Popular Mechanics South Africa

SETTLING INTO the rhythm of lockdown life during the third COVID wave has brought on a mixed bag of emotions and thoughts. Hopefully, by the time you read this, we’re out the other side, and a state of normalcy is returning to South Africa. (If I nev

TEXT: MARK SAMUEL; PHOTOGRAPHY: HESS COLLABORATION/CC-BY-SA-3.0, FREDERICK A MURPHY, NASA, PUBLIC DOMAIN ■

▸ Radio Pilots Self-Inflating Rescue Boat The illustration on the cover of this issue, 70 years ago, depicted downed aviators waiting for their radio-controlled inflatable life raft to arrive. The accompanying article described how the boat, deployed

NUCLEAR FUSION HAS BEEN ‘RIGHT around the corner’ for decades. But now, that long-promised future is quickly approaching. With tens of billions of dollars on the line, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is almost ready to tur

SUPPORT TEAMS can be seen working around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft, shortly after it splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Panama City, Florida, early in May. It was carrying four astronauts returning from the Inter

THE SPACE AGENCY ISN’T BUILDING AN engine that can approach the speed of light – yet. A recent internal feasibility report from NASA suggests we could eventually realise the idea of travelling through folded space. In the report, advanced propulsion

IN 2013, A METEOR EXPLODED 22.5 KM (14 MILES) above Chelyabinsk, Russia, knocking out windows across 500 km2 and injuring more than 1 600 people. It was a wake-up call for astronomers to help defend Earth from more potentially hazardous asteroids. Of

EVEN IF you’re not a birder, chances are you’ve looked up at a flock of birds flying in formation, and wondered where they’re headed to, or even how or why they do it. Researcher and author of A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Bird

A MAR BOSE WAS FRUSTRATED. It was 1978, and he’d planned to kill some of the time on his 6 000 km flight from Zurich to Boston by listening to music through some new, foam-covered (read: flimsy) headphones that Swissair supplied to the passengers. Hi

Positioned on the outside of the earcup or bud, this mic analyses all frequencies of ambient sound and routes them to the circuitry inside the headphones. A summing amplifier in the earcup receives the reference mic info and calculates the frequencie

ODYSSEY G9 MONITOR LARGER THAN LIFE, and curved all the way, Samsung’s Odyssey G9 monitor is a phenomenal beast. It’s so big and heavy that it takes two people to get it out of the box. This is the ultimate 49” DQHD gaming monitor, with a space-age l

The question is, who doesn’t enjoy a perfectly brewed cup of coffee in the morning? If you have raised your hand, you haven’t tried this compact machine. Often the enjoyment of coffee is more about the whole preparation ritual than it is just about s

OPPO might not yet be a household name here, but in China and beyond it’s fast becoming one of the most popular smart device brands. The A74 5G is a good option, especially for those wanting a smartphone at an acceptable price that boasts next-gen co

IF YOU ALREADY have a connected fridge, a smart toothbrush and a robot vacuum, it’s time for a smart scale, right? The purpose of connected home gadgets is to bridge the gap between your real life and online life. Wyze, the maker of this scale, is a

AS WE HEAD from spring into summer and the temperatures start to rise, having the right apparel for those training days out in the heat is more important than ever, and Under Armour has got you covered. The GHL or ‘Global Hero Looks’ range incorporat

Often touted as a more flexible, powerful alternative to renewables, nuclear’s advantages haven’t outrun its dogged volatility. We associate nuclear reactors more often with disaster than innovation, but as the United States takes more coal and gas p

In May 2020, Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear plant (above) started providing power and electricity to 200 000 people in the far-eastern town of Pevek, Russia. The 70 megawatt plant, housed on a non-motorised barge, took three years to bu

It’s no wonder why. The sky is fall-over-backwards big, wrapping around you in a way that hints at infinite possibilities. After buttery sunsets fade into glowing orange then purple light, the heavens do their high-wattage flexing. Maybe this struck

AS THE SUN ROSE OVER THE HORIZON, a Japanese aviator worked to get his bearings above enemy territory. Anti-aircraft shells rocked his floatplane bomber as he looked for his target, a giant aircraft factory. The imposing building and expansive runway

The builder: Derek Coulter @derekmcoulter Coulter, a Pittsburgh-based industrial designer for Dick’s Sporting Goods, grew up fashioning new stuff from scraps on his family’s Iowa farm: a zip line out of pulley wheels and channel iron, a downhill race

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, humankind has been joining pieces of wood together. From sailing ships and great cathedrals, to doors, windows, wainscoting and the many forms of fine furniture, wood has been joined together to create both the utilitarian and the

Festool cordless plunge-cut saw WHEN I WAS A boy, my dad was always doing woodworking projects, so I was exposed to a garage full of hand and power tools. My dad has a safety-first philosophy, so wearing eye-, ear and body protection when operating p

GOT BOOKS lying around that need a neat home? We have the solution. This bookcase offers ample storage and display space, all in a compact footprint. It’s super easy to build using 38 mm × 38 mm and 19 mm × 235 mm boards, plus pocket-hole screws. The

WINA KREG MULTI-MARK tool! Tackled any home DIY projects lately? Have you refurbished your bathroom, built a jungle gym in the garden, or made a bedside table out of wood? We want to hear about it! Send an email with the subject line ‘Kreg prize give

IN NEARLY 20 years of test-driving cars, I’ve never been behind the wheel of a Jaguar, until now. The new E-Pace was a treat of an introduction to the brand, an immaculately crafted vehicle inside and out. The newest iteration of the marque has a ref

WHAT immediately struck me about the XC40, is that Volvo hasn’t simply taken an XC60, shrunk it down, and slapped a new model name on it. It’s unique, different, and beautifully styled in its own right. For a midsize crossover, its proportions are fa

MY MORNING COMMUTE IS, as AA Gill might have said, as predictable as a cheese sandwich. Trevor in his M3 – I know this from his personalised number plate – not happy until his organs are jostling for space inside him, is lane hopping and usually ends

WE’D HAZARD A GUESS that there aren’t too many South Africans out there who’d refuse a delicious roast chicken dinner – one that’s crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. However you choose to prepare chicken, it’s important that it’s

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Thanks for the free sample of WD-40 that was supplied with my recent subscriber issue. It’s great to have such a useful product in a small can that can be tucked into a pocket in the car or on the shelf of your office. Many of the spray-can products