had drawn cardboard templates meticulously detailed. Seeing an idea like
using old photos and memories yours result in such a perfect end product
as a guide. I used mainly wood and must feel hugely fulfilling.
recycled materials, and soon my first – Mark, Editor

SOUND CHECK
I am a 72-year-old retired artisan and have been an enthusiastic
reader of Popular Mechanics since I can remember – for more
than six decades, in fact. I still have copies dating back as early
as 1951.
On the farm where I grew up, we did not have electricity at
first, and our first ‘hi-fi’ was a hand-cranked record player that
had a wound spring turntable and played 78 rpm records. It
had an amplifier that consisted of a metal membrane that
connected directly to the needle that was set in the groove
of the vinyl record. You can imagine the tin-can sound that
came out of that combination!
I was fortunate to build a valve amplifier during my training as an
artisan, and one of the first to build a transistor amplifier, I believe.
While paging through a July 1952 issue of Popular Mechanics
I came upon a design of a valve amplifier, and it reminded me of Great to still have you as a reader after all these years, Andre! Not
the article I saw in the January 2018 issue, where a McIntosh hybrid quite the same thing, but I still have my hi-fi from the late ’90s, and
amplifier was described. A case of the present echoing the past. it has excellent sound! I’ve figured out how to Bluetooth my new music
Regards and keep up the good work. to it, which has given it a new lease on life. I’d expect that’s not quite
ANDRE KRUGER possible with the old 78 rpm turntable. – Mark, Editor
nd s t and a chan
WRITE TO US, ENGAGE IN DEBATE, and you could win an i na ce
of
te
exciting prize. The writer of this month’s winning letter has won
w in
Wri
Kr e g
a Bosch PBD 40 Bench Drill valued at R4 999, sponsored by BPM
M a s t e r Ji g K 5
n i n g!
Toolcraft. (Look out for the review of this bench drill on page 70.) Sy s t e m
Prize spo
w or t h
R4 000
o.za
t.c
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The writer of the winning letter in the upcoming
so
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June issue will win a Kreg Jig K5 Master System l
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(plus premium accessories) valued at R4 000 from BPM too
To o l c r a f t –
BPM Toolcraft.
The Kreg Jig K5 Master System is unique in
that it integrates the K5 with premium accessories
to make it even simpler to get started building
with Kreg joinery. The accessories include a
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for six rewarding projects.
The prize sponsor, BPM Toolcraft in Cape
Town, stocks a huge range of woodworking
machines, power tools, hand tools, finishing
products and accessories for woodworking
enthusiasts. Whether your requirements are for
cabinetmaking, lutherie, woodturning, marquetry,
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LETTERS ARE EDITED FOR CLARITY, SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
woodworking market. With more than 40 brands

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BPM Toolcraft is your woodworking home.
Connect with them at toolcraft.co.za, or visit
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY IMAGES
them at 93 Victoria Road, Plumstead, Cape Town.
Email us at popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za. Please keep your letters brief and to the point, and
include high-resolution photos where relevant. Prizes can only be awarded to South African residents.

READERS’ FEEDBACK
GREATEST HITS:
MUSK EDITION
The first time the
words ‘Elon Musk’
appeared in our pages
was in the September
2009 US edition, in
a story about how he
and SpaceX propulsion
chief Tom Mueller
developed the Falcon 9
rocket and the Dragon
spacecraft, and how
Ludicrous mode: the company secured
the response to our Elon Musk story its first contract from
In the essays collected for our December 2018 cover story, ‘In Defence of Elon Musk’, ten writers and
NASA in 2008.
entrepreneurs weighed the contributions of this controversial man. Unsurprisingly, the piece itself
was also controversial. One publication criticised us for ‘buy[ing] into … the perceived importance of
genius, and the moral compromises that society should be willing to endure in the name of progress.’
Another ran a delightful parody of the piece that invoked the plot of the 1973 dystopian movie Soylent
Green. People argued in Reddit threads, and tweeted at us in both frustration and agreement. But the
responses we most cared about were from you.
Because he’s Because we Because Greg Bryan

making science haven’t gone of San Diego loves
fiction a reality far enough his new car (Not mentioned:
I GREW UP with the Apollo I JUST RECEIVED the Twitter.) ‘SpaceX
missions, and thought we recent edition of Popular
would be further along. It’s Mechanics – first I’ve read
has plans that go
heartening to know Elon since college days. And what far beyond handling
Musk has the guts to do do you know – the cover NASA’s freight,’
what he does. Hope I’m story is on Elon Musk.
around to see where he goes. Received just a few days wrote Michael
– Steve Billingsley after I took delivery of a Belfiore. ‘Who
Model 3 Performance. I knows – at the rate
have enjoyed the magazine
Because as much as I have enjoyed Musk, Mueller, and
THE FIRST TIME I saw the
he’s trying! the car (traded in a Porsche company are going,
rocket booster come down 911 Cabriolet). – Greg Bryan, SpaceX just might
and land upright on a barge CLIMATE CHANGE IS the San Diego, California
really blew me away; it’s most important story there reach Mars first.’
just like the science-fiction is, and no one is doing more
stories that I grew up to fight it than Musk. As
reading. Elon Musk is your article says, at the
PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG BRYAN, SPACEX
trying to make the world end of the day he can say he Letters to the editor can be
a better place and a cleaner tried. We need more people emailed to popularmechanics@
place. He’s a thinker and a who care and who try, not ramsaymedia.co.za. Include
doer and seems to do the people who throw stones your full name and address.
impossible against all odds. at those who do. Letters may be edited for
– Charles Cleveland – Lori Nelson length and clarity.

POPUL AR
WISDOM What we’re up to beyond these pages
ARCHIVES
ABOUT THOSE COVERS

For our recent Greatest Hits Vol. 2 issue, we
considered three vintage covers from PM’s
117-year history. Here, the story behind each.
Patch
with his NOVEMBER 1922
Bentley COVER STORY ‘How Far Can
swag. a Locomotive Jump?’
by Francis W Wilson
According to Wilson, a bridge engineer

for ‘a certain railway’ told him this story (but
unfortunately refused to give him a copy of the
corroborating photograph): A locomotive at
the head of a fast freight barrelled downgrade
to a bridge whose draw was open; evidently,
the engine made it across the 8.5-metre gap
unscathed. Its cars, Wilson reports, weren’t
quite so lucky.
THE SITE
JUNE 1935
COVER STORY ‘Auto Engine Drives
Motorcycle at High Speed’
Way to go,
car companies The enormous motorcycle gracing the cover of
the June 1935 issue was ‘assembled especially
ON JANUARY 23, automotive editor Ezra Dyer posted the for establishing a world’s record of more than
story ‘This Kid Asked Each Car Company to Send Him a Decal’ to 300 miles per hour (482 km/h).’ Weighing in at
popularmechanics.com about a six-year-old car-loving boy named 1 500 pounds (680 kg), it was powered by a
Patch Hurty. After finding a Ford badge on the side of the road six-cylinder Plymouth automobile engine, with
early last year, Patch started a letter-writing campaign: With the fan and generator removed. We’d like to have
help of his mom, Lindsay Hayes Hurty, he wrote to more than seen that motorist wear a slightly more
PHOTOGRAPHY: POPULAR MECHANICS ARCHIVES, COURTESY IMAGE
50 companies, asking for a spare logo or decal for his collection. substantial helmet.
He included a coin from his piggy bank, and a photo of himself
with one of the company’s cars, when he could. OCTOBER 1940
Almost every single company wrote back, sending swag and COVER STORY ‘Adventures
letters – and returning his coin. of the Highway Engineers’
‘The near-uniform response is a happy surprise,’ Dyer wrote.
‘After all, nobody has a Department for Letters from Kids Asking The highway engineers of central California
for Logos or Badges from the Factory Floor.’ have jobs that range from clearing dirt off
Since the story went up, over 20 more car clubs, manufacturers, roads after heavy rains, to snow removal, to
and car enthusiasts have written in with offers to take Patch on ‘stand[ing] watch on a geyser … only a few
rides, to send him to a car show, or to add their own contributions hundred feet from a busy highway,’ to clearing
to his collection. Ford – whose badge started what Patch calls ‘a trees with a Caterpillar tractor (as pictured on
project of love and cars’ – is even taking him to its design studio. the cover).

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MACHINE WE’VE
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UPDATE Ám¢ɑ"GÁɑȡɑBGɑ"ÁɑGdɑBGmÁ
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

MAY 2019
Workers’ Day The four-day Day two of the Africa Star Wars Day.
Jaguar Simola Travel Indaba, which May the 4th be
See all the latest Hillclimb – a takes place at the with you.
decor and design festival filled with Durban International
trends at Decorex fast, unique and Convention Centre.
2019. It kicks off vintage cars – begins
today at the CTICC today in Knysna.
in Cape Town.
1 2 3 4
1921: Arthur The IEEE 5G 1718: The city of Public holiday 1960: America’s World Move For 1949: Siam is
Leonard Schawlow, Summit takes place New Orleans is Food and Drug Health Day officially renamed
co-inventor of the at the Future Africa founded by French Voters head to Administration Thailand.
laser, is born in New Campus in Pretoria. colonists. the polls for the (FDA) gives its
York State, USA. He South African approval for the
died in April 1999. general election. birth-control pill.
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1956: Homer 1940: The African Utility Week The two-day 1831: David Edward The Giant’s Cup – a Day two of the
Simpson, the dad Vought-Sikorsky begins at the CTICC. Marketing Indaba Hughes, inventor two-day trail-run three-day
in The Simpsons, VS-300, an It runs till the 16th. begins today in of the carbon stage race – begins Franschhoek
is born. American single- Cape Town. microphone, is in the Maloti Literary Festival.
engine helicopter born. He died in Drakensberg Park
designed by Igor January 1900, World Heritage Site
Sikorsky, takes off aged 68. in the Southern
on its first flight. Drakensberg.
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
2014: Michael 1873: Levi Strauss The final day of 1990: Microsoft 1785: Benjamin Pietermaritzburg’s Africa Day
Aldrich, who in 1979 and Jacob Davis are Cisco Connect, releases Windows Franklin announces Royal Show begins
invented online awarded the patent which takes place 3.0. It was the first his invention today at the Royal
shopping, passes for blue jeans. at Sun City. version of Windows of bifocals. Agricultural
away aged 72. to really challenge Society of KZN
Apple Macintosh. Showgrounds.
PHOTOGRAPHY: UNSPLASH/CEDRIC WILDER; FREEPIK/LARA FIELDS; FREEPIK/MACROVECTOR
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
The 43rd annual The June issue of National Child 1997: Spanish The Pink Loerie 1911: RMS Titanic
Cars in the Park POPULAR MECHANICS Protection Week researchers discover Mardi Gras kicks off is launched in
takes place at the goes on sale. begins. 800 000 year-old in Knysna. Belfast. Her
Ashburton Training fossils which are infamous maiden
Centre in believed to be a voyage started on
Pietermaritzburg. new species of 10 April 1912. She
early human. hit an iceberg late
on 14 April, and
26 27
sank 2 h 40 later,
on 15 April.
28 29 30 31

T I M E M AC H I N E
It made per fec t sense at the time
1 2
MAYN1ew95Fre6nch
The
in the Air
Revolution –
The cover of this e
th
edition featured pt
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Coleopter, a co
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created by Fren eers,
in
aeronautical eng l
and one of seve
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profiled aircraft
manufactured iny ’50s.
rl
France in the ea s
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designed for ver ing,
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take-off and lan rt
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was required as
2 MAY 1947 3 MAY 1960 4 MAY 1971 5 MAY 1981

Report from Antarctica Five-Pin Bowling – Now: Teenie Two! Rare Bird Does It All
An expedition to Antarctica The Canadian Version Three years prior to this In keeping with the aviation
was one of the main features We’ve all heard of ten- feature, PM offered plans theme, in ’81 we wrote about
PHOTOGRAPHY: POPULAR MECHANICS ARCHIVES
in this issue. We reported on pin bowling, but five-pin for a build-it-yourself Bell Helicopter’s XV-15, an
the extreme climatic conditions, was a topic for conversation VW-powered plane. In this experimental aircraft with a
and how what happens at the in this mag. The differences edition, we brought you the tilt-rotor power plant and wing
South Pole affects weather between the two versions faster second-generation format, which achieved a speed
conditions all around the were highlighted, and the version of the popular plane, of 301 knots (557 km/h). This
planet. We also discussed game explained, saying the with a detailed exploded was an unofficial rotor-craft
the wildlife, and how the Canadians insist the larger pins diagram showing the various record, and NASA and the
different species have adapted of their southern neighbours’ components, and instructions military were interested in
to the adverse conditions. version are far too easy to hit. on how to order your plans. the design.

LARGE PHOTO OF
THE MONTH

At Conservation Canines (known as CK9), a research programme
at the University of Washington founded in 1997, handlers train
rescue dogs to locate environmental samples in the wild. Dogs –
more specifically, their noses – are more efficient and less invasive
than other methods of collecting data on wildlife, such as radio
collars or trapping. Jennifer Hartman, one of the programme’s nine
handlers, has worked with CK9 for 12 years and was ‘not really a
dog person’ until she met Max, an Australian blue heeler mix, who
scents for moose scat in upstate New York. They start the day at
3 am, before the dew burns off, when smells are strong. Scientists
at Cornell University will analyse diet and toxin information from
the samples Max finds, looking for reasons why the local moose
population is down.
PHOTOGRAPHY: JAYMI HEIMBUCH

H O W YO U R W O R L D W O R K S
STUNT OF THE MONTH
How they pulled off

the giant fight in Hellboy
/ BY JAC QU E LI NE DE TWI LE R /
FIRST THINGS FIRST: You’re not having a comic-book movie in 2019 without the help of computer-aided visual effects, especially not one
in which a government-sponsored demon spars with seven-metre-tall giants. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean stunt performers, riggers,
and coordinators are out of work. For the new Lionsgate reboot of Hellboy, which was released in April, key stunt rigger François Coetzer
and his company, Blackrat Stunts, thought it might be fun to create a movable rig that actor David Harbour and stunt double Ivailo
Dimitrov (both playing Hellboy) could interact with instead of trying to air-fight an invisible giant in front of a blue screen. ‘Believe it or
not, it started out as a little stunt-rigging hobby project,’ Coetzer says. By the end, they’d built a 7-metre interactive apparatus that could
be puppeteered by six stunt riggers, and the visual-effects team called to say, ‘Hey, thanks for making our job easier’.

↓ TECH NEWS
/ BY ALE X A N D ER G EO RG E /
This little charger

A ⁄ THE STRUCTURE C ⁄ THE STUNT DOUBLE
E
is the future
The fake giant is made The requirements for Amidst the typical excess at the annual Consumer
of 30-by-30-centimetre- the stunt double were Electronics Show – a roll-up OLED TV, an Alexa-
square trussing and intense: He needed enabled toilet – one company touted a new
mouldable foam, joined both gymnastics and E ⁄ BUILD, product likely to become a tech essential. The
by hinges and swivels fighting skills and had DESTROY, REBUILD Anker PowerPort Atom PD 1 is the size of that
so it can move its head to physically match The giant was not underpowered USB plug that comes with your
and shoulders. Six Harbour’s size (a solid always in the same phone, but puts out enough power (30 watts) to
riggers control it using 1.9 metres tall). He also position, and there charge a laptop. How? Instead of typical silicon
bungee cords, which had to be able to perform were only two days components, the Atom uses a material called
move more naturally in kilograms of makeup to shoot, so the riggers gallium nitride, which can operate at hotter
than cables. The team and prosthetics. They extensively planned the temperatures. Being able to pack only one of these
also tried pneumatic ended up using Dimitrov, setup and breakdown. to charge your headphones, laptop, phone, and
cylinders, but they who has worked on films They started with the camera is the convenience promised by moving
proved too robotic. including Star Wars fake giant in the everything to USB-C connectivity.
and Spartacus. most complicated
B ⁄ SAFETY FIRST configuration and
For stunts at 7 metres, D ⁄ A GIANT PHOTOGRAPH deconstructed it as
two cranes supported To ensure that the he fell. ‘There’s like a The best TVs
an overhead line that interactive truss would million shots in this, so
held Dimitrov, and he match the dimensions of while they were doing have a new name
had a line to a rigger on the rendered giant in the other shots, we’d build Buying a TV isn’t any less terrible today than it was
the ground. If he were final scene, the visual- another giant,’ Coetzer a decade ago. It’s a mess of hyped initialisms (HDR,
to fall, he would just effects team made a says. ‘We had it planned QLED, OLED, AMOLED) and negligible performance
dangle. The team also full-size, 7.5-metre-high so it would happen like increases. But at the recent CES, Samsung showed
built a second, shorter photo. The riggers the changing of tyres on an example of a display (MicroLED) that has the
version of the giant’s planned the apparatus a Formula One car.” potential to be the modern benchmark for image
head and shoulders, so in Google SketchUp Pro, quality. MicroLED images look so good for the same
Harbour could safely then built it in front of F ⁄ AND A TRUCK TYRE reasons that OLED (organic light-emitting diode)
film some scenes over the photo to ensure Later in the shoot, the does: Since each microscopic diode can be turned
a mat. distances matched. visual-effects team off completely, you get dark, convincing blacks that
planned to put Harbour make the whole scene look gorgeous. And because
on a blue box that they those diodes emit their own light when powered
would render into a up, the displays can be incredibly thin. Unlike OLED,
dragon. ‘I saw the though, MicroLED is less susceptible to burn-in and
visual-effects supervisor has a longer life span. The coolest part: Modules of
and was like, Come on! MicroLED displays can quickly snap together like
You can’t do this after floor tiles to fit any wall or create any height and
the big giant fight. You’re width ratio.
gonna have him sit on
a box?’ says Coetzer.
So, before the dragon
shoot the following
day, Coetzer’s team

dismantled the giant
and put a truss on top
of a swivel on top of a
truck tyre. It was simple
and cheap – ‘but it
just works.’
F
MAY 2019 21
H O W YO U R W O R L D W O R K S
GREAT Big questions.

UNKNOWNS Answers you can‘t find on the internet.
Are there animals that

would be impossible to
domesticate?
A
S THINGS STAND TODAY, there are countless Smithsonian, puts the prerequisite more succinctly: ‘What you
species unsuited to assume a place in human want is an animal that doesn’t freak out when a human is around.’
society – as any parent of a teenage boy will tell Which is likely why early attempts to domesticate the notoriously
you. But fear not. While it’s too late to do anything skittish gazelle (seriously) didn’t succeed.
about Junior’s surly deportment, dubious hygiene, Still, careful selective breeding, ideally of animals that move at
and barbaric dietary predilections, advances in less than a mile a minute, can make significant inroads. In one
genetic engineering promise to vastly broaden ongoing experiment that began in 1958, researchers in Siberia led
your pool of potential pets. In theory, anyway. by the late Dmitry Belyaev bred only the most docile silver foxes
True domestication goes beyond the mere taming of an (a variant of standard red foxes, not George Clooney and his ilk).
individual animal, and reaches deep into an entire species’ hard- Fifty-odd generations later – the blink of an eye in evolutionary
coded DNA. It’s a generations-long handshake between humans terms – they’ve managed to produce a population of affectionate
and animals – each side gets something valuable out of the silvery-hued canids that wag their tails and readily put up with
arrangement. Your people. Russians, even.
dog receives food and The Siberian team
shelter; you enjoy recently sequenced the
companionship and fox DNA, and is getting
protection, and a very closer to pinpointing the
close relationship with specific genes responsible
your local carpet-cleaning for, well, friendliness. If
outfit. Your horse gorges scientists can ever isolate
on free hay and carrots; the genes – which may
you cross the prairie vary by species – that
cowboy-style, or impress control Diamond’s six
the ladies with your polo traits and combine
prowess. Your swine get that knowledge with
disgusting slop; you get techniques like artificial
delicious bacon. Talk insemination, many
about a deal. of the barriers to
Human-supplied perks domestication should
stack the deck in favour disappear. ‘Knowing
of species’ survival, too: what genes control
Domesticates tend to the behaviours that
reproduce faster and you’re interested in
survive at higher rates manipulating is the
than their wild counterparts. Thus the dearth of dire wolves, future of domestication, for good or ill,’ Zeder says. ‘Once you begin
and the proliferation of darling dachshunds. to apply gene editing, eventually we would be able to domesticate
But not just any old beast can make the jump to humanspace. almost anything.’
‘The vast majority of mammal species have been impossible to Just because we could doesn’t necessarily mean we should,
domesticate,’ says Pulitzer Prize-winning author and UCLA though. Domestication in the true sense is irreversible, and
geography professor Jared Diamond. In his book Guns, Germs, leads to a variety of permanent changes in the animals affected –
and Steel, Diamond argues that to be domesticated, animals must including, notably, accelerated reproduction. So, unless you
possess six characteristics: a diverse appetite, rapid maturation, want to see a crash – yes, a ‘crash’ – of feral rhinos trampling your
willingness to breed in captivity, docility, strong nerves, and a petunia patch, or old ladies tossing bags full of stale termites
nature that conforms to social hierarchy. Melinda Zeder, a to overly friendly aardvarks in the park, it may be wise to exercise
zooarchaeologist and anthropology curator emeritus at the a little restraint.
Do you have unusual questions about how things work and why stuff happens? This is the place to ask them.
Don’t be afraid. Nobody will laugh at you here. Email popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za.

How to tunnel
across the
United States
IN THE MOVIE The Hummingbird Project,
two cousins, played by Jesse Eisenberg and
Alexander Skarsgård, quit their jobs at a
high-frequency trading firm in pursuit of a
grand idea: They’re going to build a tunnel
for fibre-optic cable on a straight line from The cousins drilling a
the servers of the New York Stock Exchange straight line through
the eastern third of
(actually in New Jersey) to a communications the US – before the
hub in Kansas. High-frequency traders make going gets tough
money by executing trades milliseconds faster
than competitors, so they think their straight-
line route, faster than meandering existing
cables, will make them rich. Here are some PENNSYLVANIA
of the challenges they’ll face. 5
ILLINOIS INDIANA OHIO 4
3
Kansas 2
Electronic 1
NEW
Exchange JERSEY
KANSAS
MISSOURI
Mississippi
River
1 / KANSAS CITY,
KANSAS 2 / MISSISSIPPI RIVER 4 / CENTRAL PA
Most of the upper The cousins use HDD can only go 5 / NEW JERSEY
Midwest was once under horizontal directional about 3.2 km before the While much of the
glaciers, and its soil is drilling (HDD), a pretty 3 / ILLINOIS/ INDIANA machine has to resurface Appalachian section is
soft sediment left behind common technique for Crossing under a major – so in the Appalachians relatively soft rock, the
as the glaciers melted – small tunnels, like for municipality means the crew would have to earth trends harder
theoretically, easy to utilities. Its drilling fluid identifying utilities, dig deep shafts through approaching the Eastern
tunnel through. But here poses environmental subbasements, and the mountains to get it out. seaboard. The super-
the bedrock lies tilted, risks, which may make like, and routing around Or switch to a proper hard bedrock that makes
rather than flat, meaning it tricky to get a permit them. But to dig straight, tunnelling machine, great foundations for
layers of hard rock can from the Army Corps of you’d have no choice but which is bigger and skyscrapers in New York
be closer to the surface Engineers – required to to go deep – probably slower, but doesn’t and New Jersey is hell
than would be ideal. go under the Mississippi. too deep for HDD. have to surface. on drills.
A very warm sleeping bag

for the great outdoors
PHOTOGRAPHY: GALLO/GETTYIMAGES, THE ORCHARD, COURTESY IMAGES
WHEN I HEARD that Therm-a-Rest’s new Hyperion 20 sleeping bag was rated for -6 degrees
Celsius – even at an impossibly light weight of just over 0.5 kg – I needed to know if it could
actually handle the cold. But the perfect testing conditions are not conditions in which I
typically plan camping trips, and the idea of sleeping in my -5.5-degree backyard in Vermont,
next to my truck and trash cans, wasn’t thrilling. Watching Dan Aykroyd and John Candy in
The Great Outdoors on my porch, though? That I could do. I wrapped up in the bag and settled
into my porch couch. As I watched, I had the weird experience of forgetting I was outside.
Clever distribution and baffling minimises compression, so the bag’s down captures lots of
warm air – I had to pull my torso out when I got toasty. And the 900-fill down is hydrophobic,
so no big deal when I moved my legs straight into the snow on the porch edge. Quick review
of the movie: Mediocre; not about the outdoors; mostly rich-jerk/lovable-regular-guy
one-liners. Quick review of the bag: It’s ready for trips much further than the front porch,
though that’s where I was again the next week. Figured I’d give Nothing But Trouble a chance.
(At the time of print, bag only available in SA as an imported item.) – James Lynch

COLUMNS
THE BODY
MECHANIC
/ BY JAC QUE LI NE
D E TW I L E R /
A Centers for Disease Control Epidemic Intelligence

Service training exercise. (The bodies are mannequins.)
The disease a bag and drove down to Denver to meet the people who had
been working with the sick children. Naming the new disease
acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), the team started making histograms
detectives of when the disease had occurred (called epicurves), and maps
of where.
One prevalent theory was that a respiratory virus that had been
Inside the Centers for Disease striking people around the same time, called enterovirus D68, was
Control’s Cold War-era training responsible for AFM. ‘It had some plausibility because enterovirus
programme to halt epidemics. D68 is related to the poliovirus, although it hadn’t really been
described to cause this,’ says Pastula. But it was difficult to prove:
I
You’d have to biopsy the children’s spinal cords, which could have
F YOU WERE a Facebook friend of Dr Daniel Pastula’s around further damaged them. The team collected samples of cerebrospinal
2014, you might have started to wish you’d gone to medical fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord, as a proxy, but
school. In one photo he posted, he was drinking a frozen cocktail they couldn’t consistently find any particular virus.
on an island in Micronesia called Yap, where giant stones were The outbreak abated naturally in late 2014, but has returned
once used as money. In another, he was wearing sunglasses twice, in 2016 and 2018. Five years later, the CDC still doesn’t know
on the beach in Fiji. At the time, Pastula was an officer in the what causes AFM, but they’re disinclined to give up. A lab at CDC
Centers for Disease Control’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Atlanta is currently using advanced genetic-sequencing techniques
(EIS), a two-year training appointment often called the ‘disease to search for previously
detective programme.’ He was in Yap to investigate and manage undetected viruses in the
an outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya. In Fiji, it samples in advance of the What is the Epidemic
was called dengue and Guillain-Barré. next outbreak, expected Intelligence Service?
The EIS programme was started during the Cold War to create in 2020. (Many think the A two-year training programme for
a group of people who could be quickly deployed to halt outbreaks two-year pattern has to do doctors, nurses, veterinarians, and
such as those from, for example, biological weapons. When a health with herd immunity and certain categories of public-health
department requests urgent help from the CDC, at least one EIS when children who have researchers, the EIS exists so that
officer and/or other subject-matter experts travel to the front line, been totally unexposed the CDC can shift resources around
whether it’s in Miami or Sierra Leone. Together with local health to the virus reach the age the world whenever a disease
officials and clinicians, they determine whether there is a legitimate when infection is likely.) threatens public health. People in the
epidemic, create a list of cases, and put out a health advisory. Then They’re also considering programme undergo four weeks of
they do what’s called descriptive epidemiology – graphing the who, genetic and immuno- lectures and training at CDC Atlanta,
what, where, and when of the cases involved. Then they try to logical factors that nicknamed ‘Epidemiology boot
figure out the why. could explain why camp’, and then can be deployed
One of the CDC’s most complicated recent mysteries struck a some children get to locations around the world to
dozen kids who lived along the front range of the Rocky Mountains AFM and others don’t. investigate urgent outbreaks on the
in late summer 2014. The children all came down with a cold, which ‘Epidemiology assumes ground. There are 120 to 160 EIS
PHOTOGRAPHY: CLEOPATRA ADEDEJI
was then followed by weakness in their arms or legs. Some had a two things,’ says Pastula. officers at any time.
drooping face. It wasn’t polio, but it looked similar. The CDC put ‘Diseases don’t happen at
out a call: Was there anyone in the current EIS classes with a random, and there are
specialty in spinal-cord lesions? There was. risk factors that affect your chance of getting them.’ Until
Pastula, who is now an assistant professor of neurology, AFM is solved, the CDC will be looking for those factors.
infectious diseases, and epidemiology at the University of Colorado You can find them on the front lines, washing the heck out
School of Medicine and Colorado School of Public Health, packed of their hands.

RELAUNCH - Available at your local retailer and hardware store
COLUMNS
THE I.T. GUY

/ BY A L EX AND ER GE OR GE /
What
I’m looking 2 / The
Freewrite
Traveler
forward to
The cool stuff, both 1 / Porsche’s electric vehicle
This distraction-
free writing tool is
basically a keyboard
and e-ink screen,
similar to what you’ll
rumoured and announced, The Taycan will have a range of 500 km and go from find on an Amazon
that the tech industry saved zero to 100 km/h in less than 3.5 seconds. But the spec Kindle. It shows you
that has my attention is the 350-kilowatt charger that, nothing except what
for after the holidays.
Porsche says, gives 100 km of range in four minutes you’re typing, then
– a Tesla on a Supercharger takes ten minutes to do sends copies of
the same. That’s the difference between having to kill that work to your
a little time at a rest-stop coffee shop and having Dropbox, Google
enough range before your drink is ready. Drive, wherever you
want to stash what
you’ve written. It’s
the kind of useful
atavism, like the
internet-blocking
productivity app
Freedom, for which
I’m a sucker. The
$600 (±R8 500) price
makes it a tough
sell for anyone
who, unlike me, can
restrain themselves
from the pull away
from productivity
that YouTube
provides. But if
3 / The Zeiss ZX1 Camera writing is your
Smartphones will never fit a sensor as big as a point-and-shoot. There will always job, the Traveler
be a place for real cameras. And I get the most satisfaction out of models that look like makes a case for
the ZX1: physical dials for shutter speed and aperture, with a viewfinder and not much skipping your next
else to distract you from thinking hard about what will make a great photograph. Plus, phone upgrade
USB-C charging will mean I can travel with fewer cables, which I always appreciate. and getting one
of these instead.
4 / Ford’s Graphene
We’ve been reading about
this miracle substance 5 / The New Nintendo Switch
called graphene (a single and PlayStation 5
layer of carbon atoms) Rumours about the PS5 point to something
for years. Now, we’ll see similar to the current console, but I expect
it in action. Ford says it will Nintendo will borrow some functionality ideas
cover parts of its engines from the Switch’s portability and/or Xbox’s
and other components xCloud streaming system – meaning all you’d
with this stuff to reduce need to keep playing God of War is a phone, a
noise without adding PlayStation controller, and fast WiFi. Meanwhile,
weight. I’ll definitely be the Switch is selling so well that I expect upgrades
waiting to hear about such as a higher-resolution display, better
the effect it has on the battery life, and more on-board storage.
next Mustang.

How to use
computer
When your let you write a text document that felt like fakery now
you had a Word file stored on your hard
gadgets drive, when everything you typed was actually
in a faraway Google data centre. But faking
1. RUN WINDOWS
ON A MAC
deceive you hardware like those huge gaming PCs is a

leap. Playing a modern video game is about
the most processor-intensive task you can
Got a game that only runs on
Windows? Does your school
use Windows-only software?
Your devices are behaving ask of a consumer-grade computer or phone. The easiest method is an
like something they’re not. Now, Google is following Nvidia with a trial application like Parallels
That’s a very good thing. called Project Stream, in which testers can (±R1 300), which runs a fully
I
play Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey with nothing functional Windows operating
N THE NOVEMBER 2018 ISSUE, I tested but a Chrome browser and a strong internet system on your Mac like any
a bunch of big, expensive gaming PCs. connection. Next year, Microsoft will roll out other app. To sound cool, use
These are the tools of millionaire Twitch Project xCloud, which lets you play full-on the technical term for this:
stars and eSports champions, and they Xbox games on a smartphone. We’ve hit an virtual machine.
were powerful and cool. They were also era when even small devices can convincingly
the size of a dorm refrigerator, and as replicate almost any task a civilian user has 2. LIE FOR
loud. There’s no other way to fit the ever wanted from technology. CHEAPER HOTELS
board, graphics card, and cooling systems In the near future, I expect to see more of Virtual private networks
required for all that processing power. this industry-sanctioned fakery. For decades, (VPNs) are apps that route
Since then, I’ve been playing the same programmers have built free emulators, your internet connection
games on an Nvidia Shield, a box the size of a software that so that sites think you’re
paperback. It has USB ports for my keyboard lets you play ANY SCREEN YOU somewhere you’re not. I
and mouse, and HDMI for a monitor. Via an classic console USE WILL BE ABLE pay $40 a year for Private
app called GeForce Now, the Shield connects games like Internet Access’s VPN. Hotel-
to a distant warehouse of computers that do Super Mario TO PRETEND TO and flight-booking services
the work of those big gaming PCs. It feeds the Bros on a BE ANYTHING – are known to change prices
graphics and sounds over the internet, giving computer IF YOU HAVE according to a customer’s
me the illusion of having a massive gaming for free. Since location. Compare prices with
PC under my desk. Every mouse drag, click, last summer, A STRONG the VPN set to the origin and
and keyboard stroke is replicated so quickly Nintendo has CONNECTION. the destination. When you’re
that I’m the one to blame when I die early in been suing ready to buy, use a browser in
whatever battle-royale game the kids tell me emulator creators for the same reasons that Private or Incognito Mode. Go
I should be playing. musicians and record companies went after into Preferences and delete all
Using the internet to fake a device’s Napster years ago. And if Napster eventually cookies, then search. Cookies
capabilities isn’t new. In 2011, Chromebooks led us to Spotify and Apple Music, then store bits of browsing history,
those emulators got us to these and if a booking site sees that
The Nvidia Shield is new streaming products from you’ve checked multiple times,
the size of a small book. Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft. some arbitrarily increase the
Thanks to an app, it The infrastructure that makes prices to pressure you to buy.
has the power of a
gaming computer.
GeForce Now, Project Stream, and
xCloud possible will only get faster, 3. FAKE YOUR
especially when the next generation VITAL INFORMATION
of mobile connectivity (5G) really Reliable news of security
arrives. Whatever screen you use will breaches at places like
be able to pretend to be anything as Facebook and Google are
long as you have a strong connection. the reason I give out minimal
With caution, I’ll agree with Elon information for online services.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GALLO/GETTYIMAGES, COURTESY IMAGES
Musk: The next era of technology But that can get annoying
will require us to think outside the when, say, I’m at a red light,
boundaries of our existing (clumsy) tapping Google Maps or
user interfaces – touch screens, VR, Waze to navigate me home.
or even voice. I can’t be certain that his For both, I have my ‘Home’
company Neuralink will solve that with saved as a pizza joint a few
its version of ‘brain–machine interface.’ blocks from my actual house.
But same as me getting beaten by I still get accurate directions
12-year-olds in Call of Duty, pretty and traffic intelligence, but
soon, the hardware won’t be to blame. a Waze hack won’t give up
– AG my billing address.

PRODUCTS
/ BY BR EN DO N PE TE RS EN
GEAR & Must-have hardware for humans on the go
sapphire crystal glass, tough titanium cases, and a

range of features that include notifications, activity
tracking, heart-rate sensors, built-in music storage
GARMIN MARQ COLLECTION and Garmin Pay.
The new MARQ collection is a celebration of 30 years With the introduction of this range, your hunt
of Garmin International, and it has brands such as for a high-end hybrid smartwatch that specialises in
Breitling and Omega in its sights. The collection a specific activity is over. Garmin has told us that the
consists of five smartwatches – Driver, Aviator, MARQ collection will be coming to South Africa, but
Captain, Expedition and Athlete – that combine local pricing and availability dates have not yet been
high-end mechanical bodies and build quality with released to the public.
smartwatch internals. While each watch has its own $1 500–$2 500
unique functionality, all five boast scratch-resistant garmin.com/en-ZA/marq/

STAND
A CHANCE
of WINNING an
Ultimate Ears Boom 3 speaker!
HEAD OVER TO
popularmechanics.co.za/win
Power Up charging dock, a fresh placement for the

ULTIMATE EARS BOOM 3 charging cable and a waterproof fabric that covers
Logitech portable speakers are some of my favourites the device. And, to tweak your audio, download the
because they have amazingly loud, immersive 360- Ultimate Ears app to give your music more thump.
degree sound, impressive battery life, fine design Ultimate Ears definitely makes some of the best
styling and an IP67 waterproof rating. Bluetooth speakers on the market, offering you
The Boom 3 and Megaboom 3 from subsidiary style and portability without sacrificing audio
Ultimate Ears both feature a new Magic Button – quality or usability.
which is great for managing Apple Music and Deezer R2 999–R3 999
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Skeletool RX Sony WH-1000XM3
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not yet released)
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RAPOO
Searching for a new mouse or keyboard
that does what it’s supposed to and won’t
break the bank often feels hopeless. But
there’s a new brand in town – Shenzhen
Rapoo Technology Co. was founded in
2002 and launched its own peripherals
brand, Rapoo, in 2007.
Ranked China’s number-one wireless
keyboard and mouse brand for two years
running, Rapoo has brought its wireless
peripherals products to South Africa.
The company has a range of stand-alone
wireless (and wired) keyboards and mice
– or sets that include both – all excellent
options for office use or gaming.
R69–R1 035
incredible.co.za
PRODUCTS
DREAMWAVE HARMONY II
You may not have heard of DreamWave
before, which is fair considering the
company’s offerings are fairly new in
South Africa, but keep an eye out for this
brand’s stylish and well-built products.
The Harmony II Bluetooth speaker is
striking to look at thanks to its unique
design, metal and leather finishes and
velvet carrying pouch. It boasts a 16 W
output and a 4 500 mAh lithium polymer
battery that provides up to 20 hours of
audio playback. According to DreamWave,
it has ‘a combination of advanced
technologies and audiophile sound
tuning that reproduce the fullness,
clarity and depth of your music.’
For added convenience, you can also
answer calls via the speaker thanks to
the built-in mic and hands-free calling
functionality, which automatically
pauses and resumes your music once
the call is over.
R999
takealot.com
MO RE N E W G EA R TO H EL P Y O U N AV I GAT E 2 1S T-C EN T URY LI F E :
adidas ID Samsung
Fitbit Inspire HR WND Jacket Galaxy Buds
R1 989 R1 399 R2 999
takealot.com shop.adidas. samsung.com/
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IT’S TIME TO START PLANNING YOUR TRIP
BEYOND THE ATMOSPHERE.
SpaceX’s gleaming
stainless-steel
Starship is the launch
vehicle of our space-
age dreams. It’s now
in the prototype stage.
So is space tourism.

So here’s the first
thing: They call it
‘The Overview Effect.’
It’s what happens
Space has it all. when you see the Earth
Circular mountain from space, all you
ranges! Metallic have ever known just
asteroids! Geysers a glittering orb in the
of sulfur! Oceans on cosmic emptiness. Your
a steady boil! It may sense of humanity grows.
just be the ultimate Your perception shifts.
vacation destination. You are forever changed.
But how do you pack for Sounds kind of scary.
the Moon? What are you But then, isn’t it
looking at for lodging? exactly why we travel?
Will you get carsick in
a rocket? In the era of
space tourism,these are
things you need to know.

T H E T O U R I S T ’ S G U I D E T O S PAC E
Asteroid
belt
Mare
Orientale
Olympus
Apollo 11 Mons
site
MOON
Valles
Marineris
MARS
EARTH
THE
GETAWAY
THE
SABBATICAL
CERES
JUPITER
IO
PLAN THE
RETIREMENT
YO U R T R I P
There are no short trips to space – only long, longer, or forever.
And odds are, you’ll only go once. These trips will make the most
of whatever amount of time you have. By Bobak Ferdowsi
BEFORE YOU GO,

SEE SPACE ON
EARTH…
AS OF 2019, there’s still a lot of time MANICOUAGAN CRATER, QUEBEC ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE
and money between you and a trip off the The impact of a five-km-wide In preparation for the launch of the
planet. Luckily, there are many places on asteroid 215 million years ago Viking mission in the 1970s, NASA
Earth that scientists look to for clues about formed a series of rings, evidenced scientists went to the Atacama, an
space – and you can reach most of them, if today by an annular lake surrounding exceedingly dry locale, to test some
you’re interested. – BF the impact site. of the probes’ instrumentation.

THE GETAWAY
ROUND TRIP:
Two weeks
The Moon is only three days away. It’s the sole
destination in space where you can retrace the
steps of human explorers, and you’ll encounter a
variety of craters, ridges, and plateaus for your own
expeditions. The lunar poles harbour water. Mare
Orientale is the Moon’s youngest impact basin,
ringed by circular mountain ranges nearly 970 km
in diameter. The near side of the Moon offers
breathtaking views of Earth, while the far side
is the ultimate digital detox – there’s very limited WHAT LAUNCH FEELS LIKE
means for communication with Earth.
MIKE MASSIMINO crewed missions
THE SABBATICAL to the Hubble telescope in 2002 and 2009.
ROUND TRIP:
His ride was the Space Shuttle, whose
Three years combination of solid and liquid fuels will
also be used by NASA’s forthcoming Space
Explore Mars, which is like the Karoo writ larger. Launch System, which will carry humans
Hikers will love Olympus Mons, a massive volcano that
stands over 24 km high and is about the size of Italy.
to deep space.
Then there’s Valles Marineris, which is a canyon thought
to be a crack in Mars’s crust formed as the planet cooled, With liquid-fuelled rockets, you can
expanded in parts by erosion. It dwarfs the Grand Canyon, throttle the rocket, so they actually start
reaching depths of 6.5 km and running a length roughly up the main engines with six seconds to
equal to the breadth of the US. go in the launch count. They’re located
at the bottom of the shuttle, so it sort of
tips the vehicle forward a little bit. Then
THE RETIREMENT it comes back. And when it’s upright,
ROUND TRIP:
Europa
N/A
you’re at zero. The solid rockets ignite –
they are like giant sticks of dynamite.
A cruise to Jupiter – about as far as it’s reasonable to Before the shuttle clears the tower, you’re
imagine going, at this point – takes two to three years on already going 160 km/h. It accelerates
a direct trajectory from Earth. But on the way, you’ll want from zero to 28 100 km/h in only eight
to visit objects in the asteroid belt: Ceres, which makes
up a quarter of the belt’s mass and was once considered
and a half minutes.
a planet; Vesta, dominated by a crater that contains a The sheer power of that, what it takes
20-km-high peak; and 16 Psyche, the largest metallic to get off the planet – I had a sensation
asteroid. Then on to Jupiter, at which point you’ll hop from after a minute or so like I was leaving
moon to moon – we know of nearly 80 – using the gravity home for the first time. I felt like this was
of each to swing your ship towards the next destination. my first time really, truly leaving home.
On Io, strong gravitational forces from Jupiter and other It’s a pretty rough ride for the first
Jovian moons heat the interior, manifesting in the form
two and a half minutes, but then the
of volcanoes – hundreds of vents dot the surface. Europa
likely has a massive ocean beneath its icy shell. Beyond solid rockets part from the vehicle. You
Jupiter? Buckle in – Saturn is twice as far from home. continue to ride the liquid-fueled rockets
to orbit. You get a build-up of G forces
that peaks at about 3 Gs for the last two
and a half minutes. It’s like having three
big dudes sitting on you. A pile of bricks
on your chest. And then, after eight and
a half minutes, the main engines cut and
the Gs disappear and you can feel yourself
get lighter. All the shaking stops. The only
noise you really hear is the humming of
the air circulating and cooling fans. I had
a pen on the end of a lanyard that kind
of rose up and floated next to me. Your
arms at your sides will rise up. And then
BIOSPHERE 2, ORACLE, ARIZONA MAUNA LOA, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII I remember I took my helmet off. I saw
Perhaps no space analogue before or This volcano, geologically similar
Tom Hanks do it in Apollo 13, so I wanted
since has matched the scale of Bio- to the Red Planet, hosts HI-SEAS, a to do it, too. I took my helmet off and put
sphere 2, an attempt at an entirely self- habitat for simulating missions on it in front of me, and it floated.
sustaining, enclosed environment like Mars. Plus, if you’re stuck on Earth,
that of a prolonged space expedition. you may as well be in Hawaii. – AS TOLD TO KEVIN DUPZYK

DECIBULLZ
EARPLUGS
Space travel is strangely noisy,
always awake with the buzz
of fan motors, valves, and
electronics, and whatever
else keeps the ship going. READING
These will help you sleep.
GLASSES
(AND STRAP)
The lack of gravity
may affect
MULTI-POCKET COTTON the intraocular
ELECTRIC SHAVER HIKER PANTS pressure in the eyes,
Shaving cream will get You might think you’d want changing their
everywhere. So will water. So high-tech synthetics, but you shape and making
will whiskers. Using an electric don’t. ‘They’re a fire hazard,’ everything blurry.
razor eliminates the first two. says Kelly. Pants that are tough Bring a few pairs
cotton canvas and feature plenty of reading glasses
of button-fastening pockets to at different
hold in your space EDC are ideal. prescriptions
to compensate.
W H AT T O PAC K
SCOTT KELLY, he of the record one-year stay on the ISS,
explains space as a pretty utilitarian place. ‘People ask
what I forgot,’ he says. ‘My answer is, always, I’d bring less
stuff. You have to find a place to put it; it’s just another
thing to float away.’ So pack like it’s a camping trip:
limited space, limited water, function over form.
Leave the fire starters on Earth.
TUMI SPLIT TRAVEL KIT

Because every rummage is a potential
to lose things, it’s crucial to get a bag
with clear plastic pockets that let you see
what’s inside without opening them.
HEADLAMP
In space, you’re going to need light; this will keep
WARM FLEECE your hands free to navigate the weightless world.
SOCKS Also, go for rechargeable – no batteries to float off.
Getting warm blood
to your feet is more of
a challenge in zero
gravity, as is protecting VELCRO STRIPS
them (you use your Keeps a book in your
feet a lot to hook on to lap or a camera at the
stuff), and shoes are right angle, among
not ideal: Kelly says other things. Just don’t
in space there is a put the hook side on
real risk of being your person. It sticks
kicked in the face. to stuff.
AND ONE MORE THING: BRING A PIECE OF HOME

WHEN YOU GET TO SPACE, you look back at the planet and you get this cognitive shift that kind of changes you.
You’re going around the planet every 90 minutes. You see all of civilisation and humanity in one big marble…
I took a baseball cap from my college and a pennant from my high school – different things that were sentimental
to me were now off planet. You only get so much space, but what are those treasured mementos you’d want to
take to see in a whole different way? – LELAND MELVIN, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT

S P A C E
FAQ
Do you have
to be fit to
go into space?
Being in space doesn’t require
any particular level of fitness.
Long trips, however, will likely
require some preparation. For
example, long stays in space
accelerate bone deterioration
– and part of the remedy, per
NASA, is resistance training. So
W H E R E T O S TAY
Whether on a planetary surface or in a floating habitat,
starting a gym routine before
departure can help develop a
routine you’ll need in space.
Will I need
lodging will be nothing like a typical hotel. Or Airbnb.
vaccinations?
No, but you may
ON LAND undergo a pre-trip quarantine
to keep terrestrial bugs from
A hotel on another planet Mars simulation – he designed possible. And expect your spreading in space, where
has to do more than keep a habitat that would work on terrestrial sense of what medical resources are limited.
you physically comfortable: the Red Planet (or further out). constitutes an amenity to
It also has to address the Large underground sections change: Since venturing Can I bring
psychological challenges of provide shelter from small outdoors would be a complex,
leaving home and then being meteors or solar flares; sealed risky prospect, a space hotel
a service
stuck indoors. Researchers off from another planet’s will prioritise the gym, both animal?
on Earth call these isolated, inhospitable atmosphere, to maintain fitness and stave Sorry, no. They take up
confined, and extreme (ICE) they’d also make it possible off cabin fever. Electricity, precious resources, and the
environments. They’re Tristan to create an ecological system though? That’ll mostly be poor things would probably
Bassingthwaighte’s specialty. and grow plants for food and reserved for heating, lighting, hate microgravity. Plus,
For his dissertation – which he visual stimulation. To combat and sending experimental think about the bathroom
worked on while living out of a the sense of confinement, data back home; don’t expect
room ‘the size of Harry Potter’s there are digital windows hot tubs or minibars in your
situation up there.
closet’ in a year-long HI-SEAS where real windows aren’t intergalactic suite.
What kind of
food can I
IN SPACE
expect?
With all the commercial spacecraft being designed, entrepreneurs are creating destinations for space Bite-sized snacks to reduce
tourists. ‘I’m upbeat about space hotels,’ says Eric Stallmer of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. floating crumbs. Freeze-dried
‘I don’t see it in 2019, but maybe in 2021.’ – Joe Pappalardo or pouched entrées. (Fresh
food is a logistical nightmare.)
ROSCOSMOS since 2016. Its B330 project, No eggs – they are hard to
for a seven- to ten-day
The Russian agency’s 20-ton, planned for the early 2020s, trip – and is planning to make shelf-stable, often
15.5-metre-long luxury space will increase the station’s build its own wing, which turning green in the process.
hotel module for the ISS will pressurised volume by over would one day detach and And lots of hot sauce, which
provide 92 cubic metres of a third. Commercial space operate independently. Kimberly Glaus Läte of the
pressurised space. Lodging for stations and hotels could Johnson Space Center says
a two-week trip? $40 million. A be next. ORION SPAN
longer stay is $60 million, but
astronauts love, because
This company’s proposed you can taste it even when
they throw in a spacewalk. AXIOM SPACE
Aurora Station will offer
Helmed by a former NASA luxurious 12-day stays, in
microgravity keeps fluid
BIGELOW AEROSPACE space station programme some cases subsidised by from draining from your
This trailblazing US company manager, Axiom is offering microgravity research that nasal cavities, which makes
has had its BEAM inflatable rooms for rent on the ISS will be carried out by guests. it harder to perceive flavour.
module docked with the ISS in 2020 – $55 million $80 000 reserves a room.

H OW YO U STARLINER
ORBITAL
CREW DRAGON
GET THERE
Boeing SpaceX
Developed in collabor- SpaceX should
ation with NASA to begin carrying NASA
carry astronauts to astronauts to the
the International International Space
A decade ago, aspiring space tourists had only one option: flying Space Station, Boeing Station this year. The
a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station. These executives say Starliner company has never
will be available for other been shy about selling
days, an intrepid adventurer can look forward to a plethora of customers, including tickets to tourists,
spacecraft. At first they’ll be a privilege of the wealthy, but the tourists. ‘We are working and its soon-to-be-
first civilian astronauts will help bring costs down, democratising with Space Adventures proven Crew Dragon
space for the rest of us. By Joe Pappalardo to market available extra spacecraft will be a
seats on the Starliner,’ logical ride for orbital
says Boeing spokesman tourists with space
SUBORBITAL Jerry Drelling, referring hotel reservations.
to the pioneering Not official, but if
VOYAGER SPACESHIPTWO NEW SHEPARD tourism company that SpaceX’s past is
has already sent seven any guide, a space
World View Virgin Galactic Blue Origin
private people to space. tourist can contact
Enterprises
An aeroplane called A flight on New Shepard ‘When we’re ready to the company and start
An eight-passenger WhiteKnightTwo carries will last 11 epic minutes: address commercial talking prices now.
capsule suspended from the SpaceShipTwo A pressurised capsule sales, we will certainly WHEN
a high-altitude balloon space plane to about takes six passengers be working to provide TBD
that rises to just over 46 000 feet before past the Kármán line competitively priced
PRICE
100 000 feet (30 500 m). air-launching it. A pair into suborbital space seats in the emerging
TBD
It’s not really space flight, of pilots then fly the at speeds of more than low-Earth orbit market.’
but with a view of the rocket-powered craft Mach 3. Blue Origin WHEN
Earth’s curvature, who and its half-dozen has said it is aiming for TBD
cares? Besides, the slow passengers to the edge flights early this year,
COST
ascent promises to be of space, where they but tickets have not
$58 million
much smoother than enjoy six minutes of yet gone on sale.
(for NASA)
strapping on to a rocket. weightlessness before WHEN (R840 mil)
World View is currently strapping back into their 2019
focused on commer- seats for a long glide to a
PRICE
cialising its balloon for runway. The first crewed
non-tourist applications, $300 000 (estimated)
flight to space took place
and its CEO said it would in December 2018, and (R4.3 mil)
ideally conduct at least since it went well, paying
100 launches of its customers could take off
existing uncrewed later in 2019.
balloon before sending WHEN
people up. 2019
WHEN
PRICE
Mid-2020s (estimated) $250 000
PRICE (R3.6 mil) INTERNATIONAL STARLINER
$75 000 (R1.1 mil) SPACE STATION
(reserve now with
$7 500 down)
VOYAGER

DEEP SPACE
STARSHIP NEW GLENN

SpaceX Blue Origin
With a design straight The New Glenn rocket,
out of a sci-fi paperback a massive beast that will
from the 1950s, the take payloads into Earth
180 m-tall Starship orbit and beyond, could
is designed to take as certainly get people to
many as 100 passengers the Moon. (And Blue
to far-flung destinations Origin is designing a
in the solar system. robotic lander, called
Japanese billionaire Blue Moon.) It fits with STARSHIP
Yusaku Maezawa the company’s goal of
has signed on to be ‘a future where millions
Starship’s first customer of people are living
(with a ‘significant and working in space.’
deposit’, according Orbital payload missions
to Elon Musk). He are targeted for 2021;
intends to take six to tourist launches at least
eight artists on a trip a few years behind.
around the moon. WHEN NEW
WHEN 2025 (at the earliest) GLENN
2025 (at the earliest) PRICE
PRICE TBD
‘Significant’
CERES
DEEP SPACE
CREW DRAGON
LOW-EARTH ORBIT
NEW
SHEPARD SPACESHIPTWO
SUBORBITAL
EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE

S P A C E
FAQ
Is there
a space
version of
motion sickness?
Yes. And it’s actually the
inverse. When you get
queasy from, say, trying to
read in a car, it’s because
your eyes say you’re still,
but your vestibular system
can feel that you’re moving.
In space, your eyes see
movement, but without
gravity, your body can’t
discern it. This is also why
VR can make people feel
nauseated – so if you want
to know how susceptible
you might be, give VR a go
before you leave.
Hygiene – is
that a thing
in space?
Lack of water (and gravity)
makes ‘showering’ impossible. PM FICTION
So you have a sponge bath.
SOMETHING
And forget about laundry,
though that’s not as bad as it
sounds. ‘If you were wearing
your pants on Earth for
TO READ ON
six months, they would be
pretty rank,’ says Scott Kelly.
‘In space, the pants are not
really touching your skin that
much. They are floating and
you are floating inside them.’
What about
THE TRIP
the bathroom? In 1977, the Voyager probes began their mission: NASA’s ‘Grand Tour’
The current era of through the outer planets during a rare alignment. The probes have
space toilets use vacuums learned what we will come to know: Beyond the Moon, beyond Mars,
and offer a user-specific at distances from which no human could return – tourism blurs into
funnel for liquid waste exploration. Popular Mechanics presents…
and a seat with a small
hole – only 10 cm in No Longer of the Sun I am almost deaf to Earth now. Still that thin
diameter – for the other BY TERRENCE HOLT whisper in my antenna sends instructions, the
stuff. Navigating that engineers in mission control eking out another
10 cm hole can be tough,
so astronauts practise on
Earth with a mock-up toilet
N ovember 5, 2018. Voyager 2
approaches heliopause,
the boundary at which
year, another month, another hour of discovery.
Inertia never dies. There will come a time when
I will tumble blind, my senses failing one by one
that has a camera just under the solar winds balance the winds until in the end, only the shell of me will fall through
the rim. To help align things. of other planets’ stars – the edge of darkness towards the stars of the constellation Pavo.
interstellar space … Still I will retain on eight-track tape cassettes the

Voyager 2 launched
on a Grand Tour of the
solar system in 1977. mission control must be a different
Top right: Each Voyager
probe carries a golden record generation now, the children of those
recorded with signatures of who sent me on this journey. Outside of
Earth, such as a picture mission control, humanity still goes about
of Monument Valley and
music by Chuck Berry.
its business. I would not know what that
Right: Jupiter’s moon Io business was, but for this golden disc I
features sulfurous geysers. clutch to my central housing. But though
I see their faces, hear their voices raised in
greeting, I do not know. What must a life
be, lived always under familiar skies?
traces, written over and over, of all that At Saturn, the rings Space may be empty, but it is not
I have seen and known. changeless. Though my cameras have
In the wake of Voyager 1, with these sang like wind on a gone blind, still I sense the solar wind
cameras I imaged the banded majesty that pushes at my back. From ahead,
of Jupiter, the Great Red Spot swirling deserted beach, sang cosmic rays strike at my remaining
under me as I plunged past, clouds of for no other audience sensors. They come faster now, faster.
sulfur rising in geysers above the horizon I sense some break impending.
of Io. At Saturn, the rings sang like wind but me as I soared The wind dies behind me; for a moment
on a deserted beach, sang for no other I luff in emptiness: this is the heliopause.
audience but me while I soared past
past Hyperion. Interstellar space opens out before me. In
Hyperion. I heard the aurorae crowning the sudden silence, cosmic rays fall even
both the poles, and lightning flickering faster from the darkness out ahead, from
above the wind-torn clouds; watched Under a pallid, shrunken sun, Triton stars gone supernova, even from black
Saturn’s crescent shape, arrowed across vents plumes of gas into the sky, and holes in other galaxies where stars are
by the rings, diminish into a star. wisps of cloud fall as nitrogen snow. Over shredded as they fall into infinity. Once
After Saturn, I voyaged alone. Alone I Neptune’s pole then down I flew, out into part of those, they touch me now. I feel
witnessed what had been seen by no eye emptiness where no planets lie. All this them, substantial on my sensors, pieces
before, not human, not robotic. I was the I imaged. But all I saw only frames what of the Universe. Now I know: Space is not
first work of human hands to breach the lies ahead: untravelled emptiness receding empty. I am in it.
sky above Uranus and its boiling ocean. I forever. I am not done with exploration. I am not done with this Grand Tour.
was the first to come among Oberon, Ariel, I warm myself beside canisters of Though I have left the sun behind, still my
Umbriel, Titania, Miranda, and make of plutonium, their first half-life of 87 years dish points backwards to Earth. Still my
each a world distinct in all its scars of fault not half gone. In my thrusters I retain sensors reveal the universe to which I now
and fracture, the frozen lava flows of water, sufficient hydrazine to keep my dish belong, to which we all belong: the glory
ammonia, and methane. I saw all these and turned homeward, where still I send this of it. So I hold tightly to this golden disc,
more. And still I alone have been there. trickle of ones and zeroes at 160 bits per with its record of the sights and sounds
Then only Neptune lay ahead, deep blue second, over the 17.7 billion kilometres of Earth, and remember my makers, who
as the sea, racked by winds of 1 900 km/h. between me and Earth. The engineers in sent me here, where they cannot yet go.

K N OW B …EWFI T HO R E
YO U G O E L O N M U S K
YOU CAN’T JUST FLY UP INTO SPACE WILLY-NILLY. A SMART SPACE TOURIST
UNDERSTANDS HOW TO GET THERE. THE CEO OF SPACEX EXPLAINS SOME OF THE
SCIENCE BEHIND HIS STAINLESS-STEEL STARSHIP ROCKET – WHICH MIGHT
JUST CARRY YOU TO MARS. INTERVIEWED BY RYAN D’AGOSTINO
from the centroids. So if you were to go up Minimum velocity needed to stay in

160 km, you’re not changing the distance low-Earth orbit is about 25 times the
between you and the centre of the Earth speed of sound once you get there. You
very much. The pull of gravity would seem generally scrub about 5 Mach getting
the same to you. The reason there’s this there, [meaning] you need an ideal velocity
thing called zero gravity, or microgravity of about Mach 30 to get to orbit so that
– it’s really due to zooming around the you end up with 25 and experience zero
Earth very fast. A rocket doesn’t go straight gravity, zipping around the Earth. In
up. It does this arc. It only goes vertical low-Earth orbit, you’ll be zooming
briefly and then turns over and accelerates around the Earth every 90 minutes.
horizontal to the surface of the Earth. Something that really surprises a lot
In January, we ran an exclusive interview The reason it’s going horizontal is of people is when you tell them that the
with Elon Musk on popularmechanics.com, because it’s trying to increase its radial International Space Station, which looks
in which he explained, for the first time, acceleration. Its outward acceleration. If like quite a large ungainly structure, is
his full thinking – as well as the complex you swing a ball on a rope – like swingball going around the Earth at 27 300 km/h.
engineering questions – behind his – you can get it to be basically horizontal by It completes an orbit every 90 minutes.
decision to construct SpaceX’s Starship swinging it around very fast. That outward It’s very fast.
rocket and booster with stainless steel. radial acceleration is what’s keeping it RD: Let’s talk about Mars. You must
The previous design for the rocket (which there. So what you’re actually trying to do have spent some time thinking about
was then known as the BFR) had called is have the outward radial acceleration be those first minutes, hours, and days.
for carbon fibre, but Musk recalculated equal to the inward acceleration of gravity. EM: On Mars?
and went with steel due to its durability, So you have net zero acceleration, and that RD: On Mars.
cost-effectiveness, and ductility. feels like zero gravity. But actually, you’re EM: Ahh, not really. I mean – not at the
Here, in a continuation of that like a swingball. granularity of minutes.
interview, Musk goes deep on what it Another way to think of it is like a RD: Is that because the focus right now
takes to actually travel beyond orbit and marble in a funnel. Gravity looks like a is so much on getting there?
into space. Also, it sounds like Mars will funnel in space-time. And if you spin a EM: Yeah yeah, you need to get there.
have a nice park. marble around anywhere on that funnel, That’s a big deal. I think Starship will
it’s going to roll right into the middle. also be good for creating a base on the
Ryan D’Agostino: What don’t most future Even if the funnel’s really big. That’s what Moon. We’ll probably have a base on
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY IMAGES; ILLUSTRATION: TODD DETWILER, MARK SMITH
potential space tourists understand about gravity looks like. It’s going to orbit the the Moon before going to Mars.
the practicality of travelling to space? centre of the funnel, very slowly at first, RD: Could you simulate a Mars Base
Elon Musk: Some basic concepts about and then it accelerates, in terms of revs per Alpha on the Moon?
orbit and gravity, which are counter- second, as it gets closer and closer, and EM: It would be quite a bit different
intuitive because they’re not what we then in the middle it’s going superfast, because the gravity on the Moon is much
experience. Like, a lot of people think if okay? That’s gravity. less, and the Moon has an atmosphere.
you go up high enough, gravity stops. This So you’ve got to spin the marble up – But once you actually get there, it’s quite
is not true. Earth’s gravitational reach is that’s what you’ve got to do with a rocket. manageable. That’s not the hard … there’s
infinite. You could be at the other side of RD: So then what are the implications for a lot of work to do once you get there, but
the universe – given enough time, if you re-entry – or entry, on Mars? it’s not like, Oh my god, we’re on Mars!
have no relative velocity compared to the EM: Entry is hard. Sure. It’s super-hot. There will be that, just from an awe
Earth, you will come right back to Earth. These things all kind of add up when you standpoint. But if you got there and you’re
The simple Newtonian formula for think about it. Like, why is entry so fast? alive, the hard part is accomplished. That’s
gravity is G(m1×m2)/r2 – you know, the It’s because you’re coming in from a very the hard part.
gravitational constant times the masses high velocity. You’ve got to slow it down RD: But the planning that will have gone
of the two objects divided by the distance from a crazy-high velocity. into knowing what you’re going to do

when you get there – for food, for water, RD: And making fuel once you’re on Mars, as a working propellant plant. And then
for fuel. you don’t see as a problem? you just need little miner droids to go
EM: Once you get there, that stuff is EM: Well, it’s a tricky engineering problem, dig up ice and bring it back and unfurl
relatively straightforward. especially in terms of the energy required the solar panels.
RD: Food. What’s the plan? – you need a lot of solar panels or you need RD: What are you hoping to learn from
EM: I mean, the easy way to do the food a nuclear power plant. Then, if you have a the InSight lander? Do you have people
would be just to do hydroponics. You methane-oxygen system – which is what here who monitor what NASA’s finding?
essentially have solar power – unfurl we’re talking about, since the atmosphere [Long pause.]
solar panels on the ground, feed that of Mars is primarily CO2, and there’s a EM: Certainly we pay attention to any
to underground hydroponics, either massive amount of water ice, so you’ve new discoveries with respect to Mars.
underground or shielded by wires, dirt. got CO2 and H2O, from which you can Yeah. But I mean Mars is fairly well
So then you can be sure that you don’t make CH4 and O2– it’s a simple Lego. understood. You know, it would be
have to worry about excessive ultraviolet You’ve got three types of blocks. That’s helpful to have finer details about,
radiation or a solar storm or something it. C, H, and O. where are the high concentrations of
like that. Really pretty straightforward. Technical challenges: power generation, water ice? The more you can find high
You could just use Earth hydroponics. and a good way of getting ice. There’s concentrations of water ice, the less
Earth hydroponics will work fine. ice in the soil, but it’s dirty. And it’s not work your miner droids need to do
For having an outdoorsy, fun necessarily all in, like, ice form. Sometimes and the less work you need to do to
atmosphere, you’d probably want to have it’s like permafrost or something. If you basically heat the soil and evaporate
some faceted glass dome, with a park, can land somewhere near a glacier, where the water and get rid of whatever isn’t
so you can walk around without a suit. there’s only a small amount of dirt with water. So having high-purity ice? Very
Eventually if you terraform the planet, the ice, that would be quite helpful. So helpful. Less energy to heat it.
then you can walk around without a suit. you’ve got to mine some ice, basically. Still, one of the toughest things that’s
But for, say, the next 100-plus years, you’ll You’ve got an ice-mining engineering really hard to explain to people is orbit
have to have a giant pressurised glass dome. challenge, and you’ve got an energy- versus space. Getting to space is easy.
RD: You seem unimpressed by the people generating engineering challenge. Getting into orbit is hard. It’s 100 times
who say you can’t terraform Mars. Those are your problems on Mars. harder to get to orbit than to get to what
EM: Of course you can terraform Mars. The logical thing to do is basically you’d call, in quotes, ‘space.’ Which is,
Why would they think you can’t? You outfit one of the ships as a propellant say, the Kármán line at 100 kilometres,
totally can. plant itself, and just land it on the planet which is an arbitrary point at which the
atmosphere is fairly thin. This is typically
called space. It’s arbitrary. Obviously it
would be quite a coincidence if space
started at 100 kilometres. I think it was
randomly [named that] so X-15 pilots
could get astronaut wings back in the
’50s or something. You can’t orbit a
satellite at 100 kilometres because
the atmosphere is still too thick.
RD: Is that one of the things you most
want to communicate to people? Orbit
versus space.
EM: Yeah. Giant, giant, giant difference.
And if you want to go to orbit and come
back from orbit, now this is way harder
than going to 100 kilometres and just
falling back. Not that it’s easy to get to
100 kilometres and fall, but if you go
to 100 kilometres and just fall back
down, you don’t even scorch the paint.
But if you are coming in from orbit,
unless you have a heat shield, you will
get vaporised. Okay? There are meteors
coming in all the time, but they generally
get pretty much vaporised or pulverised
into tiny pieces before they touch the
ground, which is good. You don’t want
to be the meteor.
You need something that allows you
to reach the ground intact.
Note: An extended version of this interview

appears on PopularMechanics.com.
MAY 2019 43
TEC HNOLOGY
ROCKET LAUNCH
WE
HAVE
Earlier this year,

concealed at a secret
Denel facility, the locally
built sounding rocket
dubbed the Phoenix
was ready for blast off.
Though engineered to
travel at twice the speed
of sound, this test rocket
had other ideas.
BY EL SA BÉ B RI TS

PHOENIX FAST FACTS
Length: 4.9 metres
Total mass: 88 kilograms
Burn time: 15 seconds
Peak thrust: 700 kilograms
Oxidiser mass: 34 kilograms
(nitrous oxide)
Fuel mass: 7 kilograms
(paraffin wax)
Altitude: Up to 20 kilometres
Maximum speed: Mach 2.2
(2 716 km/h)
Flight time: ±140 seconds
We’re told that the rocket will another one of the team
reach an altitude of at least members. Fortunately, the
HERE ARE FEW The air is thick with excitement 15 km, and then plunge into team is quick to add, it holds
things as exciting and anticipation. the sea, while travelling at no danger for the environ-
as a rocket launch Mission control is enveloped twice the speed of sound, ment, and no toxic materials
countdown. Even in semi-darkness. Ten minutes about 18 km from the launch have been used during the
more so when it before launch, each controller pad site. ‘At that speed an rocket’s construction.
happens in our is asked the question, ‘Go, or impact with water will The OTR is 46 000 hectares
own backyard, at the top secret no go?’ All systems are ready. pulverise it … nothing will – in other words, vast – and it
Denel Overberg Test Range It’s a go. be left. It will die a dramatic incorporates a coastline and
(OTR) in the Western Cape. At four minutes to launch, the death,’ explains Jean Pitot, marine area of 70 km by 30 km,
Security at this vast complex, ignition is armed. During the all covered by electro-optical
outside Arniston, is extremely flight, the rocket will be tracked sensors. The no-fly airspace
tight, and our briefing is very by the facility’s array of optical covers 240 km by 55 km, with
clear about what we can and and radar trackers, which will no height limitation.
can’t do. No one is allowed to provide real-time flight data. ‘The idea is to develop the
film or photograph the experts And high-resolution video and rocket programme further
seated at mission control infrared recordings will be made. and eventually take scientific
during the launch of this T-minus 30 seconds is at payloads into space; but a
scientific rocket. Nor is anyone 14:41:30. It feels as if time sounding rocket never goes
allowed to film or photograph is speeding up. What if we into orbit, nor does the pay-
anything that’s not related to miss something? load – the payload returns
the rocket launch itself. Hours earlier, before the with a parachute,’ says Pitot.
The Phoenix-1B sounding launch, we were taken to the ‘However, such rockets –
rocket was developed and built launch pad 15 km away from between three and 20 metres
by engineers and students mission control, where the in length – can reach altitudes
at the Aerospace Systems Phoenix was already in
Research Group (ASReG) at the position. Dr Mike Brooks,
University of KwaZulu-Natal. lecturer and team member,
This page: Ignition of the
Today is the big launch… explained that the rocket can Phoenix-1B sounding
reach a velocity of more than rocket. It was developed and
twice the speed of sound. (In built by the University of
KwaZulu-Natal.
air at 20°C, sound travels at
1 234.8 km/h, or 343 m/s,
covering a distance of 1 km
in just 2.9 seconds.)

of up to 1 500 km.’ The Phoenix does
not carry a payload; the launch will be
a test of its capabilities and systems.
The Department of Science and
Technology bankrolls the ASReG
programme, which has enabled UKZN
to develop expertise in rocket propulsion
technology, launch vehicle design, and
flight dynamics modelling. Phoenix-1B is
the UKZN’s second rocket; the next one
will be launched in 2020. Since 2010, the
department has invested R15 million in
the programme.
The Phoenix is a hybrid, comprising a has failed. Now, all around us, the
liquid (oxidiser) and a solid (fuel), which disappointment on the crew’s faces is
is both safer and cheaper, Pitot tells us. obvious. An awkward silence settles.
The liquid is nitrous oxide, commonly A formal investigation is now being
known as laughing gas, and the solid is carried out to determine the cause of
paraffin wax, which is manufactured the failure. The preliminary analysis
by Sasol. It has a composite combustion suggests that the propellant flow to the
chamber nozzle. In the event of a motor was cut off shortly after ignition
catastrophic failure the oxidiser and thanks to a malfunction in the main
the fuel cannot mix. Aluminium oxidiser flow control valve. This valve
powder is added to the fuel for controls the flow of nitrous oxide from
enhanced performance. the pressurised tank of the rocket to
Back at mission control, visitors listen the combustion chamber. It opens
to the countdown from the gallery. We’re automatically at T-0. The motor, it
all anxious. seems, ignited successfully, but was
Puffs of smoke can be seen at T-minus starved of nitrous oxide very soon after
four seconds, when the ignition is turned ignition and simply shut down, causing
on. The rocket fires up, and we have lift- a loss of thrust and the subsequent loss
off … but… of the vehicle.
‘We have nothing, no tracking … ‘We are looking into why the valve Right: The
Phoenix-1B
stop recording,’ a controller closed and whether it was a hard- or sounding rocket
suddenly announces. a software issue,’ explained Brooks on the launch
The time is 14:42. shortly after the launch. ‘There is no platform at the
Denel Overberg
Part of the fuel tank and motor can be margin for error in the systems we work Test Range
seen lying on the launch pad – the launch with. They are unforgiving. If one aspect (OTR) in the
is wrong, everything goes wrong. This Western Cape.
Below: Mission
was an exercise in transience.’ control at the
Denel OTR,
outside Arniston.
www.popularmechanics.co.za
TEC HNOLOGY
ROCKET LAUNCH
‘there is no
margin for err
or.
if one aspect
is wrong, every-
thing goes
wrong.’
2 3 4 1 NOSE CONE
1
PHOTOGRAPHY: ELSABÉ BRITS, UKZN, UNSPLASH/BILL JELEN, COURTESY IMAGES
2 OXIDISER TANK
3 FEED LINE
4 PV-3 MOTOR
5 INJECTOR BULKHEAD
6 INJECTOR PLATE
7 BULKHEAD INSULATION
8 PRECOMBUSTION CHAMBER INSERT
9 FUEL GRAIN
10 THERMAL LINER
11 CHAMBER CASING
12 POST-COMBUSTION CHAMBER INSERT
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 13 NOZZLE

INNOVATION

IS
interacting with technology
that mimics nature the same
as actually spending time Left and above:
in nature? Do we have the Tracking technology
same experience watching enables researchers
at the Two Oceans
an avalanche in an IMAX Aquarium to monitor
cinema as we do actually rehabilitated turtles
witnessing massive amounts that are released back
into the wild.
of snow sliding down the
side of a mountain?
According to University
of Washington psychology complex problem, because
professor, Peter Kahn, it is there are so many stake-
the same. And it isn’t. Much holders and it is not that
of Kahn’s work is around straightforward to find a
the intersection of two simple solution that will
modern-day phenomena: work for everybody, notes
the destruction of nature Dr Krzysztof Kryszczuk, a
and the growth of digital senior pattern-recognition
technologies. Does the specialist from PatternLab.
latter cause the former? Or Where technology can
do new tools and solutions reduce the impact of
hold the key to reversing innovation and protect the
the damage that has already nature, everybody wins.
been done? And can our
modern technologies help SAVE OUR SEAS
us to understand the world Despite the Earth being
around us a little bit better? an ocean planet – well over
For Dr Sara Andreotti, a 70 per cent of the world is
marine biologist and COO covered by seawater – for
and director of SharkSafe most of us, our contact with
Barrier, it’s about a balance. the ocean doesn’t extend
Many technological inno- beyond the breakers. In fact,
vations are coupled with the the American Museum of
destruction of nature, but Natural History in New York
there has also been a recent notes that we know less
drive in the popularity of about the sea floor than we
new technologies that can do about the surface of Mars.
TECHNOLOGY help nature and that work

well within nature.
The mitigation of human-
Which may explain why so
many of us feel a disconnect
with the importance of
AND NATURE … wildlife conflict is a very ocean sustainability.
But a group of savvy
FRIENDS OR FOES? scientists and researchers is
doing its best to make better
While the natural world and
human innovation are often
at odds, there are times when
they’re on the same side.
BY JOAN NE CA REW

INNOVATION
sense of what goes on below had low activity for the last
the waves. few years, so we recently
Sarah Waries, the CEO of created a fake shark and have
Shark Spotters, and her team been towing it behind a boat
have spent more than a decade so that we could get video
working to understand shark recordings of “shark”
activity. According to Waries, activity,’ she adds. This
the idea behind Shark Spotters footage of the fake shark –
is pretty simple: A spotter and of real shark sightings
sits up on an elevated spot when they occur – is then
– usually a mountain – and sent to Switzerland, where a
acts as an early warning working prototype is being
system by alerting people developed to aid their shark
when there is any shark monitoring efforts.
activity. But obviously this Technology can have a
approach has limitations. negative impact, but it
‘We were looking for certainly does open up a
something that could not world of possibilities when it
only enhance our current comes to ocean conservation,
approach, but also make notes Waries.
it possible to expand our Kevin Spiby, a senior
concept to other areas,’ she biologist at Cape Town’s Two
explains. In partnership with Oceans Aquarium, agrees.
PatternLab, a Swiss machine- ‘We run a turtle rehabilita-
learning company, they are tion programme at the Two
using data analytics and Oceans Aquarium,’ explains
artificial intelligence (AI) to Spiby. ‘In the past, when we
create an algorithm to help released an animal, we had
the spotters and monitor the no idea what it did, where it
oceans in locations where went or even if it survived.’
having a spotter isn’t viable. But with new technologies,
But in order to teach an we use satellite tags to track
algorithm to spot sharks, the rehabilitated turtles for
you have to show it plenty of up to two years after they
sharks. ‘Our shark sightings are released. This gives us
are quite sporadic and we’ve an opportunity not only to
gauge the success of the
rehabilitation programme
but also to gather data
around how these animals
travel, how they use currents
and also to learn more about
their feeding grounds.
Above and left: A fake shark is

used to acquire data for the Shark
Spotter initiative.
Right: A Seaglider being prepped
for launch.

INNOVATION
THE NUMBERS
DOWN UNDER
According to
Associate Professor Sebastiaan UNESCO:
Swart, from the University of t*GXFEPOUNBLF
1)050(3"1):%3-06*4&#*%%-& 4)"3,41055&34 45&7&#&/+".*/ 6/41-"4)+"$0#8"-%301 6/41-"4)+&3&.:#*4)01

Gothenburg’s Department of BOZESBTUJDDIBOHFT
Marine Science, is also using NPSFUIBOIBMGPGUIF
smart technology – in this case, XPSMETNBSJOF
Seagliders – to observe and TQFDJFTDPVMECFPO
better understand what is UIFCSJOLPGFYUJODUJPO
happening in the Southern CZ
Ocean. These southernmost t8IJMFBSPVOE
waters of the world, which are PGUIF&BSUITMBOE
covered by sea ice most of the BSFBJTQSPUFDUFE
year, have a significant impact POMZPGUIF
on the Earth’s climate. ‘Up XPSMETPDFBOT
until 20 years ago, we would lack of fangs or claws had to BOEBEKBDFOUTFBT
have had to do all of our data develop tools and elaborate BSFQSPUFDUFE
collection by hand, which isn’t ways to use them in order to t0DFBOBDJEJGJDBUJPO
easy in these remote locations,’ survive. We haven’t changed DPVMESFOEFSNPTU
notes Swart. The growth of ‘If we don’t expand our so much since then, but today, SFHJPOTPGUIFPDFBO
robotics means that we’re able technological experience, it technology is free from the JOIPTQJUBCMFUPDPSBM
to observe the ocean at a much will be impossible to improve limitations of our biological SFFGT UIFOVSTFSJFT
higher frequency and with our behaviour and reverse evolution. We’re still the same PGUIFPDFBOBOE
greater accuracy. some of the damage we’ve nerds, we’re just wielding far CJPEJWFSTJUZIPUTQPUT
Swart believes that these already done.’ more powerful tools.’ But with t'JTIFSJFTQSPWJEF
technological advances have a Dr Kryszczuk describes great power comes great NPSFUIBOPGUIF
really important role to play technology as revenge of the responsibility, and that is HMPCFTEJFUBSZJOUBLF
when it comes to reducing our nerds. ‘Our forefathers, with something we need to realise PGBOJNBMQSPUFJO
impact on the environment. their diminutive posture and and embrace.
PROVISIONS
COFFEE
Can a
morning
really be
‘good’
without
a cup of
coffee?
One sure-
fire way
of getting
the best
morning
caffeine
kick is
with a
moka pot.
The
moka pot
empowers
you to
There
are more ways to
make coffee than
there are types of
coffee… Well,
maybe not, but
make
sometimes it
seems that way.
Some techniques
perfectly
brewed
are good, some
bad, and some are
average. You’ve
probably got your
tried-and-tested
method, but we’re
coffee
here to nudge you
outside of your
comfort zone, to try
at home
something a little
different. Who knows – you might
just end up with the best cuppa
joe you’ve ever tasted… the presence of the heat source
As it goes with many DIY tasks, (electric, flame, gas, whatever),
it often comes down to the choice steam pressure in the chamber
of tool, and there’s one piece of forces the almost-boiling water
coffee-making equipment that up and through a compartment
has built up somewhat of a cult (or funnel) that’s packed with
following. The mighty moka pot finely ground coffee. The coffee
is a coffee maker that empowers is then collected in the upper
you to make perfectly brewed chamber, hot, delicious, and
coffee at home, relatively simply. ready for your enjoyment.
How it works is ingenious, This iconic coffee vessel was
yet pretty straightforward. It’s named after the Yemenite city
a stove-top pot that has its own of – you guessed it – Mocha
storage chamber for water at the (pronounced ‘moka’). Over
bottom. Once the temperature of time the name became more
this water rises sufficiently due to Westernised, and the device is
now called a moka pot. More
traditionally, some Italians call
it macchinetta, which means
‘little machine’. An engineer by
the name of Alfonso Bialetti
(recognise the surname?)
invented the moka pot in 1933,
and his metal-working company
quickly became a sensation.
Bialetti Industries still remains
the most famous moka pot
manufacturer, and continues to
make its famous ‘Moka Express’,
by the ton, every year.

PROVISIONS
COFFEE
Brew
coffee
with your
moka
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy
WHAT
A look
YOU’LL inside the
NEED
¼ cup water
moka Pressure is the key
component to the
brewing process
3 tbs coffee beans
4. The great escape

When the coffee grounds are soaked
through, the water continues to move
upwards, through the filter, and into the
top funnel.
3. Pressure point
Soaking up the hot water, the coffee 5. Coffee
grounds expand, creating additional time
pressure between the chambers. When the
last bit of
boiling
2. Up we go water from
As the heat source raises the water the lower
temperature in the bottom chamber, chamber is
built-up steam forces the remaining water pushed into
up and through the funnel and coffee. the upper
chamber,
1. Get ready, get set you’ll hear
The bottom chamber is filled with fresh water, a distinctive
to just under the pressure-release valve. gurgling
Ground coffee is packed, loosely, into the sound…
central cradle, and the two chambers are Your coffee
screwed tightly together. is ready!

TOP
TIP
Add hot water
to the base
METHOD 6 8
Tighten the moka pot Keep a close eye on chamber of the
securely by holding the your moka pot – when moka pot if you
base and the top. Don’t the steam pushes out are in a hurry,
pull on the handle to of the valve (and you to speed up
1 Make sure your moka pot is

clean and dry.
screw it closed, as it
will loosen and break
off over time.
hear a gurgling noise)
and your entire kitchen
smells like a quaint
the brewing
process. Make
sure to use
Italian cafe, your coffee a cloth to
2 Pour water into the base of
the moka pot, filling it up to
just below the valve. 7 Place the moka
pot on the stove, on
is ready. Immediately
remove it from the
tighten it as
the metal heats
heat source. up quickly.
a medium high heat.
Avoid positioning
3 Place the coffee carriage
inside the base and secure it
by pressing down around
the handle over the
heat source, as it
the edges. might melt.
4 Grind the coffee beans just

as you’re ready to make
coffee, as this keeps the
beans fresh and the flavour
profile strong.
5 Using a teaspoon, gradually

add coffee into the carriage,
building it into a little
mountain. Leave the coffee
mountain loose, and don’t
press it down as you would
with a professional coffee
machine. If the coffee is too
compact, the moka will not
be able to build enough
pressure to push the water
through the coffee grounds.
PHOTOGRAPHY: SAMANTHA PINTO/HMimages.co.za; PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: CHANELLE MANUEL;
STYLIST: CHIARA TURILLI; STYLIST’S ASSISTANTS: ELIZABETH MACKENZIE & BRAD BOTHA

P R OV I S I O N S
THE LUNCH PAIL
The ramen DIY noodle

enhancement
Cheap, packaged
experiment
ramen noodles become
a real-person lunch
with this easy home-
made pesto. More
ideas below.
The surprising solution for leftovers: ramen.
P
ACKAGED RAMEN NOODLES didn’t get their TO START oil, and lemon juice chicken from your local
reputation as broke-varsity-kid fare because Heat your noodles in mixed in a blender Chinese food place.
they come dried and in a bag. That’s standard a big bowl of water in at home. t"DPVQMFPGTMJDFT
for most pastas. Packaged ramen noodles got the microwave without t"DBOPGchilli con of cheese and a can
their reputation because they’re easy and cheap. the seasoning packet. carne, Cheddar, and of tuna.
In fact, they’re so easy and cheap that ramen (This is important.) spring onions
noodles are a standard cooking element in t$IPQQFEHBSMJD BONUS!
the most spartan environment imaginable: prison. NOW ADD heated with butter in t*GZPVIBWFSBNFO
Commissary Kitchen, a 2016 Kindle cookbook from one t,OPDLPGGThai the microwave, plus at your desk, you can
half of the rap duo Mobb Deep, contains recipes for ramen peanut sauce: peanut shredded Parmesan also sprinkle flavouring
pad Thai, ramen chilli, and even a ramen wrap containing butter, soy sauce, and chopped parsley. mix in the bag, crumble
Doritos, canned sausages, and hot sauce. (It also contains sriracha, rice vinegar, t$IPQQFEVQMFGUPWFS up the noodles, and
the sentence, ‘This ain’t no conventional cookbook. I’m and sesame oil. chicken, sautéed with eat them like chips.
not here to tell you about pinches of salt and shi*,’ which Optional: Add garlic, pretty much any t'PSEFTTFSU
1)050(3"1):$0635&4:*."(&
is hilarious.) lime juice, scallions, Chinese vegetable Microwave a bunch

Assuming you do not work as a correctional officer, or chopped peanuts. (pak choi works well), of marshmallows and
your desk, break room, or trailer is unlikely to be as grim tPesto: miso paste, soy sauce, equal parts a tablespoon of butter
as prison, which means you should be getting as creative greens from your garlic and ginger, and (every 15 seconds,
with ramen noodles as the guys on the inside. Even better: fridge (spinach and an egg. pause and stir). Stir in
You have access to leftovers, a stove, and vegetables. arugula both work), t-FGUPWFSbeef and crushed ramen. Voila,
Appreciate what you’ve got, man. – Jacqueline Detwiler garlic, olive oil, sesame broccoli or orange ramen crispy treat.

ENGINEERING
AGRICULTURE
/ BY E VA N SA M U EL /
If it weren’t for wheat grain –

which is used in bread, pasta,
cereal, flour, and even animal
feed – human civilisation would
look very different to what
we know. We consume vast
amounts of it. But how is this
precious commodity stored?
Working
with the
grain
T
HE OVERBERG REGION storage. This figure was broken down
of the Western Cape is into 53 000 tons in the silos, 37 000
the largest barley, oats tons in bulk surface storage, and
and canola farming area, 2 500 tons in Silobags.
and the second largest In the Western Cape, the 2018/
wheat farming area in 2019 season surpassed the previous
South Africa. If you season, and first projections were
hadn’t realised it already, we are for a total of some 860 000 tons –
a nation that relies heavily on this approximately 46 per cent up
resource, meaning that the success on the previous year. The best
or failure of this industry has production year recorded in the
far-reaching implications. Western Cape was in the 2016/
I happen to live in the Overberg, 2017 season, when just over one
and last December, I paid a visit to million tons were harvested.
the Overberg Agri storage depot in Grain crops have been a major
Caledon – a hub for the district in the source of food for humans and
wheat-storage process. It was nearing animals for thousands of years, so
the end of the wheat-harvest season, storing grain isn’t a new activity for
and the facility was almost bursting humans. Ancient records reveal that
at the seams. The depot can carry grain has been stored in bulk as far
a total of 93 000 tons of wheat in back as 9 500 BCE, in pre-pottery

Left: These concrete silos have external bucket elevators.
The white sausage on the ground is a Silobag.
Neolithic settlements in the Jordan variety of crops grown each year

Valley. At first it was kept outside, in including maize, wheat, barley, oats,
areas between buildings, but around sunflower, sorghum, groundnuts
1 000 years later, it was moved inside and soybeans. But out of all of these,
dwellings. The early granaries were maize (at 13 million tons) and wheat
designed in such a way as to protect (at 1.5 million tons) are the leaders
the resources from rodents and when it comes to annual tonnages
insects, and to offer sufficient air and hectares under cultivation.
circulation. Later, there is evidence As a retired certificated factory
that the ancient Egyptians stored up engineer, I was amazed at the
their grain in years of overproduction number of innovative systems
so as to guard against the years when and amount of machinery used to
there was a scarcity. move and store the wheat at Caledon
Much of South Africa’s revenue Overberg Agri. The flow diagram
is based in agriculture, with a wide below shows how the system works:
1 5
2 6
3
4 7
Wheat
storage
1. Truck arrives at sampling station. | 2. Samples are taken at various
points/depths. | 3. Sample is analysed and graded, destination location
assigned, and controller advised of destination silo. | 4. Controller sets
conveyors for assigned destination. | 5. Truck drives to weighbridge; laden
mass is verified. | 6. Truck drives to silo discharge station. Discharges the
load to the conveyors. | 7. Conveyors transport the load to assigned silo.

Above left: The square end on these silos
house the internal bucket elevator and
access stairs. Above right: A construction
team placing the final panel on a ground
storage mound. Below left: Below the silos
The banks of silos have bucket are vast caverns filled with pipes for dust
abatement. Conveyors carry grain to
elevators to feed the grain to the discharge points.
top, some internal, and others
external. There are also silos that
have dedicated bucket elevators.
Horizontal belt conveyors along
the top of the silos feed individual
silos by means of diverter chutes.
Auxiliary systems include a
vast network of suction pipes
in the basement void under
the silos, which are critical for
dust abatement.
Externally, the silos are fitted
with blowers to aerate the stored
grain. These are used to quell heat
spots that are caused by wet grain
or by weevils introduced when the
grain is received at harvest time.
In a scenario where rainfall is good
and it comes at the right time, the of interlocking frames with
resulting bumper harvest will likely galvanised corrugated iron sheets
fill all the silos. But if the harvest is attached to them. They are erected
very big, the delivery trucks will by the maintenance team, using
keep coming… Now what happens? brute strength and a forklift truck.
This is where surface storage Next, the floor of the containment
systems are introduced to house is covered with continuous plastic
the surplus. These are huge sheeting, which runs right up and
containments, 30 metres wide over the edges, thus creating an area
by up to 150 metres long, formed that’s all ready for the grain delivery.

Below left: Opened discharge doors on this trailer drop grain directly on to a
low-profile conveyor.
Below right: On-board hydraulics enable easy relocation of boom conveyors.
The grain trucks are offloaded

into mobile ground-level discharge
stations, fitted with low-profile belt
conveyors, which then feed the
bottom end of the boom conveyor.
This, in turn, discharges the wheat
into the centre of the containment.
As the containment is filled, giant
waterproof sheets are drawn over
the stored grain. These are the huge
white mounds we can sometimes
The boom see from the roads when driving
through the region.
conveyor All of this machinery needs
to move along the length of the
discharges the containment as it fills. To achieve
this, there is an on-board hydraulic
wheat into the propulsion system as well as levelling
cylinders at all the corners.
centre of the At this point you may think the

grain-handling design engineers
would have run out of ideas. But no,
containment. there’s more to this highly detailed
system. Next we have the Silobags
– white sausage- or slug-like tubes.

ENGINEERING
AGRICULTURE
Left: This
boom is filling
a wheeled,
tractor-drawn
hopper for
delivery to
a Silobag
feeder.
Right: The
wheeled
hopper
with screw
conveyor fills
These are essentially long plastic a Silobag
tubes, each 2.7 metres in diameter feeder.
and measuring up to 61 metres
in length.
This system consists of a stuffing
head with screw conveyor, which has
the plastic tube folded on to it, much
like a sausage-making machine. The
end of the tube is then run out for
four metres and the open end folded
and weighted.
Paired with the stuffer is a wheeled
Silobag feeder that is filled by a boom
conveyor from a truck discharge
station. The feeder is then wheeled
to the stuffer and the on-board screw
conveyor is used to fill it. The stuffer
screw conveyor then forces the grain
into the Silobag. Paired with
How grain is stored is only
one aspect of the massive wheat-
processing industry. There is still
the stuffer is a
the actual harvesting process,
which includes enormous combine
wheeled Silobag PHOTOGRAPHY: EVAN SAMUEL
harvesters, their trailers and the

cartage truck fillers. The stored
feeder that is
grain also needs to be collected from
the depot, which is a methodical
filled by a boom.
process in itself. Look out for more
updates in upcoming issues – we in
the Overberg are certainly hoping
for a bumper harvest.

CAXTON C
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P R A C T I C A L K N OW L E D G E
WOODWORKING
Japanese tools:
BY TOBIAS LOCHNER Hand saws
Part
three
Part
series three of ou
wood on Japanes r
workin e
g tool
s
fascin looks at th
ating
topic oe
hand f
saws.
T
HOUGH learning to work with acute points to the teeth, but blade. For example, a kataba-
REMARKABLE IN Japanese-style saws isn’t otherwise the chisel-cut style nokogiri 270 mm describes the
their design and entirely unfamiliar. teeth are similar to Western type of saw (one with teeth
the quality of work As skills improved, early saws. Japanese crosscut saws along one edge, supplied as
they deliver, the Japanese sawyers realised the for hardwoods have a less acute either a rip or crosscut saw),
subject of Japanese need for dedicated saws for bevel angle on the teeth. and indicates its application
hand saws isn’t each type of work and timber. It’s interesting to note that and blade length.
well known, certainly in South To achieve this they filed the Japanese saws are not graded Japanese ripsaws feature
Africa, and so I’ll do my best to teeth for cross-cutting or according to their teeth per smaller teeth at the heel of the
demystify the topic.
The Japanese pull-style saw, or
nokogiri, has in the past twenty
to thirty years become a widely
accepted and popular hand tool
in some sectors within the
Western woodworking world.
It’s likely that the first
woodworking saws to make
The dozuki-nokogiri
it into Japan probably came in action, cutting
from China via Korea. After extremely fine sections
arriving on Japanese shores, of wood used in
kumiko, a delicate
expert craftsmen decided to assembly technique
change the angle of the teeth that uses no nails.
to enable the saws to cut on
the pull stroke. Unfortunately,
the specific reasons why this
modification occurred weren’t
historically documented, but
it’s presumed to have been a
logical and practical adaptation
at the time.
Traditionally in ancient Japan
the shokunin – an artisan or
craftsman – typically worked in
a squatting or sitting position.
Even today, many Japanese
craftspeople carry out their
work seated on a simple mat on
the floor. With this in mind, if
you try to use a typical Western
saw while seated on the floor,
you’ll find you are unable to
use your body weight and arm
muscles to generate power to
push the saw. Conversely, a
pull-style saw (which cuts on
the return stroke), is far more
efficient when used in the
seated or kneeling position, as
you’re able to use the muscles
of your entire body to make
the cut, without having to
depend on your body weight
and forward momentum.
If you think about it, we use rip-cutting, and then within inch (or tpi), a system we are saw and larger teeth at the toe.
Western fretsaws, coping saws these tooth patterns, varied it familiar with in our Western The cut is started with the teeth
and cabinetmaking bow saws for heavy cutting or delicate style woodworking. Instead, at the heel, and once the initial
on the pull stroke with the fine cutting. teeth are sized and graded for kerf is established, you move
teeth facing towards us. This Japanese ripsaws for hard- each specific blade length, so your working area up the saw
action keeps the blade extended woods have a greater gullet Japanese saws are defined by to utilise the larger teeth to
and taut while executing the angle than the ripsaws for the intended application of achieve a fast and more
cut, so understanding and softwoods, which have more the handsaw and length of the energy-efficient cut.

WOODWORKING
The small teeth of
the dozuki-nokogiri
SAW TYPES AND allow for very

accurate cutting,
perfect for fine
APPLICATIONS joints. The spine

limits how deep
you can cut.
RYOBA-NOKOGIRI
One of the most useful Japanese
hand saws; it’s double-edged,
with rip teeth on one side and
crosscut teeth on the other.
It’s often difficult to start a
rip cut, especially for a novice,
but using a ryoba allows you
to define the start of the cut
with the crosscut teeth and
then turn the saw over and
continue with the rip cut teeth.
Having both types of teeth
means that, if needed, you can
cut all your joints with just this
one saw.
DOZUKI-NOKOGIRI
Dozuki means tenon. This is the
next most useful saw and is the
most widely adopted Japanese By virtue of having a spine,
hand saw in Western wood- and with the saw cutting on
working. It can cut extremely the pull stroke (in extension
accurate shoulder lines on wood- as opposed to in compression),
working joints. The teeth are the dozuki can have a much
very small, and these saws have thinner blade, resulting in
With the ryoba-
nokogiri, you get a back spine that supports the very fine saw kerfs that require
two saws in one. It’s saw blade along its length, just little or no post-cut clean up
an excellent choice like its Western counterparts. at all.
of first saw if you
are branching into
Japanese tools.
‘THE JAPANESE PULL-STYLE SAW,
OR NOKOGIRI, HAS BECOME A
WIDELY ACCEPTED AND POPULAR
HAND TOOL’

KATABA-NOKOGIRI
As with a Western tenon saw,
the dozuki will only cut to the
depth of the blade below the
spine, so it is important to also
possess a kataba, which is a
spineless crosscut saw. These
quite often have a graduated
tooth pattern to enable easy
starting of your saw kerf. The blade of the
Without a spine, and utilising kugihiki-nokogiri is
a thicker blade than a dozuki bendy, allowing you
to saw off timber
and with a single tooth row, the dowels (or ‘nails’)
kataba is a wonderful general- flush with the
purpose saw and very common surface. (See image
in many Western workshops. bottom right.)
Many Japanese wood-
working joints require angled
cutting that is not at 90° to
the grain line. For this type of
work, a saw with ibara-me or
nezumi-ba teeth is used. These
teeth are part crosscut and KUGIHIKI-NOKOGIRI designed for flush-cutting
part rip-cut, and provide Kugihiki means to ‘cut nails’. these wooden nails and dowels
an exceptionally fast cut. This is not a reference to the without damaging the surface
steel items that ‘wood butchers’ into which they are inserted.
use to assemble cabinetry, The blade is often thinner
but rather to the wooden at the tip for easy bending and
dowels and bamboo nails that to enable accurate finessing
are widely used in Japanese of the cut. The blade is also
Because it has no spine to add woodworking. Kugihiki-nokogiri fractionally thicker at the rear
stiffness, the kataba-nokogiri has a
slightly thicker blade. It’s a highly feature a blade with teeth that for better stability when cuts
versatile saw for the workshop. have no set at all and are are more aggressive.
MORE OBSCURE SAWS
AZEBIKI-NOKOGIRI
Most often found in the ryoba style, featuring short, curved
blades with teeth on each side. This saw is typically used
for starting a cut in the centre of a panel. The short blade
also allows easy access into tight or awkward areas.
SOKOMAWASHIBIKI-NOKOGIRI
Sokomawashibiki translates loosely as ‘bottom’. These
are curve-cutting saws, originally used for cutting the
bottoms of wooden buckets. The curvature of the blade
facilitates cutting a curved profile and can be used for
both hardwoods and softwoods.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GARETH VAN NELSON/HMimages.co.za
ANAHIKI-NOKOGIRI
Used for log or beam cutting in both green and seasoned
woods. Typically, they are used for general construction
or timber framing, but can function well in the workshop
for the rough cutting of rough-sawn hardwood or
softwood lumber.
NEXT ISSUE: SHOP FOR TOOLS:
We talk about Japanese Buy these and other
MAWASHIBIKI-NOKOGIRI
hand chisels. tools at toolcraft.co.za.
Translated, it means ‘turning cut’. These saws feature narrow,
thick blades that excel at cutting tight curves and keyholes.
MAY 2019 69
P R AC T I C A L K N OW L E D G E
TOOL REVIEW
BRIAN THOMAS
is the marketing director
of BPM Toolcraft. Go
Drill to toolcraft.co.za for a

wide range of tools at
competitive prices, and
a wealth of advice.
accurately,
every time
Sturdy yet compact, manoeuvrable yet
stable – Bosch’s PBD 40 Bench Drill Press
is one tool you’ll want in your workshop.
BY BRIAN THOMAS
I
T’S NOT OFTEN that a
product that targets the
DIY and weekend-warrior
market gets my attention.
But Bosch’s new PBD 40
Benchtop Drill Press really
impressed me. Although
this unit is marketed under
the Bosch ‘green’ DIY range
banner, it could well enter
the Bosch ‘blue’ Professional
range with only a tiny amount
of refinement. In fact, the PBD
40 is such a great machine,
Opposite: The
I invested in one for my Bosch PBD 40
own workshop. is sturdy, yet
For those with limited space, compact enough
for easy moving
this press is easy to store under and storage.
your bench, and it weighs in at Right: All you
only 11.2 kg. The wheel-style need is right there
on the front of
quill drive took a little getting the machine. The
used to, only because I have digital screen tells
spent many years using the you all the info
old three spoke/golf-ball type you might need.
Below: The
handle. If this is your first wheel-style
drill press, you will very quickly quill drive is a
become good friends – it’s bit different to
the norm, but
extremely easy to set up easy to get
and use. used to.
Designed for DIY work, the of drive belts and endless

keyless chuck is user-friendly adjustments to counteract
and accommodates drill bits with any slippage.
shank diameters from 1.5 mm The variable-speed motor
up to 13 mm, which covers is excellent and allows you to
almost every DIY application. simply dial in your required
But the PBD 40’s best speed, from 200 rpm right
features are hidden in the up to 2 500 rpm. This is a
headstock, where it features wonderful feature, especially
a 710 W direct-drive motor. when using larger-diameter
No more laborious changing bits, such as Forstner and spade

P R AC T I C A L K N OW L E D G E
TOOL REVIEW
bits, which require far lower With the two available torque/
spindle speeds to prevent speed settings, drilling holes
overheating of your cutter. of up to 40 mm in diameter in Right: Lock the
I found the digital readout wood and 13 mm in diameter depth stop in place
bright and easy to see and use. in steel is quite easy. I would, by tightening the
red lever on the
The PBD 40 is equipped however, suggest the standard side of the press.
with a two-stage gearbox and procedure of drilling a pilot Below right: The
a constant electronic control hole for steel and enlarging laser guide helps
XJUIBDDVSBUF
system that prevents a drop in it with progressively larger drilling, but nothing
the rpm of the drill when it’s bits, instead of trying to quite beats a fine
used on hard materials. That bore a large hole in one go. pencil mark.
means you can be assured of (I recommend this procedure Below: The V
groove in the base
a consistent rotational speed. for all drill presses when makes drilling
The torque of the motor is working with hard metals.) round stock or
surprisingly good, and I had no The 90 mm drill-bit travel metal tubes
much simpler.
problems at all cutting a 38 mm covers most applications.
hole through hard 40 mm-thick The laser guide serves as a
maple, as well as 40 mm red good indicator, but do not rely
oak, 70 mm Cape chestnut and on it for extremely accurate
60 mm tambotie. The two basic work. A thin pencil line will
gearbox settings, controlled via always serve you better. The
the knob on the right side of LED light is bright and really
the headstock, are high torque helps to see your working
(1) and high speed (2). point. I measured the run-out
of the chuck at 0.1 mm –

more than respectable for
DIY applications.
The base plinth features a V
groove, allowing you to safely
drill through round or tubular
stock, and there is also a
sensible fence that locks on
to the table by means of two
knobs. The vertical quick-clamp
IN SHORT is a superb feature. It’s quick
tThe Bosch PBD 40 Bench Drill Press gives you excellent value for money. and easy to use in combination
1)050(3"1):"/%3&"4&*4&-&/).JNBHFTDP[B
(Priced around R4 999.) with the adjustable depth stop.

t*UTXFMMNBEFBOEOJDFMZGJOJTIFE Both will make a big difference
t5IFEJSFDU-drive system and digital read-out are solid and accurate. to novice users and your exact
tTorque and speed range are unheard of in a bench-top drill press of this drilling depth is available on the
size and price. digital read-out.
t5IFEFQUITUPQ WFSUJDBMIPMEEPXODMBNQBOEUIFIPSJ[POUBMUBCMFGFODF Whether you are a first-timer
BSFBMMXFMMNBEFBOEEPUIFJSKPCQSPQFSMZBOETFDVSFMZ or a hardened hobbyist, the
t5IF1#%JTGJUUFEXJUIBUXP-pin Schuko CEE7/4 plug. Bosch PBD 40 Drill Press will
impress. It definitely gets a
thumbs up from me.

COLUMNS
Before there’s a patent, there’s an idea. MY PATENT
Before that, there’s a person with a problem to solve. STORY
Halt electricity
with only a
socket wrench
A union electrician invents a socket to
easily tighten any electrical ground clamp,
saving himself time – and the risk of
accidental exposure to 35 000 volts.
(1) PATENT
Ground Clamp Socket

(2) LAST NAME (3) FIRST NAME (4) APPLICATION NO.
specs. Half-inch drive socket. There’s a short slot in the centre
Bandura Stephen #62/436 808 for eye bolts, and then perpendicular to that there’s a longer
slot that fits over a T-handle. When you have the socket on
(5) I’m an electrician by trade. I went to a union a ratchet, you now have a lever. Archimedes at his best.
apprenticeship, and I’m still union. I ended up on
a job at Merck pharmaceuticals. They have a lot of (9) The machinist made the first one. Everyone at work
substations with a medium voltage, which goes was like, ‘Wow, check that out! You should make these!’
anywhere from 2 000 volts up to 35 000 volts.
(10) The machinist says, ‘Here’s the name of this patent
(6) On these systems, when you’ve turned them off, the attorney we use: Bala Sundararajan. Give him a call.’
cables and equipment still retain energy. So you need He walked me through getting a provisional patent.
to discharge them. Ground clamps attach to cables
with an eye bolt or a T-handle. They’d often be in very hard- (11) The provisional patent protected me when I shopped
to-reach areas. And we wear arc flash suits, which kind the thing out to manufacturers. You can get the provisional
of resemble a big bulky thing you’d see the bomb squad faster, and you still have the protections of a patent. But it’s
wear. So now we’re trying to turn these handles… only good for like a year. After that, you have to decide what
you’re going to do.
(7) I said, there’s got to be a better way. I wish I
could ratchet these on. So I searched the old interweb (12) I sent it to all kinds of manufacturers. No, no, no, no.
to no avail. And I had this idea that, you know, I could And then one day, a company called Rack-A-Tiers said yes.
make this thing. I was like, ‘Now what do I do? Somebody said yes!’
(8) A friend of mine, a machinist, I was talking to him (13) I went back to Bala, and he cooked up some numbers.
and he was like, ‘I’ll make that for you.’ I drew up the It was something like $5 000 to go for the full-on patent.
(14) When I was shopping the socket around, one guy

I talked to said, ‘Listen, just so you’re aware, if a company
decides they want to make that – a larger company – you
don’t have the resources, patent or not, to fight them. And
they know it.’
PHOTOGRAPHY: STEPHEN BANDURA, COURTESY IMAGES
(15) So I looked at what percentage I’m getting from each one

of these, and I’m thinking, ‘It’s going to take a long time for
me to make up the price of a patent. And I’ve already got the
manufacturer.’ I decided to forgo getting the full patent and
spending all that money.
(16) Very unexpected. I made a tool. My kids are like, ‘Dad,

you’re an inventor!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah I am!’ Never an
Tell us your patent story at popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za. aspiration of mine, but, hey, we’ll put it on the résumé.

ASK ROY
/ BY R OY B ER E ND S O H N /
I painted some pine,

and something that
looks like rust is
showing through
the paint. Why?
– Rod C
It sounds like extractive bleeding. Extractives
My daughter are naturally occurring chemicals that are locked
in the wood grain until a solvent extracts them. The
asked me why solvent may be as simple as water or it may be more
complex, like alcohol or a petroleum-based chemical.
nails bend, and The solvent washes the extractive out of the wood and
I was stumped. it floats to the surface, where it is redeposited after the
solvent evaporates.
What should I You’re going to want to use a stain-blocking primer.
These paints do one of two things: They loosen and
tell her? dissolve the extractive and then trap it inside the paint
– Aaron T film, or they seal over the existing extractive stain.
If the paint you applied is slightly glossy, sand it
That’s a good question, lightly. Remove the sanding dust, apply the stain-
and kind of a tough one to blocking primer, and then add a top coat with
simplify. Nails bend when your desired paint.
they’re not struck square on
the head. How much they bend
depends on two factors. The first is the
slenderness ratio. That’s the length of
the nail relative to its diameter. When
there’s more nail sticking out of the
wood, the slenderness ratio is higher, Is a thin concrete
and it’s more likely to bend when you
hit it with your hammer. It might help
overlay a durable
for her to picture a plastic straw. A long
straw bends easily, and a short one
way to finish
does not. your driveway?
The other factor to consider is – Chris R
the stiffness of the material used
to make the nail. If a nail isn’t very There’s no reason that an overlay
stiff, it’s going to bend easily, whereas would be any less durable than
stiff nails, such as the ones made from ordinary concrete. But here’s the
high-carbon steel, resist the bend of an thing: The material has to be applied
errant hammer blow. But at a certain over structurally sound concrete. Applying
point, stiffness becomes a bad thing. a concrete topping to a ruined slab is like
Nails that are too stiff are brittle. painting over rotten wood. It won’t take long
They break instead of bending. The for either surface to look lousy. If the original concrete
best nails I’ve found are made out is badly cracked or has areas that have deeply settled,
PHOTOGRAPHY: GALLO/GETTYIMAGES, COURTESY IMAGES
of a tough, but not brittle, form of you’re better off tearing it out and starting over.
high-carbon steel. Also, your surface preparation has to be meticulous.
The entire surface needs to be pressure washed with
a minimum of 3 000 psi to remove dirt, mildew, algae,
dust, masonry stains, and paint. Grease spots left
by parked cars, tyre marks, and all flaking and dusty
concrete has to be removed, too. This may also involve
chemical cleaning with masonry acids and degreasers,
and wire brushing, either by hand or with power tools.
Send your home- and DIY questions to: Anything that will prevent the overlay from bonding
popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za has to be removed.

COLUMNS
↓ OWNER’S MANUAL
/ BY EZRA DYER /
In praise was the exact model of the dead one in my “Hey, I can install my own lift kit,” and then
of overly crawl space. I plugged it in, the AC roared to

life, and I duckwalked as fast as I could out
screw it up and come to me to fix it,’ says
my friend Keith, who owns an off-roading
ambitious of there so I could go brag to my wife about

how I fixed something.
shop. For professionals like him who
regularly deal with amateur hackery,
projects That was a minor triumph. My friend

Louis tends to go bigger. Way bigger. When
he didn’t like the contractor quotes he got
I hope there’s at least some satisfaction
in reprimanding us for our idiocy.
When I installed my Nest thermostat
When in doubt, give it a try. on a swimming pool, he said, ‘A pool is just (incorrectly), the technician who showed
I
a hole in the ground with some plumbing. up didn’t try to hide his exasperation.
N MANY FACETS OF LIFE, we strive to I can build a pool.’ Which is kind of like ‘I get calls for these all the time,’ he said.
improve ourselves. Maybe you want to looking at the Acropolis and saying, ‘It just ‘You know, it’s not always as easy as
run a faster 5K, or read more books, or needs a little masonry.’ One would expect pulling the wires off the old thermostat
visit a place you’ve never been. And yet, that this story ends with a misshapen, and plugging them into the new one.’ Uh,
when it comes to home or automotive muddy hole in the backyard, littered with yeah, tell me about it. Even though he was
projects, we tend to reach a point of PVC pipe and broken dreams, but no. The clearly affronted by my HVAC hubris, the
stasis. Even if you’re handy, there’s a pool turned out spectacularly. And I should end result was a win-win: He got paid to fix
fear that can discourage you from trying. I know, because I helped dig it. One weekend, my bungled installation, and I prostrated
say be brave. Tackle that project you don’t Louis called and said, ‘Do you know how myself in shame. Everything turned out
think you could possibly handle. What’s to drive a Bobcat?’ ‘Of course,’ I told him, fine. Perhaps I should have called him
the worst that could happen? Okay, don’t though I didn’t. But you don’t want to in the first place, but as the old saying
think about that, because the answer may tell the guy who’s building his own pool goes, ‘You don’t know you’re not good at
be electrocution, fire, or toilet geysers, that you don’t know how to do something. HVAC until you turn down the thermostat
possibly all at once. But the upside is a An hour later, I was lurching around in the and your floor vents start blowing air that
sense of accomplishment that is pure pit trying to remember which pedal does feels plumbed straight from the earth’s
and unadulterated and probably all out what. I figured it out and spent a couple molten core.’
of proportion to whatever
you did. I’m not sure
Thomas Edison’s first
flick of a light switch
felt any more exuberant
than mine after I installed
my first fixture. I did it!
I’m still alive, the lights
work, and I didn’t have
to call a guy! It’s an
addictive feeling, I tell
you, and now I chase it
all the time. For better
and worse.
Sometimes, it’s a
small thing. When our
air conditioner crapped
out, the HVAC guy BEFORE AFTER
traced the problem to a
condensate pump that
was no longer pumping.
‘I’ve got one in my van,’
he said. ‘$300.’ Now, I know nothing of days haltingly scooping dirt. Louis later Other projects fared better. The kids’
about the price of condensate pumps. I returned the favour by helping me expand tree house. My truck’s radiator and heater
do not trade condensate pump futures on my deck, projects begetting projects. core. The pendant lights and the tile and
PHOTOGRAPHY: GALLO/GETTYIMAGES
the pump market. But that sounded like Now, occasionally, you will hit an toilets. I didn’t know how to do any of
way too much. ‘I think I’ll just go get one impasse that – sigh – requires calling in a that until I tried. Lately I’ve been thinking
myself,’ I said, feeling my stomach knot professional. And they will not be happy about paving my driveway myself. What
as the words tumbled out of my mouth. to get involved with your ineptitude. You is pavement, anyway? Just a bunch of
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Good luck.’ And it turned attempted to usurp their expertise, and wet rocks that you smooth out and then
out I had some, because when I unboxed now you plead for it? The gall. ‘Half my dry. I can handle that. And if I can’t, I’ve
the random pump from my local store, it business is YouTube heroes who figure, got my apology ready to go.

1 of 3
WIN
D
ERAILLEURS ARE THE
transmission of your
bike. When you shift,
they guide the chain
to the correct gears.
Whether you’re fixing
a particular problem
with your chain or simply giving
the system a tune-up, here’s how
to do it.
1. Start by putting your bike on a

bike stand to get the rear wheel off
the ground. Turn the pedals by hand
and shift through your gears. If there
is a lag between when you shift
and when the chain moves, the
tension on the cables going from
your shifters to the derailleurs is off,
and you need to unscrew the barrel
adjuster (the black cylinder on the
derailleur cable) to increase the
tension. If the chain jumps between
gears on its own, tighten the barrel
adjuster to add tension.
2. Shift to high gear. The chain will
be on the smallest ring in the rear
and the largest ring in the front.
On the rear derailleur, find high
and low limit screws (labelled H
and L). They control how far the
derailleur can move. Tighten the
H screw on the rear derailleur until
the chain does not click as it moves
through, but leave it loose enough
that the chain can still shift from the
second smallest gear to the smallest.
3. Finally, shift to low gear. The
chain will be on the largest ring
in the rear and the smallest ring
in the front. Tighten the L screw
until the derailleur can move only as
far as the largest gear and not past
it. But keep it loose enough that the
How to chain still moves from the second

largest ring to the largest ring with
ease when shifting. It might take a
adjust a few tries.
4. On the front derailleur, adjust the
derailleur L screw until the inner side of the

cage that encircles the chain is as
close as possible to the chain with-
It looks complicated, but if you know out scraping against it. Shift both
derailleurs into high gear. Adjust
how a derailleur works, you can fix the H screw until the outer edge of
many bike problems on your own. the cage is as close to the chain as
possible without scraping.

/ BY JAME S LY NCH /
Our expert: Savannah Quandt,

bike mechanic at Scheels in
Johnstown, Colorado

P R AC T I C A L K N O W L E D G E
SHOP Easy ways to do

NOTES difficult things
PROPER PAINTING
SEQUENCE FOR
WINDOW TRIM
The 1
best way
to move 2
shirts 3
(And other stuff

hanging in your closet) 5
IF YOU’VE GOT a move coming together. To pack one of the groups,

up, don’t take your clothes off the twist-tie the hangers together, cut YES, THERE IS a correct
hangers and fold them just to put a hole in the bottom of one of the order to painting your
them in boxes. (Especially if you bags, and pass the hangers through double-hung windows.
had to buy those boxes – they’re it. Then pull the bag down over the This sequence gets the
not cheap!) Instead, get a pack clothes and pull the drawstring to job done quickly, without
of 120-litre garbage bags with tighten the bag around them. Now forcing you to double
drawstrings and some twist ties. they’re easy to carry, kept clean, and back to deal with drips or
Sort your clothes into groups of you won’t have to rehang them all unattractive brush marks.
about ten, keeping similar items when you get where you’re going. 1. Muntins and bars
(framework supporting
the small panes)
2. Horizontal members
of the sash
Don’t automatically 3. Vertical members
discard a malfunctioning of the sash
4. Drip cap (top molding)
charger! and casing (members
framing sash at sides
Phone charger not working, or acting spotty? and top)
Turn it off and hit the charge port on your 5. Sill
device with compressed air. If that doesn’t
work, try gently probing the port with some
tweezers. You’ll usually find pocket or purse
lint in there, preventing the charger from
connecting correctly.
M
FRO E—
Improve a —TH IVES SONGS TO CLEAN
H )
mechanic’s creeper ARC
(199
8 THE GARAGE TO
There are no 4 × 4 creepers. If there’s

a lot of debris on your garage floor, good ‘The Letter’
Joe Cocker
luck gliding smoothly around. So try this: Unscrew
the casters from the creeper. Get four plastic food ‘Double Shot
(Of My Baby’s Love)’
tubs, like from sour cream or margarine. Seat them Swingin’ Medallions
against the creeper, put the casters inside, then screw
‘Place in My Heart’
the casters back into place. You may have to trim the tubs Taylor McFerrin
to make sure the casters can reach the ground, but now featuring RYAT
you’ll have shields to brush tools or debris out of the way. ‘For You Too’
Yo La Tengo

abrade a surface at quickly, so that you
Eight tips the same time. They’re
especially helpful when
can apply multiple
coats. If you really want
for better preparing an irregularly

curved surface for paint.
to cover the grain, you
can always consider
using a thick coating
spray painting 5. HIDE KNOTS
WITH SHELLAC…
such as Plasti Dip.
To prevent sappy tree 7. PERFECT

Some of the most important knots from bleeding YOUR OVAL.
instructions aren’t written on the can. through a top coat of Glossy surfaces and
varnish or paint, use hammered textures
/ BY ROY B E RE ND SO HN /
sprayable clear shellac or show imperfections in a
a primer (usually white) way that matte surfaces
1. SPIN YOUR WORK. 2. GET YOUR HANDS 3. USE TOUGHER that contains shellac. don’t, so make sure you
Put the item you’re OUT OF THE WAY. PRODUCTS. Shellac is a natural plastic apply paint perfectly to
painting on a lazy To paint small items, When you need a that seals in odours and them. What does that
Susan, then rotate it such as fasteners, stick high-gloss coating stains, including the mean? First, make your
as you paint to ensure them through a sheet that resists rust and sappy discolouration life a whole lot easier by
even coverage. of cardboard. chemicals, take a tip surrounding a tree knot. using a spray-can holder,
from the auto-body which holds the can in a
industry and use a 2K 6. …AND GRAIN WITH pistol grip and permits a
(or two-component) HIGH-BUILD PRIMER. more natural sweeping
spray paint. Like epoxy, Grainy textures in wood motion as you spray.
the resin and solvents tend to show through Also, make a few trial
stay separate until with most spray paints, passes over a scrap piece
you’re ready to paint. leaving you with a of wood to determine
still- rough and unfinished- how quickly to move
4. CLEAN WHILE looking surface. If you’re the paint and how far
YOU PAINT. painting something like away to hold it. The ideal
Another great crossover fir plywood, use primers positioning will leave
from the auto-body and top coats labelled you with a distinct and
industry is the scouring ‘high build.’ They’re consistent oval of paint
pastes that clean and thicker and still dry across the surface.
8. DON’T
FORGET TO CLEAN.
The smoother the surface
of the item you’re painting,
the smoother the coat of paint
will be. After scraping and
sanding a surface, don’t forget
the most important step:
Remove all dust with a
PHOTOGRAPHY: ZACH AND BU , GALLO/GETTYIMAGES; ILLUSTRATION: JAMES CAREY
vacuum, followed by
a tack cloth.

DRIVING
MOTORCYCLES
Motorcycle
road-trip essentials
Or, how to fit four EVERY AUTUMN, my friends and I ride from upstate New York
litres of water into through the Blue Ridge Mountains to the edge of the Tennessee–
Georgia border and back. We average around 560 km a day for
a pint glass. six days straight. Mornings are cold, sometimes foggy. Afternoons
/ BY DAVID can be blistering hot. There’s light rain, heavy rain, more rain, and
CURCURITO / back to cool in the evenings. Bringing along everything you need
to be safe and comfortable is an exercise in choosing the right bike
and packing only what you need.
THE BIKE
BMW K 1600 GRAND AMERICA
The Grand America has 123 litres of
storage space: 37 in each side bag and
49 in the top case. Every compartment
has a beautiful lining and lights, so
you can find a paper clip to scrape the
bug out of your helmet’s ventilation.
Heated seat, heated grips, GPS, stereo,
cruise control, gear-shift assist, reverse
– did I mention this is a motorcycle?
For such a big bike, though, it’s
nimble in corners and fast off the
line. Among the best long-distance,
high-performance motorcycles you
can buy. From R393 500.
When your hips start

to stiffen up after a
couple hours of
riding, you can
stretch out on
the footboards.
RAIN GEAR BAG PANTS GLOVES BOOTS

Rev’it! Pacific 2 H2O Oxford Drystash Speed and Strength Rev’it! H2O TCX Hero WP
Here’s the deal: Sometimes you’re Critical Mass Jeans Warm, waterproof Like they say in the
Nothing is going to in a downpour and No need to pack regular gauntlets that protect army, keep your feet dry
keep you completely only concerned with pants when you’re riding your wrists from wind and warm. The Hero WP
dry. There’s so much air making it the next 50 km. all day. I prefer comfort chill and rain seepage. has motorcycle-specific
moving in every direction You forget to close the and safety in one. This Plus, palm sliders and ankle protection and grip,
that there’s no way some luggage compartments is a denim jean with knee knuckle protection, and and the inner lining will
wet isn’t going to creep properly. This roll bag and hip protection, but it fingertips that work on keep the rain out of your
into your pant leg or up guarantees that your actually looks cool when a phone screen. For socks. They also work in
your jacket. The move is socks and underwear you get off the bike for really hot days or after the cold. All that, and they
to buy a one-piece suit stay dry. Because there’s dinner at the local burger hard rain, I also pack a look great. ±R3 000
that’s easy to get on little worse than those joint. $150 (imported) pair of short, perforated
PHOTOGRAPHY: NIGEL PARRY, COURTESY IMAGES
and off quickly. ±R1 800 getting wet. ±R600 gloves. ±R1 000–R2 000

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DRIVING
JAGUAR I-PACE
BEAST
If Audi hadn’t done such an

amazing job with the e-tron,
we might be able to cut
Jaguar’s all-electric
I-Pace some slack.
Not that it needs any,
writes Ray Leathern.

BEING FIRST IS A BIG DEAL.
Whether you’re first to conquer a new frontier, first
to pioneer a new technology, or first to market with
a new product, being first gives you the upper hand;
being first allows you to define the playing field.
The past century has been defined by just such an
industrial endeavour. We’re talking about the space
race, the race to put the first man on the Moon, the
race to supersonic air travel, the internet, and now,
the race to electrification.
It’s when you delve deeper into the escapades of
Neil Armstrong’s fateful ‘one small step for a man…’
that you realise, despite billions of NASA dollars,
the Moon landing might not have happened if it
weren’t for Armstrong’s immense skill, dedication
and bravery as a pilot. Being first is by no means a
foregone conclusion; it takes all those things and
utter self-belief, often in the face of hostility and
ridicule, to get across the line first.
From behind the wheel of the Jaguar I-Pace on
a drag strip, lined up next to a Jaguar F-Type SVR,
the fastest car the company sells, I’m about to deploy
all the talents of Jaguar’s talismanic EV for the first
time on South African soil. Three, two, one, the
starter’s hands drop and wooomph! – we’re away
in total silence with fierce low-speed pickup. I grab a
car length on the howling SVR, whose thumping V8
Top left: Electricity and water, and never the twain should meet,
especially a R1.8 million EV crossing the Jukskei river in Pretoria.
Unless you’re talking about the Jaguar I-Pace’s innovative pouch-cell
battery pack (featuring 36 modules of 12 pouches each). It’s not what
your average EV owner might undertake, but still mighty impressive.

DRIVING
JAGUAR I-PACE
soundtrack does sound glorious, I have to From the drag strip, we take an HSE with
admit, as it squats on take-off. But 700 Nm air suspension to the off-road track. Mud,
available at 0 rpm in the I-Pace, unleashed ruts, cross-axleing and a water crossing
avalanche-like, trounces the supercharged are handled with suitable aplomb, although
sports car. My 294 kW plays 423 kW, so I suspect the latter was more an exercise
over a long enough stretch, the fossil-fueled in the irony of electricity and water, and
car will pull ahead eventually; also, the never the twain should meet, rather than
I-Pace is limited to just 200 km/h. But something a prospective I-Pace owner
both produce near-as-makes-no-difference will actually undertake on a weekend.
700 Nm, and it’s the split second it takes The pièce de résistance is a spot of rock
the SVR to attain peak torque at 3 500 rpm crawling, knowing its heavy belly full of
that separates them in a sprint race. batteries (36 modules of 12 pouches each)
Better still, the instructors who’ve fitted low between the lengthened cockpit
been running the I-Pace for a few days is in close proximity to jagged rocks. Now,
already say it is remarkably consistent this was less confidence inspiring, as was
and resilient to high ambient temperature, ensuring smooth throttle modulation with
capable of ten or more full throttle launches 700 Nm at 0 rpm. Thankfully, it’s fitted
with less than a tenth of a second’s loss in with a version of Land Rover’s Terrain
time. Nevertheless, it’s this sort of grand Top: See that pronounced swage line between the
Response Control, which can be set like
display that gives you context. The SVR front and rear wheels? Designer Ian Callum put it there a sort of off-road cruise to ascend and
is R2.4 million, the I-Pace EV400 starts at to signify the I-Pace as an EV that gains its power from descend at a predetermined speed.
R1.7 million for the S model, going up to a low-slung battery pack. All fine and dandy. However, the real test
Above: Double ‘J’ blade LED head- and taillights are
R1.9 million for the First Edition. And you standard fit on I-Pace and provide slim, cat-like details of the I-Pace won’t be this fanciful, it’s how
still want to pull the ‘I-Pace is irrelevant and fore and aft. it behaves in real-world driving conditions.
expensive’ argument? Especially when you Right: An EV cannot afford to waste one iota For that, we head out on-road for a 250 km
of charge, so the I-Pace’s front bumper and grille
consider what else it can do that the F-Type channel air through and over the streamlined bonnet drive. Here its true genius comes to the
SVR cannot. for maximum drag efficiency – a Cd of 0.29, in fact. fore. We’ve already seen it has the grunt

FASTJAGUAR
FACTSI-PACE
EV400 HSE
POWERTRAIN:
Dual synchronous
electric motors
POWER: 294 kW/696 Nm
PERFORMANCE:
0–100 km/h in 4.8 sec
TOP SPEED: 200 km/h
BATTERY: 90 kWh
RANGE: 470 km (claimed)
/ 400 km (tested)
RECHARGE: 80% in 40 min
(100 kW DC fast charger)
ECONOMY: 0 ℓ/100 km
TRANSMISSION: Single-speed
epicyclic, all-wheel drive
TYRES: 275/55/R20
PRICE: R1 820 900

DRIVING
JAGUAR I-PACE
the ‘Jaguar
Powerway’.
Comprising 52
charging stations
across the country,
along the N1, N2
and N3, it makes
it possible to travel
between Joburg and
Durban or Cape Town
without worrying
about a flat battery.
That said, the home
charger is where the
majority of recharging
will take place, like
you do your cellphone
to bother F-Types, and some 4×4 potential; Above left: Forget pop-up headlamps (they died overnight while you’re asleep. Home-
now it’s the spaciousness and comfort to because they’re bad for aerodynamics), Jaguar’s new charger installation will set you back
thing is pop-up door handles. It’s all about the aero.
rival an XJ limo that shines. Our journey Above: 2 990 mm wheelbase, plenty useful for R30 000, and Jaguar claims it’ll cost on
begins with a full battery claiming a 470 km carrying your mother-in-law and a few hundred average R2 per kWh (electricity tariffs
cruising range and, despite our best efforts kilos of batteries. fluctuate throughout the day). This works
Below: Hybrid and EV manufacturers warning
with the right foot exacting some immense you against driving on gravel was so last decade.
out to roughly a third of the running cost
overtaking manoeuvres, frankly, the of an equivalent internal-combustion
batteries don’t fade and the range stays vehicle. The speed and convenience of
consistent as the distance rolls off, so public recharging will be more expensive –
range anxiety was no issue on this day. in which the first 80 per cent of battery is R40 per 100 km home charging vs R60
Driver connection from the helm is a replenished quickly (40 min from a 100 kW per 100 km public charging vs R120 per
standout feature. An e-tron feels heavier DC quick charger) but the final 20 per cent 100 km for an internal-combustion vehicle.
by comparison, which it most certainly is. takes longer, relatively. Fast, silent, effortless, zero-emissions
I-Pace tips the scales at two-and-a-bit tons On the point of recharging, while Audi motoring means never having to change
versus the e-tron’s two-and-a-half. And and Mercedes-Benz are merely talking gear, hit the rev-limiter or visit a petrol
don’t underestimate the sleek bodywork – about their respective offerings, Jaguar forecourt ever again. Yes, a century of
with that low-slung stance producing a drag is already well on the way to completing internal-combustion know-how seems
coefficient of 0.29, the electric Jag doesn’t its first R30-million roll-out of charging to be heading for the scrapheap, and
waste an iota of battery power carving infrastructure in South Africa by pioneering we’re surprisingly okay with that.
through the air. In fact (not that we were
able to test it), experts say you can keep
it nailed at full throttle for 20 minutes
(a distance upwards of 65 km), without
the top speed dwindling. After a while, the
power will dial back to protect the battery,
much like it does in the recharging process,
PHOTOGRAPHY: ROB TILL

Start small,
at first, then
make your garden
bigger as your
skills improve.
HOW TO START
YOUR OWN GARDEN
GROWING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES can be fun,
and it’s not that difficult. In two months, you’ll be
able to pick and eat food that you grew yourself.
E QU IP M E N T R E QU IR E D Otherwise, you can use a pot. It

1 seedling needs to be big! At least 45 cm
across. That’s because your
1 bag compost plants need a lot of soil. Their
1 bag organic fertiliser roots spread through the soil in
search of water and nutrients.
1 cultivator
1 trowel
HO W T O P L A N T
1 watering can
Remove any rocks and weeds
from your garden. Then use a
HOW TO USE A
tool called a cultivator – it looks SOLDERING IRON
WHEN TO PLANT like a big fork – to mix up the WHEN YOU HAVE two pieces of metal
Spring is obviously best, but in top layer of soil. If you find that you need to stick together, glue
South Africa we have a longer any more rocks, get rid of won’t work. You need melted metal.
planting season. Access to them. Next comes compost, While there are two main types of
sunlight is important, no matter the vitamins for your plants. soldering, a soldering iron is used only
which time of year you plant. Spread it over the soil, then use for electrical soldering. (The other type,
Try to minimise the effect wind the cultivator again to mix it all used to connect pipes in plumbing,
will have on your new plants. together. Use the trowel, a small requires a blowtorch! Better to save
shovel, to dig a hole about ten that for when you’re older.) Electrical
W H AT T O P L A N T to 15 cm deep for your seedling. soldering is used to make connections
Ask your parents to take you Remove the seedling from its on circuit boards. The solder lets
to a nursery. It’s a place that container and put it in the hole. electricity flow between parts. When
sells plants and gardening Use the soil from your garden you get really good, you can eventually
equipment. Seeds can be to fill in any space around the use a soldering iron to do internal
tough for beginners, so you’ll seedling. Next, add a scoop of repairs on a laptop.
want to buy something called fertilizer to the watering can and Along with a soldering iron,
a seedling. It’s a plant that’s water your plant. Don’t drown which is also called a soldering gun,
already started growing. Think it! Add water until the soil looks you’ll need electrical solder (a soft
of it as the nursery giving you a soggy, not flooded. metal that comes in a spool, like
head start! The easiest things to fishing line), a cleaner called flux,
grow are strawberries, tomatoes, HO W T O GR O W and fine-grit sandpaper.
lettuce, and carrots. If you’re not YOUR PLANT
sure what grows best in your Once your garden is planted, 1. The first step is always to clean
area, you can search online. you have two responsibilities: the tip of your soldering iron with the
Pick the plant you’re most 1. Make sure it’s watered. sandpaper. It’s ready when it looks nice
interested in – or the one you Usually the rain will do this and shiny.
are most interested in eating! for you. But if it’s really hot or 2. Next, turn the iron on so it can heat
hasn’t rained for about four up. It happens quickly, so be careful!
WHERE TO PL ANT days, use your watering can When the iron is hot, touch the tip of
Choose the sunniest place to water the soil. Remember: it with solder. This is called tinning. It
you can find. The sun provides not too much! keeps the tip of the iron clean and helps
energy plants need to make 2. Once a week, look for weeds solder stick where you want it to.
food, so anytime there is shade, and pull them out. Weeds steal 3. Put a little flux on the surface of the
that can’t happen. You can your plant’s food from the soil. two parts you want to solder together.
use the corner of your parents’ They also attract bugs that 4. Hold the tip of a piece of solder above
garden or flower bed. You could might want to eat the food the pieces you want to connect, then
also make your own patch of that grows in your garden. touch the solder lightly with the iron so
soil in the yard, but this would In anywhere from six to ten that it melts and flows on to the pieces.
mean tearing up the grass, so weeks your fruit and vegetables 5. The solder will cool and harden,
be sure to ask your parents first. will be ready to pick and eat! creating a strong connection.
MAY 2019 89
THE TOOL
TEST 2 When using a level,
how do you know that
1 When using power tools
(or hanging around
your surface is straight?
someone who is), what A. When the level can
protective equipment should be pressed flat against
you wear? the surface
TOY B. When the level is against
A. Safety the surface and the air bubble 4 What is a
OF THE goggles is between the two lines stripped screw?
C. When the air bubble A. A screw that has
MONTH reaches the top of the tube no packaging
D. When the air bubble B. A screw with a damaged
C. Helmet disappears head that is difficult to turn
C. A headless screw
D. A screw that’s not
3 What is a wearing any clothes
washer?
CELEBRATE
A. A machine
ELECTRICITY that washes your 5 What is
WITH LEGO! clothes or your dishes this tool?
WIND TURBINES ARE super- B. A screw with a wide, A. Clamp
aerodynamic windmills. They’re flat head B. Grabber
one of the easiest ways to create C. A long tube used to C. Pliers
electricity. When the wind blows, D. Safety connect two objects D. Tongs
air pushes the blades of the B. Kneepads goggles, D. A thin doughnut-
turbine fast enough to crank a and shin gloves, and shaped plate that sits
generator, a tool that turns that guards ear protection under a bolt or screw For the answers, see page 98.
motion into electrical energy.
Lego just introduced its own
working version of a wind turbine,
called the Vestas. It’s named after
the biggest wind-power company HIGH-POWERED light, which means that a lot of the laser
in the world. Real Vestas turbines transmissions never actually make it to space.
are 125 metres tall and can LASERS THAT CUT Late last year, researchers at the University of
generate enough electricity to THROUGH CLOUDS Geneva in Switzerland tested a new idea. They
power 1 500 houses for a year. TO SEND DATA to a satellite floating hundreds shot two lasers, one right after the other. The
The Lego Vestas is one metre tall of kilometres above Earth, you need something first heated the water in the clouds, basically
when it’s fully assembled and has that can travel very fast. That’s why scientists burning a hole big enough for the second laser
826 pieces. Another cool thing communicate with satellites using lasers. But to sneak through. This is great news for satellite
about it is that all of those Legos there’s one big problem: Lasers can’t travel through communication. Because science should never
are made out of plants! Most clouds. The moisture in clouds breaks up the laser have to wait for a storm to pass.
plastic is bad for the environment
since it requires a lot of chemicals
to make and takes a long time to
biodegrade. Because of that,
Lego engineers developed a new
kind of plastic that’s made out of
sugarcane, but will still look, feel,
and snap together like normal
Lego bricks. This is the first Lego
set to use the new bricks, but by
2030, Lego plans to make all of
its Legos out of the material.
When your model turbine
is complete, you can hook up
a motor to make the blades turn
and pretend you’re saving the
planet. Buy one for around
R3 000 (shop online at
greatyellowbrick.co.za.)

HOW TO DRIVE THE BACK WHEELS OF A FIRE TRUCK
SOME FIRE TRUCKS are 1. Before climbing in, 3. For most turns on them in the opposite
so long that they would drivers make sure the big streets, the steering direction to the front
have a very hard time front and rear wheels wheel doesn’t need to wheels. That keeps the
turning corners. For are pointed the be moved much. The back of the truck from
those trucks, the back same direction. rear section follows the hitting the kerb. When
wheels are controlled by front of the fire truck the the front of the truck is
a separate driver, who 2. They press the safety same way the back of around the turn, the
has his own steering button, usually a lever an 18-wheeler on the driver steers the back
wheel. Here’s how the size of a tuna can, at highway follows its cab. wheels in the same
they work. their feet, then honk the direction, then quickly
horn (they have their 4. At a sharp corner, straightens the wheels
own horn!) to tell the however, the driver of to keep the truck from
driver they’re ready. the rear wheels turns driving off the road.
PHOTOGRAPHY: LEGO GROUP, GALLO/GETTYIMAGES, TRACTORDRAWNAERIAL.COM; ILLUSTRATION: LEIF PARSONS
Retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson wrote a new

book, the Deadly Skills Puzzle and Activity Book,
to help people practise their observation and
analysis skills. The 181 mind-benders and games
all use real-world scenarios that athletes, military
personnel, and first responders might encounter.
Here’s a fun puzzle from the book:
DIRECTIONS: Every tree has one tent either

above, below, or beside it. No tent can be in a
square touching another tent (even diagonally).
The numbers beside each row and column tell
you how many tents are in that row or column.
Can you find all the tents? Find the answer key at
popularmechanics.com/deadly-skills-book.

BUYER’SGUIDE To advertise in Buyer’s Guide contact Joanne, Lindi or Patrick
on 011 449 1100, or email popbuyersguide@ramsaymedia.co.za.

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Unleash your creativity



D O I T YO U R WAY
WIN WITH
SEND US YOUR HINT AND SCORE!
MASTER LOCK
WIN
Clever tips Write to us with your tip and you
could win a prize hamper from
Master Lock. This month’s top
and life hacks contribution has won:
Master Lock 4-Dial

PAINTBRUSH CLEANING and leave overnight. I generally use
Combination Lock:
Here is a quick tip that will save you paint stripper to thinners. I’ve found Has a 40 mm-wide brass
from throwing away what was once that it’s a good idea to hang the bag body, 6 mm diameter and
a perfectly good paintbrush because on a line using clothes pegs. 26 mm-long shackle made
it was left after use, and all the paint The next day, you’ll be able to of cut-resistant chrome-
hardened in the bristles. massage the mix into the bristles to plated steel. (Set your
own combination.)
Take a ziplock bag that is tall enough start the physical cleaning process.
to fit your longest brush. Then simply Then, remove them from the bag and
place the hardened brush, or brushes, wash them thoroughly using warm,
Master Lock 3-Pack
inside. Add in some paint stripper soapy water. Afterwards, you can Keyed Locking Cable:
mixed with thinners, seal it all up, also fill a fresh ziplock bag one-third Pack includes three 1.2 m
of the way with clean thinners, place coiling cables, each with
the brush inside, seal it up, and wash pin-tumbler cylinders and vinyl
it without getting your hands dirty. protection covers. (Sold in
purple, blue and transparent.)
To prevent unnecessary waste,
close the ziplock bag and store it for
future paintbrush-cleaning use. Don’t
Master Lock
worry about the plastic being eaten Luggage Lock:
by the mixture – to my amazement, Has a 30 mm-wide metal body
the plastic seems quite resistant. and a 3 mm-diameter shackle
The next time you use a brush made of flexible vinyl-covered
and don’t have the time to clean it braided steel. (Set your own
immediately afterwards, keep some combination; TSA accepted.)
ziplock bags handy for storing the
brush to prevent it from drying out.
Master Lock M1
This is especially handy when your Excell Padlock:
paint job will take a few days, and you Boasts a boron-alloy body that
don’t want to have to wash your brush is 50% stronger than standard
every day. Be sure to press most of the padlocks, and a 45 mm
air out before sealing the bag – this laminated steel core with a
method, in theory, can keep the paint titanium-reinforced outer body.
The octagonal boron-carbide
and brush soft for weeks. (Editor’s
shackle is highly cut resistant.
note: wrapping painty rollers in cling
film, in a similar way, is a great way
to cut out the end-of-day washing Master Lock Solid
process on a multi-day job.) Brass Padlock:
My bonus tip is: buy your ziplock Features a 50 mm-wide solid
bags in bulk from a packaging brass body that’s durable and
company – they are handy for all corrosion resistant. The 8 mm-
diameter hardened steel
kinds of jobs in your workshop.
shackle can be adjusted from
Christoff Wolmarans 60 mm up to 150 mm long for
a range of applications. 5-pin
cylinder impedes picking.
Send your tips to

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WOODWORKING TOOLS: JAPANESE HAND SAWS PAGE 66

GEAR & GADGETS PAGE 28

Grain handling and storage Here’s a rendering of

Turn to page 54 to find out

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Till next time, when I’ll be

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WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

ADMIRED his refuge. Unfortunately,

I recently purchased I’m going to use my run-down CAROLIEN KRUGER

DO THE LOCOMOTIVE locomotive was complete. After

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woodworking market. With more than 40 brands

them at 93 Victoria Road, Plumstead, Cape Town.

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Because he’s Because we Because Greg Bryan

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ABOUT THOSE COVERS

According to Wilson, a bridge engineer

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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

PHOTOGRAPHY: UNSPLASH/CEDRIC WILDER; FREEPIK/LARA FIELDS; FREEPIK/MACROVECTOR

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2 MAY 1947 3 MAY 1960 4 MAY 1971 5 MAY 1981

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STUNT OF THE MONTH

How they pulled off

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This little charger

day, Coetzer’s team

GREAT Big questions.

Are there animals that

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A very warm sleeping bag

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A Centers for Disease Control Epidemic Intelligence

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THE I.T. GUY

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deceive you hardware like those huge gaming PCs is a

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GEAR & Must-have hardware for humans on the go

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MO RE N E W G EA R TO H EL P Y O U N AV I GAT E 2 1S T-C EN T URY LI F E :

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BEFORE YOU GO,

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TUMI SPLIT TRAVEL KIT

AND ONE MORE THING: BRING A PIECE OF HOME

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