Tianjin Explosion - Compilation (Stabilized) 12/Apr/2015 China

Wow... Massive explosion. Water fromfirefighter's hoses only intensified the chemical reaction.

http://youtu.be/ryKyRJDGAoI

Olive tree shaker

Shaking the tree - harvests very fast! It's remarkable how automated this has become.



http://youtu.be/GKF_axA9zog

http://youtu.be/vjjGyc03aBc

http://youtu.be/JYzFqSFyTRM

Not nearly as efficient when you don't have the tractor attachment: 
http://youtu.be/NhvPslbk0H4

Potato growers Washington state

Highest yields per acre in the world. 60% of the nation's harvest. A nicely photographed piece that promotes the WSU research that has augmented the local potato yields.

http://youtu.be/g5TwHUA1NnQ

Interactive Combine Adjust

A clever bit of end-user engineering. How do you get farmers to understand how to make lots of very technical adjustments to speeds of various parts of the combine. Priorities for harvesting are set, like grain cleanliness, grain damage, straw condition. Sensors indicate when adjustments are required, and the operator is guided through practical questions about the problem with suggestions on what to adjust.

http://youtu.be/yBjGXf82LDQ

How does a corn or wheat combine work?

How a combine works. Rotating drums pull the kernels off and they are threshed. Considering how hard it is to take kernels off by hand, I'm surprised how simplistic this rotating drum mechanism is. Seems like the combine gets several chances to separate kernels from chaff and silage.


This animation shows the inner workings of a wheat threshing machine, without the machine. Nice way to illustrate it.


http://youtu.be/Q74eWEfO4Ho
http://youtu.be/RMU0goBWRjY

7:38 through the rotor, onto the chaffer, then the sieve, then up the return elevator, through the cycle again, with the grain elevator taking kernels to the tank. 

https://youtu.be/vHAyaiNbqiE

Corn

I recently drove across the continent, and I was amazed how many cornfields there were in virtually every state. Clearly far more corn than we ever eat... what are we doing with all this corn?
Video on the production, harvesting, and processing of corn to make syrup, plastic, xanthan gum, popcorn and ethanol.
Corn production stand at 5 tons per acre, and goes up about 6% per year. No other crop produces that much biomass per acre.
99% of corn is an inedible variety called dent corn that's high in starch.
Corn takes 127 days to grow.
Sweet corn has to be cooled to just above freezing immediately after harvest or the sugar turns into starch.

http://youtu.be/LGJ6D3KNJ9E

A history of corn monoculture: https://youtu.be/i6teBcfKpik

Awesome Machines

Thought you'd like these compilations of massive machinery. They get a little repetitive, but the mechanization is mesmerizing.
In this one, I like the chicken collector at 0:39
https://youtu.be/HQFvjYHsZ_w?t=39s




In this one, I love the gigantic potato harvesting machine at 4:21
https://youtu.be/cj5KiIte73U?t=4m21s

Hydrodynamic Foils

http://hydrodynamicfoils.com/

CD Shattering at 170,000FPS! - The Slow Mo Guys

Warps then shatters - the highest frame rate they've ever done.

http://youtu.be/zs7x1Hu29Wc

Happy lipdub by KLO middle school

http://www.castanet.net/video/5470/klo-gets-happy-harmony-day-lipdub-2014/
Glimpse at 3:59

Mammatus clouds

Cool! I'd love to see these clouds bit I'd probably be ducking for cover pretty quickly. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud

Modified trucks

Saw these two trucks at the local car show. The second one is massive, very sleek and unusual looking.

How does a hovercraft break ice?

In an "ingeniously subversive" way. Well, maybe subversive is overstating it a little. 

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/hovercraft-takes-aim-at-thick-st-lawrence-ice-1.2311958

I was surprised to learn that, in addition to a regular icebreaker, the St. Lawrence seaway uses a hovercraft to break up the ice. (Rick Mercer got to drive the hovercraft and was doing donuts on the ice.)

When I watched the show "Ice Road Truckers" the drivers were warned (and fined) for driving more than walking speed over the ice, which sets up a standing wave that can break the ice. The hovercraft uses this principle to good effect. 

Cool!