The Cost and Logistics of Climbing Mount Everest

Boing Boing has a post with a video (14 minutes) about the costs and logistics of organized expeditions to climb the world's highest mountain.

DIY Bamboo Furniture

Boing Boing has a video (7 min) of a woman making a set of bamboo furniture using only hand tools.

Video: Selfish Altruism

Kottke.org has a post with a video explaining why it is better for you if everyone's living standard improves.  It makes an interesting comparison between the situations in pre-industrial times and today.

Making a stack of Chinese bowls

British woodworker Robin Wood has a blog post with a very well made short video showing a Chinese craftsman making a stack of wooden bowls using a foot-powered lathe.  I've never seen a lathe quite like that one - most of the Western ones I've seen use some sort of spring to counter-rotate the lathe - nor have I seen anyone make a stack of bowls all at once.

Making Glasses from Scratch

The Knowledge has a post with a 15 minute video from How To Make Everything which details making a pair of glasses from scratch.

Video: Putting on a duvet cover

You wouldn't think there would be much room for advancement in the area of putting covers on duvets but here is a video showing the "burrito method" which seems to involve a lot less effort than how I've always done this before.

This strikes me as the sort of thing we should have leaned in math class while studying topology.

TED: Kevin Kelly on the coming Industrial Revolution

An interesting 13 minute TED talk from Kevin Kelly basically about how AI and humans working in teams with AI are going to lead to another industrial revolution.  There's nothing really ground-breaking in the talk but it provides a nice overview.

via Boing Boing 

Axe redesign

Business Insider has an article about a redesign of the axe - or at least the type of axe used for splitting firewood.

Making a katana from scratch

Sploid (part of gizmodo) have a post with a video on making a samurai katana (based on the one in Kill Bill) from scratch - i.e. they start with iron ore.  Well worth the 18 minutes.

I had never heard of the traditional Japanese technique for lighting the forge where they pound a piece of iron with a hammer until it becomes red hot then use that to ignite a piece of paper.

Awesome Gadget-filled Antique Desk

Make has a post with a video demonstrating the amazing features of an antique desk.  There is no electricity in the desk, all of the mechanisms are powered by falling weights.

A Summary of Everything

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a post with a video that basically shows the history of the universe in one minute.  There may be some simplification but it is nicely done.

Video of Mark Twain

Kottke.org has a post with a video of the only known film footage of Mark Twain.

Japanese Multiplication

Kottke.org has a post with a video demonstrating the way that Japanese people do multiplication.  I'm not quite sure how it works but it seems easier than the method taught in western schools.

Video: Last US Troops Leave Iraq

Wired Dangerroom has a post with a video, taken by a Predator drone showing the last convoy of US troops leaving Iraq.  Not gripping footage but certainly of historical interest.

Video: Cannonball into Tub of Mercury

Make has a blog post with a very short video showing what happens if you drop a cannonball into a tub of mercury.  I must say I did not see that coming.

The Robot that Walks like a Man

Kottke.org has a post with a video of a walking biped robot.  Like the older Big Dog four legged robot this one walks in a very natural way and can even keep going when jostled.

Slow Motion Video of a Cymbal being Struck

Kottke.org has a post with a video of a cymbal being struck.  As he says there is way more movement than I would have expected.

Gravity Plays the Marimba

Make has a post with a video (actually a Samsung ad) of a huge long marimba that is "played| by a ball rolling along it.  It is sort of like musical falling dominoes.

Video: The Joy of Stats

The Hans Rosling video The Joy of Stats is now online.  It is a bit long, almost an hour, but is a good intro to what Rosling has been saying about how statistics can be used to help people.  He also makes the point that increasingly powerful computers make bigger and bigger volumes of data usable by humans.

A while ago I blogged about a TED talk that Rosling did using animated graphics to show changes in statistics from the third world.  Still worth a look if you don't have time for the Joy of Stats.

Lego Tank Filmed by Lego Chase Cars

Gizmodo (which has a horrible new site design) has a post with a cool video of a small Lego tank.  The tank gets extra mobility by using omni wheels.  The video is extra cool because it is filmed by a video camera on another Lego car.