The Lab With Brad

Much to say about nothing

The discovery of vacuum was strangely pivotal in the history of science and technology. From steam engines to electronics, we talk about the power of nothing.

Here’s a video of the chain fountain in action.

The Chain Fountain

Here’s a site, including a couple of videos, that attempts to explain how the chain fountain works.

Physicists explain 'gravity-defying' chain trick

Here’s a site on the history of the vacuum pump.

The history of the vacuum pump

And here’s a page on the invention of the steam engine.

Who Invented the Steam Engine?

Pumps, plumbing, and weird water

One of the earliest things humanity automated was the moving of liquids—irrigation, draining mines, and removal of waste. From five-thousand years ago to today, we take a look at pumps, plumbing, and some of the weirdness of water.

Here’s a video of exploding water moving a weight.

Water arc explosion lifting a 17 gram weight

Here are a couple of blog posts from people who write about experimenting with electrically exploding water.

Water Arc Explosion Experiment

Energy from Water? Precision Calorimetry of Water Arc Explosions

Here’s an article about some of the history of plumbing.

27 Historical Events that Shaped Modern Plumbing Systems

Here’s a video about how the plumbing in your home works.

How Your Home Plumbing Works (From Start to Finish)

Here’s a video on how a toilet works.

How does a Toilet Work?

Here’s a video on siphons, that describes the standard, air pressure based theory of their operation.

The Siphon

Here’s a video on a siphon working in a partial vacuum, using regular water.

automatic siphon, NO SUCKING works in a vacuum

And here’s a siphon working in a vacuum with a magic nonevaporating liquid.

Siphon in a Vacuum

of metals and mines

From prehistory to the industrial revolution, we take a look at metal working and mining.

Here’s an article on the discovery of metals, including a nifty timeline.

The Discovery of Metals

Here’s an article about a prehistoric flint mine.

Prehistoric men were using advanced mining techniques 11,000 years ago

Here’s an article about the history of iron and steel.

The Entire History of Steel

Wires, springs, and mechanical marvels

Along with the beginnings of springs and wire, we take a look at some more automatons. Included is the 18th century chess playing mechanical Turk.

Here’s a site on a modern day humanoid robot.

Atlas

Here are a couple of articles about the chess playing automaton that wasn’t.

The Turk, a chess-playing robot, was a hoax that started an early conversation about AI.

How a Phony 18th Century Chess Robot Fooled the World

Here’s an article about the history and modern manufacture of springs.

How springs is made

And here’s a video on the history of making wire.

The History of Wiredrawing

Ancient robots

Starting more than 2000 years ago, people have been creating machines that resemble animals and humans. Powered by water, compressed air, springs or falling weights, these automatons thrilled and amazed spectators.

Here’s a reference for Monday’s segment.

More than blindsight: Case report of a child with extraordinary visual capacity following perinatal bilateral occipital lobe injury

Here’s an article on the history of robots, and their fictional depictions.

Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots

Here’s something about automatons as ancestors of today’s robots.

Automatons: the Ancestors of the Current Robots

Here’s a video on a replica of Hero’s programmable cart.

New Scientist recreates a robot made by the ancient Greeks

Here’s an article about the automatons created by Heron.

Automata Invented by Heron of Alexandria

And here’s an article about Leonardo da Vinci's self-propelled cart.

Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Propelled Cart

Why are we turning?

To build your bot, you’ll need some bits. Today we talk about wheels pulleys and gears—where and when they happen, and how and why to use them.

Here are a couple of sites on the wheel.

A Salute to the Wheel

Who Invented the Wheel? And How Did They Do It?

Here’s a link or two on pulleys.

Pulley,Pulley inventors

Pulleys: Did You Know?

Here are two videos on Hero’s automatic temple doors.

Ancient Roman Automatic Doors - Over 2000 Years Old!

Hero's Temple Door Functional Model

And some stuff about gears.

Antikythera mechanism

Gears 101: The Fascinating Evolution of the Gear for “Gearheads”

That’s not a machine!

We finish up “building brain bits for bots based on big beasties,” and move on to some things that have to do with actual robots. Searching for the beginnings of the technology, we do make a short visit to the stone age.

Here’s a link to the document that inspired your host to waist his life trying to make a smart robot.

Advanced Automation for Space Missions

Here’s an article about how large enough animals, who need enough energy, can wind up with brains a bit too large for their lifestyles.

Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species

And here’s an article about the earliest stone tools—the beginning of robotic technology before we were even human yet.

Becoming Human: The Origin of Stone Tools

Building brain bits for bots based on big beasties

We begin a series on robotics and automation with a look at your host’s on going project on how to build a brain for a bot. After years of research, it turns out that bigger is better.

special thanks to @EliaMagrinelli and @mattparlmer.

Here’s an article about the blind cave fish.

Shh and forebrain evolution in the blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus

Here are a couple of things on the Nile crocodile, and how its brain gets bigger over its lifetime.

The Continuously Growing Central Nervous System of the Nile Crocodile

Continued Growth of the Central Nervous System without Mandatory Addition of Neurons in the Nile Crocodile

And here’s a bit about the surprisingly intelligent giraffe.

Our Understanding of Giraffes Does Not Measure Up

Dreams and schemes in space

For our last episode on space and space travel, we take a look at the private business based space programs.

Here’s an article about the Mars One program.

Goodbye Mars One, The Fake Mission To Mars That Fooled The World

Here’s what looks to be the Mars One website, apparently still up despite the bankruptcy.

Mars One

Here’s the home page of Blue Origin.

Blue Origin

Here’s Virgin Galactic’s website.

Virgin Galactic

And the homepage for SpaceX.

SpaceX

The Columbia’s last flight

17 years after the space shuttle Challenger broke up during launch, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during reentry. We take a look at what happened and why.

Here’s an article about the crawler transporter.

Driving one of the world's largest vehicles

Here’s a video about the crawler transporter.

Space Shuttle Era: Crawler Transporter

And another video about the crawler.

Explore Kennedy Space Center: Crawler

And another article about the crawler.

The Crawlers

Here’s a NASA sight about the space shuttle external fuel tank.

NASA - The External Tank

Here’s some news footage about the Columbia disaster, before the news people knew for certain what had happened to the shuttle.

Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy

Here’s some more news coverage of the Columbia disaster, when the news people had a much better idea of what had happened.

Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

And here’s an article suggesting the private company era of space exploration began with the Columbia disaster.

How the NASA tragedy began the private space age of SpaceX and Blue Origin