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Women engineers breaking
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VOLUME 14, NO. 11
Longer than an Airbus A380,

next-generation giants of
the sky get set for lift-off
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O
n an otherwise unremarkable autumn During the evening commute, with timetables in chaos, on
evening, we became another statistic. what was nominally the much-delayed 6 o’clock train, half of us
Under cover of darkness and a sudden were jammed into somebody’s armpit and the other half were
downpour, the crowbar gang went to work. clinging to the outside of the coaches. Right there, one of
Swiftly. They had to move fast, because I was my fellow sardines lifted my cellphone. What the hell, it was
just a few minutes up the road. So was my probably an omen that I should get that upgrade I’d been
wife. Meanwhile, from next door, the neigh- putting off. Anyway, the contents were backed up. And the
bours were raising a ruckus. Our alarm was phone could be wiped remotely and blacklisted. Is it worth
wailing and armed response and the police giving a damn?
were heading our way as fast as evening Well, you could say my strike rate is on the high side. High
traffic would allow. enough to call for stern action, such as piling on ever more
No problem. By the time we arrived, the impressive layers of virtual armour. That should provide a
action was all over. comforting sense of security – until the paranoia kicks in,
It wasn’t exactly clinically efficient, or that is, and another bristling layer gets added. And, to be
terribly effective. They left behind a bunch of honest, the protection we already have is pretty standard
stuff, but got the TV and those few items of for suburbia.
jewellery that had been placed in plain sight. What about fighting back?
What really brings home the impact of a True story: once upon a time, in the days before beams and
break-in – especially a violent one like this – is armed response and remote control, a younger me was con-
the realisation of what could have happened. fronted by a burglar. I went all Rambo and somehow – okay,
And assuming you manage to get over that, probably by means of the crazed look in my eyes and the golf
there’s the PT of the aftermath. The damage. club I was brandishing – brought him to book. Against our
The wrecked gate motor. The buckled door recent three committed intruders equipped with crowbars,
frames. The looking over your shoulder. a firearm and a getaway car, similar bravado might end a
It’s not the first time that we have fallen whole lot less satisfactorily.
victim to this kind of crime. And, as always, So, how to respond?
the worst effect is the most long-lasting: the I think, at first, with a conversation. I want to hear what
intrusion on one’s personal space. you think. Let’s get your best home security tips. Your
Not that I’m suggesting that we had it thoughts on where this crime thing is going. Best letter
particularly hard. Crime can be easy to get gets R1 000.
hysterical about. Frankly, there’s a lot worse
that could happen and there’s far, far worse
that others have experienced.
iSTOCKPHOTO/KOSZIV
Yet, it’s also easy to become jaded about

crime. Or to rationalise about it, to not care anthony@ramsaymedia.co.za
about it.
Like: it didn’t seem so bad after all that,
just two days earlier, I’d been pickpocketed.
JUNE 2016 _ www.popularmechanics.co.za 1
CONTENTS
JUNE 2016 I VOL 14, NO 11 I I BE THE FIRST TO KNOW
HOW YOUR WORLD WORKS TESTED

12 Virtual reality you can walk around in 28 LG G5
The dawn of tomorrow’s home entertainment. Brydge Air
Bombs? What bombs? Sphero Ollie Darkside
Where the superpowers stand in nuclear posturing. Smanos W020i Bundle
Meet the 13 kinds of craftsmen who built this ship
Building the US Navy’s latest destroyer, the John Finn, CARS
took three years and an incredibly skilled team. 64 Tesla’s coming
Giant of the skies Looking back at who paved the way for the world’s
Airlander ushers in a new era of flight. biggest EV manufacturer to enter the SA market
An accident waiting to happen Launch reports
What causes truck rollovers. BMW M2, Opel Astra, Renault Kadjar
FAQ: SAKE!
The classic Japanese rice wine goes global. SKILLS
84 The infinitely scalable dog kennel
FEATURES Sheltering man’s best friend the simple way
50 Tough guys How to get started in… video editing
The best of the best are the ones who keep the world Shop notes
safe. Ask Roy
58 Breaking stigmas
Engineers don’t just have to be men. A local organisation MONTHLY
is helping women embrace that fact. 1 From the editor
72 Immune engineering 4 Credits
Genetically engineered immune cells are saving the lives 7 Letters
of cancer patients. That may be just the start. 10 Time machine
24 Great new stuff
78 How to move a lighthouse 62 A beautiful thing
When a lighthouse is in danger of falling into the ocean, 100 Do it your way
all it takes to save it is some relocating.
Cover: Four-eyed night-vision goggles look like something out of
TECHNOLOGY Greek mythology. They are part of the toolkit for the invisible warriors
33 Clever cars numbered among the tough guys who help to keep the world a safer
Under the hood, under the skin, behind the façade… place. This page: Hybrid Air Vehicles’ Airlander (shown here in its
we dive deep to find out what makes our rides so smart, 50-ton form) puts a modern spin on the airship concept.
from autonomous drive to camo paintwork, connected
trucks, electric SUVs, skill-boosting apps and more.
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LET TERS / WHAT ’S ON YOUR MIND?
NIN
G WINNING THE WAR ON BOREDOM Write to us, engage us in
debate and you could win
WIN TTER About 20 years ago I built scale attention. When I jokingly informed a cool prize. In fact, this
LE
models of a front end loader, a the inquisitive security official that month we take that liter-
Case 580 Tractor and a Gallion my name was Terblanche and that ally: our winning letter
road grader. Over the years, I I intended to build my own attack earns a Little Luxury
decided that this was going to vehicle, I was ensured of very Vitality water cooler valued
be one of my hobbies when I close continuous surveillance). at R1 300. This SA Rugby
eventually retired. Because I wasn’t sure how unit is beautifully finished
The big day finally dawned in difficult the project would be, I and has a rubber feel and
2014, but for various reasons I opted to first make individual real metal enamel badges
only recently got going on my parts and only do the assembly with a green LED. Water
first “pension project”, a model once all the parts were complet- is on, well, everyone’s
of a Ratel Attack Vehicle. With ed. The small scale and limited lips, with drought and
the attached photos I would like information forced me – but water quality among the
to share my pleasure and chal- admittedly also gave me the biggest threats facing our
lenges until the final completion artistic freedom – to invent and society. For many, filtering
many, many hours later. build my own suspension. To their water has become
As you can see, I used a mixture ensure that the finished product second nature and with
of exotic woods. The only refer- looked authentic I kept as close Little Luxury Vitality that
ence point available was a couple as possible to the original form, process is easy and afford-
of photos taken of a Ratel at the shape, detail and scaled size of able. It’s silly to have bottled water delivered to
South African War Museum in the vehicle. (A search on Google your house, at huge cost financially and environ-
Saxonwold, Johannesburg. (The revealed how versatile this vehi- mentally, with diesel truck emissions adding to the
fact that I started taking a few cle really is and how many ver- pollution.
measurements soon attracted sions were built over the years.) The Little Luxury Vitality water cooler is the most
I have included some photos affordable true mini cooler. It provides 7 litres of
taken at various stages of com- ice-cold filtered water at your fingertips. Little Luxury
pletion, starting with the suspen- Vitality cooler filters exceed both the USA and the
sion modules. European standards; they use NSF-certified filters,
After a customary South are tested by SGS France and approved by the FDA.
African strike to demand more It’s the perfect gift for your bar, desk, kids’
regular privileges of coffee and rooms, next to granny’s bed and on your kitchen
cookies from “senior manage- counter. Available at Makro and selected Dis-Chem
ment” I will decide on my next stores. To find out more and buy online, visit
model. Thanks for a wonderfully www.littleluxury.co.za
educational magazine that keeps
our inspirational juices flowing.
Popular Mechanics is an absolute Send your letter to: Popular Mechanics, PO Box 180,
must for any man and boy. Howard Place 7450, or e-mail popularmechanics@
DOUW KRUGER ramsaymedia.co.za Please keep it short and to the
RANDBURG point. Regrettably, prizes can be awarded only to
South African residents.
ROBOTIC SURGERY REVISITED on this subject, but the original outright in medicine to your generally mechanically
Although Popular Mechanics is hardly condemnation of it as stated in the response minded readership and not to discuss the
the proper forum to enter into to and fro has been tempered by the European and spectrum of treatment options. EUA guide-
academic discussions regarding medical American urological associations in their lines state brachytherapy clearly as a treat-
conditions such as the appropriate treat- most recent guidelines. ment option for low-risk prostate cancer.
ment of prostate cancer, the response of Regarding brachytherapy for the treat- To state that (it) has better outcomes for
a Durban-based urologist in your March ment of localised prostate cancer, it is true “all stages and grades” of prostate cancer
issue to an article concerning robotic sur- that it is an acceptable treatment option than surgery is a gross exaggeration and
gery in your January issue cannot be left that should be discussed between doctor simply not true.
unanswered. Certain statements can lead and patient. The original article may have The statement that “so-called experts in
to misinterpretations by the lay public created the false impression that its use is their field do not offer brachytherapy as
such as the majority of your readers. strictly limited to poor surgical risk patients an alternative “ is also completely untrue
Regarding screening for prostate cancer (although brachytherapy in itself wasn’t if he refers to the urologists at The Urology
(which wasn’t even mentioned in the mentioned, but radiotherapy in general). hospital in Pretoria, where we do indeed
original article), it is true that there has Bear in mind that the intent of the article offer (it) at our hospital.
been a lot of controversy in recent years was merely to introduce robotic technology Regarding the rather slanderous accusa-
www.popularmechanics.co.za _ JUNE 2016 7
LET TERS / WHAT ’S ON YOUR MIND?
tion that the robot is used for financial away, so we do a supply shop only once sive material with one open end a few
reasons, I can safely state that I am not every three months. metres under the waterline and the open-
aware of any hospital in our country that We are completely and utterly separated ing of the other end level, or slightly pro-
makes money out of the device. It is a costly from the rest of the world and at times I truding above the height of the pier. The
treatment option (as is brachytherapy) feel that when and if we eventually get back vessels could be anything from one to two
but we believe that the advantages to our to civilisation we will be so unequipped. metres in diameter. A number of these
selected patients of this minimally invasive With this in mind, I purchased a copy of vessels could be staggered at intervals
surgical procedure far outweigh the financial Popular Mechanics on our last supply along both sides of the piers.
disadvantages. Furthermore the urologists’ shop. It was so crammed with wonderfully Now, here is the crunch part.
remuneration for brachytherapy and surgery written articles and beautiful illustrations At the top (open) end of each of these
(open, laparoscopic and robotic) in South and made me look forward to going back vessels would need to be fitted a large
Africa is equivalent despite the fact that to civilisation to experience this, which now close-fitting fan with blades that are able
there is a huge discrepancy in skill levels seems futuristic to us. It was such a treat to rotate both ways, so that when each
and time that it takes to perform the pro- that we have read it several times over so heavy swell comes in the volume of air in
cedure. far and I can’t wait for my next issue, which the vessel is expelled with the fan rotating
DR F DU P BOEZAART I will pick up in three months’ time. one way and then when the wave swell drops
THE UROLOGY HOSPITAL, PRETORIA  KAVENDREE MUTHU-KURTEN and passes by, it sucks the air out, forcing
(Shortened – Editor.) SOMEWHERE IN THE BUSH the fan to rotate in the other direction.
Naturally the fans and components would
need to be made of non-corrosive materials.
OUTDATED? I BEG TO DIFFER SWELL IDEA In essence, heavy ocean swells are rolling
On the cover of the March 2016 issue, you Facing a shortage of generating power in all the time, one after the other. As a
have the BHT 150 hovercraft and inside to satisfy South Africa’s needs, we are swell rises in the cylindrical vessel it will
you refer to it as “outdated technology”! looking to other sources to add to Eskom’s push the trapped air out, spinning the fan
On the contrary, this craft is a modern power grid, such as massive wind farms, at the top open end and, as it moves on,
fast ferry, robustly constructed with large solar panels and costly gas-powered the air will be drawn back into the vessel,
diesel engines. It is used by Hovertravel in generators. but now spinning the fan in the other
their cross Solent service, which incidentally South Africa has a vast coastline, so direction.
has been running successfully for more why have we not thought of using what With all these constantly spinning fans
than 50 years. we have right under our noses to generate hooked up to a generating source I’m sure
It is ideally suited for this purpose in our shortfall from the unrelenting action a fair amount of energy could be generated
that it is not limited by tidal fluctuations, of the incoming swells of the waves crash- to assist with our present shortage, espe-
which can be many metres on the UK coast, ing on our shores? My idea would be to cially if a number of these piers with their
leaving large mudflats and sandbanks build long wooden or concrete piers straight components were situated around our coast-
exposed. It stops and turns on concrete out into the sea, similar to the piers off line. Not only would this be a continuous
slipways either side. Durban’s beachfront. Firmly attached to source of energy, but also a very cost-
FRANCOIS MALAN (HOVERCRAFT the uprights of the piers, on both sides, effective one.
EXPERT), SOMERSET WEST could be large cylindrical vessels, open at DEREK WHITEHEAD
each end made out of strong, non-corro- EAST LONDON
BIOFUEL VS BIRTH CONTROL

There is a lot of emphasis on the idea of LEARNING FROM NATURE
biofuels being the answer to global warm- With reference to the April The nature of
Nature’s cell
Wheras copying processes from Nature is
a simple enough process that involves a
game of imaginative matching, mimicking
THINGS
the natural world on a cellular level is more
Biomimicry is slowly involved. The way energy flows through a
cell, the point at which it can replicate and
bleeding into every- even the atomic structures are subject to
ing, but what comes out of the tailpipe of

thing around us. Our
issue of Popular Mechanics,

forces which we don’t fully understand yet.
Engineering practice to mimic at this level
manufactured world is an exercise in best effort and constantly
is starting to imitate adapting to the specific needs of the project.
There’s no golden rule.
natural life.
a car or a jet plane burning biofuel? the article “The nature of things”
By LINDSEY SCHUTTERS
causes a dangerous problem: if humans

are considered animals it follows that
all of our technology is natural. But why
Growing biofuel reduces the amount

then does it destroy the world?
– in which biomimicry was the

Before we unpack more of Mokgokong’s
world view, let’s go back to where this
line of thinking first started.
Humans have always mimicked what
we saw in nature to help make our lives
of arable land available for growing food. topic – made me think of the
easier. Leonardo da Vinci looked to birds
to inspire human flight. Isaac Newton
contemplated falling apples and gave
birth to physics and calculus. Biomimicry,
however, was first recognised in 1950
when biophysicist Otto Schmitt created
Natural plant life absorbs CO2 and produces French American engineer
the term biomimetics to describe the
engineering of a device to replicate a
biological system. In his case it was the
Schmitt trigger, which replicates the
way a squid’s nerves fire. The technology
forms the backbone for a CMOS chip,
oxygen all year round, but when biofuel is

The urban cell
Robert le Ricolais. He said,

which you probably use every day if your
ILLUSTRATIONS: INFORMAL SOUTH, 9., GREG WRIGHT ARCHITECTS, HARRO VON BLOTTNITZ, CARON VAN ZEIL
smartphone has a camera in it.

It’s a fairly new field of study in
South Africa, though. Biomimicry SA
boasted its first graduate in the field as
recently as 2010. Strange, then, that
harvested it does nothing for a few months. “The art of structure is where
just over the border in Harare there’s a
shopping mall (Eastgate Centre) that
uses natural means to stay cool. The
building is designed to mimic a termite
mound and uses about 10 per cent of
Unless we can control our population

the energy a conventional building of
to put the holes.” H

the same size would use. At the time of
uman beings haven’t been around for a very long time. Our greatest technological completion in 1996 it was a world-first
contribution thus far is the wheel. Controlled explosions are too destructive to be venture, with 31 600 square metres of
considered a contribution and fire occurs naturally. The wheel is integral to our commercial space (retail and offices)
existence and there isn’t another creature on the planet that can harness its mighty being cooled by Mother Nature.
explosion within the next century, human-

power. Think about it: if you were a lion and could steal one technology from another species, Practical examples, however, are
Perhaps you have already seen

wouldn’t you take the wheel? scarce and it would seem to the untrained
Tharalelo Mokgokong is a part-time lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology, indus- eye that the field is still very theoretical
trial engineer and lifelong fan of biomimicry; he wants us to learn from lions. “Don’t you find it in nature. But that’s not necessarily a
strange that lions can organise themselves on a hunt?” he probes. “They have different strategies bad thing.
for different kinds of prey. Then they arrange themselves. It’s always the fastest one that will Claire Mollatt, a former ecologist who is
ity faces a miserable future. some man-made structures that

start the chase and then the slower ones will box in the buck and the heaviest will jump on its now heading up a phase of the planned
back to bring it down. How do they know to do that? Do they have a meeting before they go Berg River rejuvenation project in the
out?” ponders Mokgokong. Langrug informal settlement in Fransch-
There’s a lot of truth to his query, but the reasoning is also fundamentally flawed. It’s the hoek, is busy with one such example. The
separation of humans and animals that is the biggest problem. Assuming that people are on a project is backed by the Western Cape
pedestal above all other animals undermines the very essence of biomimicry. But the opposite Government and the Stellenbosch
LIONEL LATIGAN have an organic appearance to 34 www.popularmechanics.co.za _ APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 _ www.popularmechanics.co.za 35
MELKBOS them: they are full of holes. These

Biomimmicry.indd 1-2 3/3/16 3:12 PM
structures have also mimicked Nature. Specifically, the structures were designed to mimic
the evolution of bones, where (in essence) material is added in locations of high stress and
A TASTE OF CIVILISATION taken away in locations of low stress (hence the holes).
For the past two years, my husband and I The designers of these structures use design software (for example, SolidThinking
and our two kids have been doing research Inspire). This software runs bone growth algorithms on the structures they have con-
in the bushes of KwaZulu-Natal. We spend ceived and modifies them just like Mother Nature does to your bones.
20 days of each month in the field living NICHOLAS MINNAAR (APPLICATION ENGINEER)
out of our vehicle. Our closest shop is miles BY EMAIL PM

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TIME MACHINE / IT MADE PERFECT SENSE AT THE TIME
May 1939
The flying freight wagon designed by racer/engineer
Benny Howard featured a tail that swung on hinges,
opening up enough cargo space for a small truck or
your new speedboat, as depicted on the cover (right).
Combining the classic instructional and America’s
favourite pastime, we asked then three-time World
Series of Baseball champion Monte Pearson to share
some of his pitching secrets with Popular Mechanics
readers. Pearson went on to win his fourth consecu-
tive World Series title later that year and put on one of
the greatest performances in World Series history,
apparently using the curve-ball techniques listed in
the five-page article.
September 1973
Today’s tough guys are cut
from the same cloth as
these elite units. With the
rising tide of political ter-
rorism, serial killers and
narcotics-enhanced crimi-
nals, there were certain
situations where the police
force in Los Angeles were
August 1953
Though autonomous inadequately equipped or
trucking is what’s being trained to neutralise
talked about right now, threats. Enter the Special
63 years ago the latest trend in commercial vehicles Weapons and Tactics divi-
was the “turbojet” truck. The engine, developed by the sion (SWAT), who were dis-
Boeing Airplane Company, tipped the scales at up to patched within minutes to
1 000 kg less than a diesel engine of similar output – any part of the greater Los
which was 130 kW. Fuel consumption was a bit thirstier Angeles area and used mili-
than a regular diesel engine’s, but the turbojet was tary precision in the war on
capable of running off regular petrol, diesel, kerosene, lawlessness. They were
stove oil and even jet fuel. It also used up to 1 000 called into action 46 times
fewer parts, took up 13 per cent of the space needed to in 1972, a rate of nearly
house a traditional diesel motor, and required only six once a week, to keep the
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HOW YOUR WORLD WORKS
IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENTS ▶ THE ARMS RACE ▶ WARSHIPS ▶ AIRSHIPS ▶ SAKE ▶ ROLLOVERS
FUN
VIRTUAL REALITY YOU

CAN WALK AROUND IN
The New York Times is using it. So is the White House. But virtual reality has yet to become
truly mainstream. A new form of destination entertainment could help.
BY E R I C K E S T E R
PHOTOGRAPH BY CHAD KIRKLAND; ILLUSTRATION BY HITANDRUN

Rapture head-mounted display has dual
curved OLED displays with 2K-
per-eye resolution.
CHRIS MADSEN HAD BEEN SEARCHING for
an elusive sensation for more than 20 Rapture peripheral
One of several handheld add-ons featuring
years and now, as he stepped through haptic feedback. There is also a pump-action
twinkling dust particles in an aban- gun with two triggers.
doned hallway, he sensed he was close.
Rapture backtop vest
Madsen, a virtual-reality expert for Provides four different types of haptic
consumer news site Road to VR, feedback for laser and bullet impacts.
stepped through an open door and
found himself balanced precariously The confined space was another
on the edge of a cliff. Inching forward, problem. Even on a 20-by-20-metre
he peered over the precipice. A hun- stage (the size of the completed arenas),
dred metres below, crags jutted the freedom to run or walk anywhere
through an olive-green haze. His jacket in a virtual world appeared impossible
snapped in a wind that, in an almost to attain. That is, until Void chief crea-
consciously benevolent act, pushed tive officer Curtis Hickman, an illusion-
him back from certain doom. ist who has worked on magic effects
Weak-kneed, Madsen flipped up his for David Copperfield, invented the
virtual-reality headset, instantly Infinite Hallway. This trick takes
returning to a 10-by-10-metre sound- advantage of a peculiar human flaw in
stage in the Void, a real-life VR play- which, if you take away visual and
ground about 20 kilometres south of hearing cues (using a headset, for
Salt Lake City. Short for the Vision of example) and then ask a person to walk
Infinite Dimensions, the Void is a in a straight line, he will naturally walk
physical arena for virtual reality that, in circles.
when overlaid with graphics from a This is not to say that there are no
headset, transforms into a fully tra- sceptics. Kevin Williams, a colleague
versable gaming environment. There of Madsen’s at Road to VR, expressed
are special effects from wind machines, concern about the tracking system, at
water sprinklers (to simulate rain) presence is the ability to physically move. It was this least in the early stages of development.
and heat sources (fire). idea that inspired Void cofounder and CEO Ken Online VR forums, meanwhile, have
Madsen is one of 2 000 beta testers Bretschneider. A former digital artist/fine artist for seen a number of potential users
trying out the Void in advance of its the 1994 flight-simulator game VR Stalker, question whether the yet-to-be-unveiled
opening later this year. His task: to Bretschneider sold his cyber-security company in Rapture equipment can live up to its
determine whether the 3,8 million 2012 and began investing heavily (he won’t say how lofty specs. Is this just the next in a
viewers of the Void’s preview on much, but reports suggest upward of R180 million) long line of VR companies that over-
YouTube will finally experience the in his plan to develop something better. promise and underperform?
future of virtual reality that continu- Even from the outset, Bretschneider saw that weak “I understand where they’re coming
ally seems to arrive but never quite technology such as limited peripheral views and from,” Bretschneider says. “Is the Void
materialises – true presence, rather unrealistic audio quality on current consumer-grade perfected yet? No. But we’ve had a
than just viewing a scene through a VR headsets would be an obstacle to his project’s 100 per cent satisfaction rate in two
headset while sitting on a couch. success. The Void team began developing its own open beta tests that put nearly 2 000
“Anyone can feel immersion when Rapture-branded technology (see above) to supple- people through our experiences.”
there’s a 360-degree environment ment what was available. After feeling literal heat from a vir-
and it feels kind of like you’re there,” Bretschneider also scoured the world of technology tual fire, real moisture wafting from a
Madsen says. “Presence is different. for a way to track multiple players across a virtual cyber cave and genuine fear from peer-
It’s as though there’s a switch thrown field without “confusion”, a glitch in which optical ing over a cliff that doesn’t exist,
so that suddenly you are in this new trackers switch adjacent people. The team considered Madsen says he believes that the castle
dimension. It’s so intense that the camera-based, laser-based and electromagnetic track- of dreams Bretschneider has built rep-
primal part of your brain won’t even ing systems, but none was good enough. “Then I resents a step forward in the inevitable
let you take a step off a virtual cliff.” found an article about NASA using radio frequencies widespread adoption of virtual reality.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CHAD KIRKLAND
Madsen says one of the most to track their rovers,” Bretschneider says. The Void The technology works. The funding is
important requirements for achieving team customised the NASA model and can now track set. The only question is whether we’ll
a body with an accuracy of less than a millimetre. get off the couch and use it.
NOT-SO-IMPRESSIVE MOMENTS IN VIRTUAL-REALITY HISTORY

• THE VIRTUIX OMNI • CY BERCOOK • VROOM SERVICE
This treadmill shown at the 2015 This new game from Starship Group Guests at some Marriott hotels can
SEPTEMBER 2015
FEBRUARY 2015
JANUARY 2015
Consumer Electronics Show has the Guitar Hero problem. Why order a loaner VR headset to explore
allows users to play a first-person spend hours perfecting your cook- exotic destinations, such as an
speed-shooter game while strapp- ing skills on a pretend platform with “ice cream shop in Rwanda” from
ed into a baby-bouncer-esque inedible graphics when you could their rooms. Maybe go outside
harness. Real cool, guys. just, you know, cook? instead? – L A R A S O R O K A N I C H

WHAT'S NEW IN... NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
BOMBS? WHAT BOMBS?

The official détente of the arms race between the US and the former Soviet Union began 44 years ago this month,
when US President Richard Nixon met with Leonid Brezhnev, secretary-general of the Communist Party, in Moscow.
Since reaching a peak in the late 1980s, the world’s nuclear arsenal has decreased by roughly 80 per cent, but there
still seems to be a lot of nuclear posturing going on. Here’s where everyone stands today. BY C A M E R O N J O H N S O N
PLUS! France has 300 bombs, China has 260, the UK has 225, India 120, Pakistan 120, and Israel 80.
RUSSIA USA NORTH KOREA IRAN

First nuclear arms test: First nuclear arms test: First nuclear arms test: First nuclear arms test:
1949 1945 2006 HOPEFULLY NEVER

Number of weapons today: Number of weapons today: Number of weapons today: Number of weapons today:
A PPROXI M ATELY A P P R OXIM AT E LY A P P RO X I M AT ELY H O P EF U LLY
7 700 7 100 8 NONE

In 2009, the US announced a In 2014, after a 60 Minutes epi- In January, North Korea claimed The much-debated Iran nuclear
plan to deploy SM-3 ballistic sode revealed that outdated to have detonated a thermo- deal went into effect in January
missile interceptors in eastern technology protects the USA’s nuclear bomb, a weapon up to and the United Nations began
Europe by 2018 to thwart any nuclear stockpiles, a review 1 000 times more powerful than lifting sanctions immediately.
Russian attacks on countries resulted in that country’s gov- those used during World War II. One exciting piece of the deal:
such as Ukraine. Naturally, ernment allocating R114 billion Fortunately, experts believe it because plutonium packs a
Vladimir Putin was not pleased. for additional personnel and was possibly a less catastrophic larger punch than uranium, Iran
Likely afraid that Russia would infrastructure improvements to “boosted” fission device. will be required to dismantle its
no longer be able to use nuclear coincide with a R5 trillion plan Regardless, the US Congress principal plutonium-producing
weapons as a strategic deter- to update weapons by 2024. passed the Gardner-Menendez reactor, near the city of Arak
rent – and inspired by the song The budget calls for, among North Korea Sanctions bill in and replace it with a less pow-
“Anything You Can Do (I can other things, 12 nuclear subma- February, giving the US more erful one. That way, Iran can
do better)” – he promised to rines, a fleet of bombers and authority over those who sup- develop isotopes for medical
create nuclear weapons that intercontinental ballistic missiles port the state through criminal purposes, but not enough to
can beat the USA’s SM-3s. to replace stock from 1968. acts such as money laundering. blow everyone else to bits.
Like all uncharted lands, space offers its earliest pioneers exciting opportunities in
lucrative minerals, free land and untimely death. With that come many questions.
For example: if a company sends a probe to mine an asteroid, does the platinum
SOON, SPACE or nickel it finds legally belong to it once the goods are back on Earth?
WILL HAVE After testing a version online this spring, Vickie Sutton, a law professor at Texas Tech
LAWYERS. University since 1999, is offering a course in space law in 2017. Among other regulations, it will cover UN
NOW WE’LL treaties stating that governments cannot claim ownership to asteroids and planets, as well as US statute HR
NEVER BE 2262, passed in November, which allows individuals to keep what they find. It seems the frontier’s period of
MOON PIRATES. lawlessness is ending before it even really got started. Gather ye Mars dust while ye may.

WARFARE AFLOAT
Meet the 13 kinds of craftsmen

who built this ship
One day, we will use 3D printers to create everything from prototypes to warships. Until then, fortunately, we have some
seriously skilled humans to do the job. Take the latest in the US Navy’s main set of warships, the R9,7 billion Arleigh
Burke-class destroyer John Finn, which at the time of writing was due to set sail on its first sea trial after more than
three years under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula,
Mississippi. Here are the types of trade workers who have reason to be proud. BY J AC Q U E L I N E D E T W I L E R
1 SHIPFITTERS: These are the puzzle 2 RIGGERS: Individual assemblies are

constructed upside down by many of the
makers who figure out which piece of the
trades, including
ship, called an individual assembly, goes
where. Shipfitters also begin connecting the 3 INSIDE MACHINISTS, who build
assemblies with plasma cutters, plate rollers, pieces using such tools as lathes, drill
drills and welding machines. presses and CNC machines, and
4 BOILERMAKERS, who use
techniques such as metal grinding and
tack welding. Riggers flip these assemblies
the right way up and connect them to
transportersand cranes to move them into
position.
5 OUTSIDE
MACHINISTS:
Experts in alignment,
outside machinists
install the toys:
propulsion machinery,
steering gear, radars,
antennas and weap-
ons systems. They
make sure each piece
is placed properly on
welded bases known
as foundations.
6 HULL WELDERS: After the shipfitters have made initial

connections, hull welders use four kinds of welding (stick welding,
MIG, flux-cored arc welding and submerged arc welding) to melt a
filler material in with the base material, fully fusing the ship’s joints.
The process creates a bond as strong as, or stronger than, a plate
that hasn’t been welded at all.
ON THE INTERIOR
9 PIPE WELDERS AND FITTERS 12 SHEET-METAL MECHANICS create
connect pipes for sewage, water and air ducts for the ventilation system.
machinery, using mirrors in tight spaces. 7 PAINTERS:
ILLUSTRATION BY SINELAB
These workers prep

10 MARINE ELECTRICIANS lay out, 13 JOINER/INSULATORS install living
the ship by blasting
install and test every electrical system. quarters, furniture and insulation. it with abrasives or
power sanders, then
11 CABLE PULLERS route 518 kilometres cover it in paints that
of cable throughout the entire ship. provide protection
from salt and sun
exposure. They do
PERCENT COMPLETION* this while standing on
OF ARLEIGH BURKE–CLASS
scaffolding built by
SHIPS AT HUNTINGTON
INGALLS INDUSTRIES
J O HN F I NN R A L P H J O HN S O N PA U L IGN AT I U S DE L B E R T D B L A C K 8 CARPENTERS
*As of April 2016

AVIATION
GIANT OF THE SKIES

Bringing an old idea bang up to date, Airlander
ushers in a new era of flight.
HYBRID AIR VEHICLES’ AIRLANDER 10, the

largest aircraft currently flying, should
have undertaken its first flight by the
time you read this. By late April, per-
mission had been granted for flight
trials after an extended period of ground
testing. An even bigger version capable
of lifting 50 tons (pictured here in an HAV says the Airlander combines the best characteristics of fixed wing aircraft and
artist’s impression) is in the pipeline. helicopters. Its hybrid design provides lift in three ways:
Originally developed for the US mili- l Aerostatic lift (60 per cent of the total), thanks to helium – it’s basically a gigantic
tary in a since scrapped joint programme balloon.
with Northrop Grumman, the Airlander l Aerodynamic lift (40 per cent of the total), generated by its wing-like body shape.
has already “flown”, though. A proto- l Vectored thrust (25 per cent extra), via four diesel engines, used mostly during
type flew back in 2012 and the current takeoff and landing.
civilian version (significantly changed Its flight characteristics should include the ability to hover like a helicopter and take
from the original) was floated in its off and land in small spaces. Though most of its lift coming from pressurised helium,
hanger unpowered. In its most recent up to 40 per-cent is provided by the body shape. Internal diaphragms required to sup-
test late last year it was towed while port the hull shape allow for a some compartmentalisation, aiding its fail-safe nature.
aloft by four fork-lifts, each fitted with Multiple ballonets located fore and aft in each of the hulls provide pressure control.
two-ton weights. Landing is accomplished on profiled, retractable pneumatic tubes/skids on the under-
In addition to EU research funding side of the two outer hulls. These allow multi-surface ground operation including
of more than R40 million, the hybrid amphibious capability.
aircraft recently broke through the The Airlander is said to be able to stay airborne for up to five days and even longer if
£1 million (R21 million) barrier on used unmanned. The aircraft’s roles could include transportation for passengers and
crowdfunding from more than 1 200 cargo, as well as surveillance. Not only would it be easy to land and take off in extreme
investors. Backers include, according to environments, it is also designed to be fuel-efficient. Quoted cruising speed is a little
Britain’s Daily Mail, Iron Maiden lead more than 140 km/h and service ceiling is 20 000 feet.
singer Bruce Dickinson, who is said to Although by modern standards the Airlander is huge – it’s 20 metres longer than the
have invested around £250 000. HAV current leading superjumbo, the Airbus A380 – but perhaps surprisingly it is only one-
claims to be one of the few companies third the size of Germany’s 1930s Zeppelins. Speaking of which, in a nod to the historic
to have successfully raised more a mil- origins of lighter-than-air craft, the Airlander has its home at Cardington, where the
lion on an equity crowdfunding – twice. R101 – Britain’s attempt to take on the Germans – was produced.

BOWTHRUSTER
REAR
PROPULSOR
FORWARD DUCT
PROPULSOR
DUCT PAYLOAD FUEL/FREIGHT MODULE
MODULE
AIRLANDER 10 TECHNICAL DATA

ENVELOPE VOLUME: 38 000 m3
OVERALL DIMENSIONS:
– Length  92 m
– Width  43,2 m
– Height  26 m
ENDURANCE: 5 days manned
ALTITUDE:  up to 20 000 ft
SPEED:
– Cruise 80 knots
– Loiter 20 knots
TOTAL WEIGHT: 20 000 kg
 PAYLOAD CAPACITY: up to 10 000 kg
LIGHTWEIGHT, CUTTING-EDGE MATERIALS

Mission module, fuel module, ducts and
engine support battens are made primarily
of carbon composite.
ENGINES
Airlander’s quartet of four-litre V8 turbo-
diesels, two each front and rear, produce
260 kW apiece. All are configured in ducts
with blown vanes to allow vectored thrust
For takeoff/landing/ground handling.
HOW TO STOP A BALLOON LEAKING

Inflated with helium to slightly more than atmos-
pheric pressure, the Airlander becomes rigid
without bracing. Its skin is composed of layers –
a blend of Vectran, Kevlar and Mylar, originally
developed to withstand small arms fire.

AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN

“Rollover without the Risk” (How your world works, February 2016) highlighted how simple training helps
truck-trailer drivers avoid expensive and often deadly rollovers caused by incorrect driving methods. But, says
a reader, we’re missing something important: the role of the fifth-wheel towing mechanism patented a century
ago this year. Inventor Herman G Farr got it back to front, says Cape town engineer R J Consani Pr Eng (Int).
SOME 45 YEARS AGO, one of the fuel compa- Detail from Herman Farr’s
nies ran deliveries from its depot in Cape original patent.
Town Harbour. Then, wide new roads and
big traffic circles were constructed on the
reclaimed harbourfront. Soon afterwards,
the fuel company experienced a series of
puzzling tanker turnovers. Were the new
roads to blame? Or was it something else?
Investigators struggled to solve the mystery.
At that time, I was the young design
engineer for Consani Engineering in the
Westen Cape, which made most of the
country,s tankers. The company was called
in to assist. Some digging revealed that all
the semi-trailer tankers involved:
➜ Had done the job for a long time;
➜ Were operated by experienced drivers;
➜ Overturned while exiting a traffic circle
at normal speed;
➜ Had previously negotiated the same
traffic circle without incident, either fully
laden or at higher than normal speed.
What had changed?
I will get to that. But first let’s backtrack
to talk about semi-trailer stability.
Essentially, it depends on three factors:
➜ Positioning of the load.
➜ Suspension.
➜ The current international convention of
the semi-oscillating fifth wheel.
Firstly, on the subject of loading, the
road ordinance lays down strict rules of
maximum sizes of vehicles and maximum
weights that a combination of axles can
carry. Maximum allowed weights include
the weight of the trailer, so manufacturers
make trailers as light as possible.
Now, for a maximum load on a horse/
trailer combination, the position of the
centre of gravity is fixed. It cannot be
moved forward or backwards without
overloading one or more of the axles. Part
loads, however, can be located anywhere
along the semi-trailer and still be legal.
Here is where the problem starts.
Some drivers are not aware that locating
the load upfront, instead of over the trail-
er’s rear wheels or bogie, renders the semi
much more unstable.
The fifth wheel, which attaches the
semi-trailer to the mechanical horse, is
usually a semi-oscillating fifth wheel,
allowing the rear of the trailer to move up

and down with ease, while stopping the Every trailer that overturned was in this fifth wheel on the horse and the rubbing
trailer from rocking sideways. If the load condition. plate on the trailer, from a rollover point
is placed over the fifth wheel, in straight- We immediately advised the petrol com- of view, is wrong. The semi-oscillating fifth
line travel, sideways roll is curtailed and pany to change their unloading sequence wheel should be on the trailer and the rub-
transmitted to the horse. The driver can and the problem went away. bing plate on the horse. When the horse
“feel” the trailer roll. The decision of the transport manager and trailer travel in a straight line the effect
But when the horse/trailer takes a sharp was understandable, in the light of a pend- would be no different from what it is now.
corner (often at nearly right angles to the ing change in the road ordinance to enforce However, in a tight corner, if the fifth
trailer), all that changes. The front-rear a minimum of 20 per cent of the gross wheel were on the trailer it would stop the
movement restriction of the horse-mounted vehicle weight on the driving axle(s). By trailer from “rolling”, as the oscillation
fifth wheel now effectively becomes a side- leaving fuel in the front of the semi, this direction would still be front to back rela-
ways roll in the trailer. There’s no restric- would ensure more weight on the driving tive to the trailer. The fifth wheel would
tion or feeling transmitted to the horse, wheels of the horse – but it caused major allow the horse to “roll”, but this would
up to about 30 degrees. If the load is instability. Yet even with a part load on the not cause instability. The same problem
perched over the fifth wheel, when accel- rear of the trailer the driving axles were exists when a horse/trailer jackknifes –
erating out of a sharp turn the likelihood over the 20 per cent of total vehicle weight. the horse is just over 90˚ relative to the
of tipping is highly increased. Now to the second risk factor, suspension. trailer and the fifth wheel does not stop
Which brings me back to the mystery In general, the further apart the springs, the trailer from tilting over. In fact, it is
of the overturning fuel tankers. Further the more stable the suspension against roll- biased to tilt the trailer to 30˚.
investigation showed that every vehicle over. Also, the higher the centre of gravity As I see it, the only disadvantage of
that overturned was returning to the of the load plus trailer over the plane on placing the semi-oscillating fifth wheel
depot with a part load. The manager of the which the springs act, the more overturn- attached to the trailer would be a more
petrol company’s transport division had ing moment will be applied to the springs restricted angle of entry to the coupling.
instructed all drivers to empty the com- in cornering and hence the more the trailer The current fifth wheel system is so
partmentalised semi-trailer starting from will tilt, causing more instability. entrenched into the transport system that
the rear and working towards the front. Finally, on the subject of international I doubt it will ever change, but if it did, it
This meant that the semi-trailer could end convention of the fifth wheel, I may be would need to do so in the countries we
up with a load only in the front compart- shot down in flames, but what I am going follow, namely the USA and Europe.
ment, directly over the fifth wheel, hence to say is the truth. The international con-
the instability. vention of placing the semi-oscillating
Rollover prevention should involve more
than just specially designed training rigs,
says Robert Consani

Stockist Enquiries: (011) 448 2210
www.titanwatches.co.za
THE RICE
The more rice grain
removed through
milling, the closer
DRINKING
FAQ: SAKE! you get to pure
starch, which has
fewer earth tones,
Over the past few years, brewers outside Sake’s native country have started to produce their more flavour and
tastes less like rice.
own versions of the classic Japanese rice wine. We had a few questions.
BY B E AU T I M K E N A S TO L D TO F R A N C I N E M A R O U K I A N Bran, a mix
of proteins,
fats, and starch
amino
Q: Sah-key or sah-kay? Q: How is it brewed? ture, partially due to the influence
STEP 1 acids
A: Sah-kay. After the rice is milled, of the Western wine palate.
or shaved down to expose the Unfiltered sake is more expressive
Q: What is sake made from? starchy core, it is cleaned, soaked – bigger, bolder and grabs you
A: Water, rice, koji (mould that in water and steamed to create right out of the glass – whereas
helps break up the starch and the perfect environment for koji, the filtered version presents a
allows it to become glucose) and a yellow-green mould powder that more pristine flavour profile: very
yeast. The balance of these ingre- is sprinkled on the surface of the light and clean, more nuanced.
dients creates different flavours. rice after it has been spread out in
In its final form, sake is about 80 shallow beds to cool. The sake is heated to 66 SAKES FROM
per cent water. Historically, brew-
STEP 6 R I C E M I L L E D...
degrees. At this stage,
ing locations were selected for
their natural supply of “good”
STEP 2
The koji is massaged by
hand into the rice to help
brewers can also choose to add
water to bring the alcohol level
30%
• Junmai*
water, a mystical quality known break the starch into sugar, down to 14 or 15 per cent from a • Honjozo
only by taste. Eventually it was induce the yeast to breed and peak of 20 per cent.
discovered to be caused by potas-
sium, magnesium and phosphoric
eventually give the sake character.
Q: Is there a special way to
40%
• Ginjo
acid, which promote fermenta- A super-concentrated drink it?
STEP 3 liquid yeast starter,
tion. Favourable composition can A: Yes, many. Sake is probably 50%
now be achieved by filtering. called moto – made from the koji the most ceremonial beverage on • Daiginjo
Unlike table rice, brown brew- rice, additional steamed rice, yeast, Earth. That said, whatever you’re
*Junmai represents
ing rice has a large starch compo- lactic acid and water – is placed in doing should be fine. Start every two things: it denotes
nent concentrated in the centre of a small fermentation vat. toast with kanpai, the Japanese a sake made without
the grain. It’s surrounded by the equivalent of “cheers”. the addition of brew-
bran, which contains proteins,
STEP 4 The main mash, or
er’s alcohol (pure dis-
OUR EXPERT Beau Timken is the founder tilled alcohol), and a
fats and amino acids. Large moromi, is created in a of San Francisco’s True Sake, the first
machines with vertically pivoted sake made from rice
large fermentation vat by adding dedicated sake shop outside of Japan
and the first in America.
that was milled down
rollers scrape away layer after rice, koji and water to the moto in by 30 per cent.
PHOTO BY BUDDHIKA WEERASINGHE/GETTY IMAGES
layer to expose the starch, which three separate stages over four
can then be converted to ferment- days. During the 15- to 18-day
able sugars. fermentation, brewers can control GLOSSARY Honjozo Velvety, thin,
like a port or sherry.
the quantities and temperatures drinkable sake.

Nama Unpasteurised.
Q: What is the difference of the elements to make the sake Fresh, yeasty, zesty,
between hot and cold sake? dry or sweet, thick or thin, rich Daiginjo Nuanced, Junmai Full-bodied, and expressive
A: More refined, premium sakes or light. ethereal, balanced earthy, rich sake. flavours.
sake.
typically have more subtle fla-
vours. Those are better served The mash is pressed Kijoshu Dessert sake. Nigori Unfiltered.
chilled to mute acidity and keep STEP 5 through mesh to remove Genshu Undiluted. Rich, sweet, and syrupy. Rich, round flavours
the flavours more compact. Less the rice from the sake, which is Big, bold, robust and that drink more like a
powerful. Sake with a cocktail.
premium sakes have more earth then filtered though charcoal. pop. Koshu Aged longer
tones and backbone, so they can Recently, however, the trend is to than in the typical
stand up to heat. Warm sakes reduce filtration and let the sake fermentation cycle, Taru Stored in cedar
Ginjo Light, crisp, creating an earthy, barrels, which adds a
usually taste more ricey and bold. retain its natural colour and tex- clean and aromatic. musky flavour more layered, spicy flavour.

Do you have unusual questions about the world and how it works 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 YOUR
HOW YOUR WORLD
WORLD WORKS
WORKS Questions will be selected based on quality or at our whim.
beneficial nutrients along with their caloric

freight. More problematic, perhaps, are
your butters, creams, Alfredo sauces, etc,
which may taste good, but will bulk you up
like nobody’s business. Bone marrow, of
all things, is another notable caloric catas-
trophe, but we suspect most folks will find
it pretty easy to resist.
What was the

longest operation
BIG QUESTIONS. ever?
ANSWERS YOU CAN’T Well, you see, there
was this really fat guy
FIND ON THE INTERNET. whose car exploded…
Actually, the longest
surgery on record occurred in 2001 and
lasted more than four straight days – 103
hours to be exact. A team of 20 doctors at
Seems like, in the movies, any- Singapore General Hospital worked in
shifts to separate Ganga and Jamuna
thing north of a fender bender Shrestha, 11-month-old twins conjoined
results in an explosion. Do cars at the head. Not only did the girls share a
cranial cavity, their brains were partially
blow up that often in real life? fused. Typically such separation proce-
dures might take 30 hours – still an eter-
nity in surgical terms – but once under
THE WORLD WOULD be a far more exciting place if they did. Alas, exploding cars are largely way, doctors discovered that the girls’
a product of what we might call Hollywood physics – the same body of natural law brains were even more tightly enmeshed
responsible for such phenomena as airborne strafing runs that invariably miss their com- than expected. “When we were planning
paratively slow-moving targets, industrial-style glass skylights that break the fall of those the surgery, we did not expect it to last so
who routinely plunge through them and 50-year-old actresses with 19-year-old figures. So, long,” says Dr Keith Goh, who led the
no: cars virtually never explode in the manner depicted on screen, unless someone tooling operation. “During the course of the sur-
along in a nitroglycerine-powered sedan festooned with dynamite has a notably bad day. gery, we found that the two brains were so
It may surprise you to learn that liquid petrol won’t explode – in fact, it won’t even closely adherent to each other that we had
burn. Petrol vapour will burn and, if compressed, can explode (that’s what powers your to individually coagulate, separate and
car, after all), but it would be a freak accident indeed that resulted in the precise set of divide the blood vessels that were going
circumstances required to produce a genuine, Cineplex-grade, popcorn-rattling ka-boom. between the two brains and all the brain
Garden-variety car fires are not altogether uncommon, says Peter Leiss, an automotive tissue that was adherent.” He’s talking
engineer and certified vehicle fire investigator. He adds that whereas fuel vapour ignited about hundreds of tiny blood vessels, each
by a spark can produce a fireball that a layman might mistake for an explosion, “actual of which had to be traced and identified as
explosions like we see in the movies where the hood or parts of the car go flying up into belonging to one or the other of the girls.
the sky – that’s very, very rare.” Moreover, the girls’ brains were not mere-
ly connected, they were wrapped around
Gram for gram, what’s the most fattening, or caloric, each other like a helix, adding to the com-
food? plexity. And in the end, each twin’s skull
Want to get fat? Eat fat. Shocker, right? Pure fat packs a truly needed to be refashioned, using a blend of
ILLUSTRATIONS BY GREG CHRISTMAN
waist-expanding wallop – some 37 kj per gram. That’s more than bone material and Gore-Tex fibres.
double the payload delivered by protein or carbohydrates. The surgery was facilitated by computer-
Of course, “pure fat” is not an item you’ll see on a lot of menus imaging technology that allowed surgeons
(“Excellent choice, sir. Will that be the cup or the bowl?”), nor is to create 3D scans of the sisters’ brains
your local supermarket likely to stock it, though it might be fun to ask. The most fat-laden and to rehearse in advance. As a side note,
foodstuffs you’re likely to encounter routinely in the real world are oils and nuts. Your neurosurgeon and sometime US presiden-
typical oils – olive, canola, peanut, sesame, etc – contain about 500 kilojoules per table- tial aspirant Ben Carson, a pioneer in the
spoon. Nuts, meanwhile, tend to be more than 50 per cent fat and will therefore, unless field, served as an advisor to the team.
consumed in moderation, make you 100 per cent fat. Macadamias, at 30,5 kilojoules an Most important, perhaps, the operation
ounce, are the worst offenders, followed by pecans at 29,8 and pine nuts at 28,1. was a success: though Ganga contracted
Don’t despair, however. Oils and nuts may be fatty, but, like, say, John Candy, many meningitis seven years later and passed
have appealing features, too. Registered dietitian and Boston University nutrition profes- away, Jamuna is now 15, alert and well
sor Joan Salge Blake cites olive oil, nuts and avocados as three fatty foods that deliver and can talk, sing and attend school. PM

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GREAT STUFF NEW YOUR

NEW
BEST
FRIEN
DS
Huawei P9
This is the most interesting camera on a
smartphone at the moment. The best is still the
12 MP unit on the back of the Samsung Galaxy
S7, the most useful is still the wide angle lens
on the LG G5. Huawei combining the
powers of a regular 12 MP sensor with
a proper monochrome 12 MP sensor
(no RGB colour filter) has, however,
yielded an intriguing package.
As a smartphone, the P9 is on
par with the current crop of flag-
ship products, although the home-
baked Kirin 955 processor will again
put it at a disadvantage against its
Snapdragon 820 competitors. USB
type-C is on connector duty, there’s
3 GB of RAM and the now standard set
of NFC, Bluetooth, high speed Wi-Fi and
LTE radios round out the notable insides
of the glass and metal device.
Forget the Leica branding for a bit
because there are some unrealistic ex-
pectations regarding the partnership. Just
appreciate for a moment the fact that you can
now take a black and white photo with properly
deep blacks. A brief outing with the launch
device transformed happy snaps at the airport
into exhibition-quality photographs. And in low
light, the smartphone will comp together images
from both sensors so you get full radiance on
any light source.
It’s something different and we should be
excited.
RTBA, consumer.huawei.com

Panasonic Lumix GX8
Mirrorless is coming into its own as a DSLR alternative,
with the micro four-thirds sensor size staking a claim as
the more versatile with regard to lens choices. This is the
current flag bearer for the Lumix G product line and is
compatible with any micro four-thirds lens. Panasonic
has also set up permanent residence in South Africa, so
aftermarket service should improve dramatically.
R29 000, panasonic.com
Bang and Olufsen Beoplay A1

You can get 24 hours of playback from this portable wireless
bluetooth speaker and it’s splash and dust resistant so it’s fine
if you take it outside. Charging is also done via USB type-C, so
you’ll have another of those cables, which is a good thing.
R5 000, beoplay.com
Anker Powerhouse
It gets a bit silly to refer to something as a powerbank when it’s
packing 400 Wh of charge. Anker’s Powerhouse is 4 kg of portable
power that can be charged via solar panel or wall socket and run a
small fridge for about seven hours.
$500, amazon.com
Thule Subterra
You need a new daypack. At least think about it.
Petrol is getting more expensive and commuting
to work will improve your health as well as wealth.
This one has a well-protected space for your 15”
laptop and a whole bunch of other stuff. And
it looks awesome.
R3 200, thule.com

GREAT NEW STUFF
Lego Technic Porsche

911 GT3 RS
You’ve never seen this level
of detail on a Lego set before.
Not only does the suspension
work, but so does the PDK
gearbox. Yep. Hit the
paddles on the steering
wheel and the gearbox
will swap cogs. We can
only imagine the hours it’ll
take to put this bad boy
together, but will give it the
full product test treatment
once we’re done.
$300, shop.lego.com
Schatzii Bullet Bluetooth earpiece

The company is calling it the world’s smallest
Bluetooth earbud and it naturally comes with a
charging case. Bullet will play your music and take
your calls discreetly for up to 90 minutes. The
Science Coffee Modern pour over stand downside is it needs one hour to charge from
It’s the stand that’s the interesting part. The precisely empty, so the return isn’t that impressive. This
machined aluminium is compatible with almost all brewing technology is still in its infancy though and at
methods and just looks cool. least the standby time is rated as 80 hours.
$85, science-coffee.com $150, schatzii.com

Boeing 747-400
Headlight Lamp
The crafters at Boeing’s furniture
division have started to repurpose
headlamps from retired 747-400s
as free-standing lamps and it’s
awesome in all its aircraft-grade
aluminium amazingness. The two
halogen bulbs are sealed and there’s
an adhesive window film to reduce
brightness.
$7 500, boeingstore.com
Dewalt MD501
Boomcloud360 Boomstick You’d expect a smartphone
In a startling development, audio product wearing the DeWalt name to be
company Boomcloud360 doesn’t want you to rugged and come with a 5-inch
upgrade your audio output device, but rather touchscreen that plays nice with
enhance it. The Boomstick is essentially an gloves. The range sensor and
amplifier that makes anything with a 3,5 mm wireless charging are great
audio connector sound better. touches though.
$100, boomcloud360.com RTBA, dewaltphones.com PM
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● LG G5 ● BRYDGE AIR ● SMANOS WO2O1 ● SPHERO OLLIE DARKSIDE
TESTED COMPILED BY LINDSEY SCHUTTERS

> l i n d s e y. s c h u t t e r s @ r a m s a y m e d i a . c o . z a
LG G5
Hedge betting
The device you see on this page is a
landmark smartphone. You’ll remember it
fondly in the future, but that all depends
on whether LG’s modular wager pays off
and consumers start demanding more
options. The G5 carries many of LG’s flag-
ship G-line hallmarks, but introduces an
entirely new design language.
First there’s the full metal jacket, albeit of
the confusing plastic-coated variety. Think
of it as similar to the trick the Korean com-
pany pulled last year with the leather veneer
over plastic, but just with a thin aluminium
core smothered in primer. I like it. But I also
liked the feel of Samsung’s faux leather on
my personal Galaxy S5.
Next is the volume button migration
back to the more conventional side. The VITAL INFORMATION
power button is still on the back and it
SCREEN: 5,3-inch QHD IPS LCD with backlight
now gains fingerprint-scanning powers. zoning for always on display
It’s in line with Google’s placement of MEMORY: 32 GB storage, 4 GB RAM, microSD
Nexus Imprint and LG probably took a support
page out of the Nexus 5X playbook for CAMERAS: 16 MP main, 8 MP wide angle,
that. Fingerprint scanning is a bit slow 8 MP selfie
compared to offerings from Huawei, Apple SENSORS: Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, accelerometer,
and Samsung, but you won’t notice. gyro, compass, barometer, colour spectrum,
In all LG has crafted a competitive flag- proximity, fingerprint
ship device that is every bit as fast as its PRICE: R11 800, lg.com the edges of the frame warp to near fish-
competitors in terms of task accomplish- eye levels you can be very creative with
ment and adds a few twists. The bottom Test Notes: close-up shots.
chin is removable and replaceable with The always-on screen is nice, but because it’s While there are many clever touches on
modules that LG is calling “Friends”. You an LCD screen, the light bleed is quite severe the G5, the package seems a bit rushed to
plug the friends into the “Magic Slot” and and I found myself switching off the function market. You can tell by the way the remov-
transform your device into a G5 with a to get better sleep at night. This is a USB able chin doesn’t line up with the rest of
high fidelity amplifier from Bang and type-C device, wireless charging would’ve the device and the burr on the chamfered
Olufsen, or into a G5 with hardware zoom help reduce the stress of forgetting the cable edge (the shiny chamfer is chipping off of
and shutter (video and camera are separate) either at home or at work, but LG aren’t play- the review device and showing the plastic
ing that game yet. Battery life was average
buttons and some extra battery. antenna lines). The camera is also a bit
and made it to 7 PM from 5 AM regularly, but
Currently the friends are limited to the slow to launch and LG threw the app draw
beware the QHD screen is thirsty for power.
Cam Plus camera grip and the DAC. LG is baby out with the cluttered UI bathwater
lumping the 360 Cam, VR headset and toy- in the latest iteration of its Marshmallow
cum-cat-exercising Rolling Bot together flavour of Android skin.
with the friends, but they’re separate There’s a lot to love in the G5, but the
devices. That leaves just one more point of review experience was peppered with infu-
difference from the 2016 Snapdragon 820- standard two-axis set-up, but the lens is riating discoveries where I wanted to slap
equipped flagships: camera. still f1,8 bright. Alongside is an 8 MP unit LG with the hand of common sense. The
The G4 had arguably the best camera with a 135-degree field of view. You access company was expected to build on the
module on a phone in 2015 and LG has left it within the same viewfinder and this strengths of the G4, it chose instead to try
it virtually as is for 2016. I suspect they gives the never-before-seen powers of neg- to learn three entirely new skills and didn’t
neutered the optical image stabilising to a ative zoom. It truly is amazing and because master any.

BRYDGE AIR
Metal jacket
I’m an early adopter and firmly believe VITAL INFORMATION that will accept it as an input device. As
that we live in a post-laptop era. Yes, tablets BODY: Aluminium you can see in the pictures, I used it paired
can’t entirely replace a computer, but with WEIGHT: 520 g with my Samsung tablet when the home
increasingly regular firmware updates and BATTERY: 3 months (claimed) iPad wasn’t available for use on shoot day –
the now excellent application libraries on COMPATIBILITY: iPad Air, Air 2 and iPad Pro and it worked fine. I say fine because the
the major platforms, the tablet computer 9,7-inch Brydge Air has iPad-specific keys that don’t
is more than enough power for most people. PRICE: R2 500, myistore.co.za work for Android at all. The design that
Most people rightfully don’t appreciate works so well to route the embedded
touchscreen keyboards and crave the tactile Test notes: Bluetooth speakers up and towards you (by
chiclet awesomeness of a standard qwerty Typing on your lap is the Brydge Air’s special reflecting off the tablet screen) completely
board. If you’re on an iPad Air or later, skill because it doesn’t get hot like a laptop blocked the hardware navigation keys.
then the Brydge Air is the best on the does, although you probably should put Pairing is a simple two-button process;
market. pants on before using it on a frigid morning. the design accurately matches what Jony
Not only does the Brydge Air mimic the Ive penned for the iPad and the keyboard
metal chassis of the iPad, but the two grips feels like Apple OEM. Even the backlight
line up perfectly and don’t do any harm to (three levels of illumination) is fully on
the screen. When closed, the clamshell Macbook point. A chiclet keyboard isn’t my
could pass as a 10-inch Macbook. The sturdy first choice if I’m going for a quality typing
hinges have a 180-degree range of motion experience, but there are worse things to
so you can get the iPad laying flat. be stuck on when cramming words before
It’s a Bluetooth keyboard, so it can (and deadline.
definitely does) work well with anything With the 9,7-inch iPad Pro on the hori-
zon, you may be tempted to get the key-
board case that Apple released alongside it,
but I put forward the Brydge Air as a far
superior laptop cloning alternative. The
only thing you may find concerning is that
the products ships with a replacement set
of rubber grip bits, which means that
they’re susceptible to wear.

TESTED
SMANOS W020I BUNDLE

Eagle eye
I don’t have a very reliable network connection. I’m with Telkom and don’t VITAL INFORMATION
necessarily have a gripe with its overall service because the only time the Internet is Kit includes a W020 WiFi Alarm System, IP6HD
legitimately down is when someone stole cables, but then the entire neighbourhood is WiFi Camera, two DS2300 Wireless Door/
down, even the Afrihost clients. I do have to reboot my router virtually every day and Window Contacts and a RE2300 Wireless
that has been my biggest concern with this product test. Remote Control.
IP6 cameras are great. This one is equipped with a Sony sensor, too. But how can I Price: R4 000, myistore.co.za
see what’s transpiring on the home front when the router isn’t feeding the Internet to
the device? Okay, that’s enough about my connection problems; you probably want to Test notes:
know how good it is. Deciding where to place the camera is very
The best bit about the Smanos W020 is the plug-and-play functionality. Plug the important, but remember that everyone in the
control unit directly into your router and then add in as many sensors as you wish. house will then be able to tap in and see the
Door, window and camera inputs are added through the app and the system is yours view from anywhere in the world, at any time.
from the original purchase.
While glass-cutting thieves render the window opening sensors useless, the fact that
the IP6 camera has a two way microphone is awesome. You may not be patched
through to the ADT control room or have armed security pitch up at your house, but
you can communicate directly to the intruders in the hopes that you’ll put the fear of
god in them.
There are other aspects to the system, though. You can add components that will
detect leaks (liquid or gas) or temperature changes. It’s one of those expandable sys-
tems that you use for a heads up notification if something isn’t right at home.
It will take some getting used to, but if you’re trying to cut the traditional cables
then you need a few extra tricks. Hopefully you’ll start from a more stable internet
connection. You can also use the camera as a baby monitor.

SPHERO OLLIE DARKSIDE
Yang weapon
BB-8 was a major hit for Sphero-makers Orbotix and helped propel the
company on to Christmas lists the world over. Ollie Darkside is the follow up to
that device and sees the company capitalise on the Star Wars magic by breath-
ing it into an established favourite. The Ollie is a much more manageable toy
than the original Sphero ball because it’s easier to control, rolls over more
obstacles and is faster.
So far I’ve failed to illustrate how much the Darkside differs from its white
and blue cousin; so let’s get to it. It’s black, for one. It glows red. And it's dis-
obedient. Actually that’s a bit harsh; I found it to always obey my every com-
mand. The only exception was when I was attending to one of my children and
left the app open with the phone on, which is when Ollie started doing its own
thing. It’s a nice touch and really endears the “robot” to its owner, almost like
the BB-8 scout mode.
The inner workings of the Ollie are still basic Sphero mechanics with the VITAL INFORMATION
Segway type self-balancing motor. Just instead of the Segway device being CONSTRUCTION: Polycarbonate
inside a ball, the entire device is a miniature Segway. That means it’s every bit BATTERY: 1 hour use from a full charge
as fast as I said earlier. This toy can kick it at a top speed of 22 km/h, which PRICE: R2 600, myistore.co.za
isn’t near enough to evade my puppy, but the dog hasn’t managed to end the
review process prematurely, so the thing is tough. Test notes:
Ollie is designed to do tricks and survive minor drops and impacts because Hats off to Orbotix for expanding the Sphero range to
nominative determinism, I guess. I didn’t manage to go through its full reper- something that’s even more fun than the original ball,
toire though, but
3D_Print_SysJunePop I’m certain the list is limited only by imagination.
2016-05-03T10:55:40+02:00 but waterproofing would’ve been nice. PM
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CUTTING-EDGE TECH THAT’S DRIVING
THE AUTOMOTIVE REVOLUTION
Contents
The age of autonomy 34
Assistant M 38
Leading the convoy 40
Hiding in plain sight 44
Brain boosters 45
The body electric 46
Reinventing the wheel 48

CLEVER CARS
Volvo’s XC90 is the cleverest car on South Africa’s roads right now, says Lindsey Schutters.
But all the carnage melts away while I’m coddled in the cli-
I’VE BEEN QUICK TO OUTSOURCE my driving ever
mate-controlled embrace of the Volvo. One finger touching the
since I first engaged cruise control on the N1 between Pretoria
steering wheel is enough to keep the car happy in the knowl-
and Cape Town. That pilgrimage has come to define the early
edge that I’m still alive and won’t abandon it, and I’m comfort-
part of my life, but if I could just be a passenger as the car
able enough in the XC90’s automatic braking to even treat
drove itself, I’d rather have it that way.
myself to catching up on my reading list.
The Volvo XC90 is a car I genuinely love for many reasons,
but mostly for the thoughtfulness. There’s a little plastic clip
that lets you display an access disc on the windscreen and a Cape Town traffic adds on average an extra 40
special function called Pilot Assist that allows the car to drive minutes of travel time to road journeys daily.
itself at speeds under 50 km/h. The feature needs a car ahead
of it and clear road markings to work, but it’s very effective Pilot Assist is an evolution of Volvo’s ever-improving
when in full swing. IntelliSafe system, which debuted on the S60 years ago with
Pilot Assist transformed my morning commute. the CitySafe auto braking and pedestrian recognition. It’s a
See, I live in what the 2016 TomTom Traffic Index found
to be the most traffic congested city in South Africa: Cape
Town. My home is also about 40 km away from my office and I
travel from Stellenbosch in the direction of the CBD. It’s hell.
I used to do Pretoria to Sandton on the daily, so I know that
the Cape Town situation is a special kind of torture.

Volvo’s Vision
2020 is of a
completely
autonomous car
that syncs with
your schedule
and media con-
sumption. You’ll
send cars voice
commands and
the car will
choose a route
that allows you
to finish watch-
ing your TV
Netflix show.
clever integration of radar technology that is now being

fine-tuned to detect all manner of road hazards from cyclists
to animals.
The new system recruits the four cameras into the arsenal
of sensors for better object recognition, with the side mirror
lenses on lane keeping and blind spot monitoring duty. There’s
also some Lidar built in for more accurate distance tracking
and 3D modelling.
Even with all this sensor data, I still had to intervene with a to the self-driving corps and will learn over time. If you take
small steering input to evade a taxi that considered the four- the same road every day the car will identify that trend and
metre minimum following distance to be an invitation for a pay special attention to the road conditions.
lane change. If there’s a speed bump and you raise the suspension at that
The system’s main failing in addressing my needs is that it point, the car will start doing it automatically. Similarly, if
needs clear sight of the lane markings. No clearly painted line, there’s a bend, the car will gradually improve its driving line
no Pilot Assist. The system won’t even accept a pavement as a and speed choices. But the beauty of Tesla’s approach to the
guide. I doubt this to be a problem in the European cities this autonomous car is that, when you get home and the car con-
car was designed to operate in, but the more rural suburban nects to WiFi, it feeds that information to the cloud and every
areas must surely face the same challenges. Auto Pilot-equipped Tesla has access to that information.
In free-flowing traffic situations, the XC90 won’t steer for That system also operates at infinite speeds, but governed by
you, but the adaptive cruise control can operate at very slow speed limits that the car will detect through the camera data.
speeds, so there’s the option to outsource control over just the It works so well that the company is claiming a 50 per cent
throttle control and braking. It’s by no means a new feature, reduction in car crash incidents.
but many manufacturers offer the same service to varying
degrees. I love driving so much that it’s one of the reasons I joined
I personally love the Mercedes implementation, which will Popular Mechanics, but traffic isn’t driving. I’d be a lot more
also keep you in your lane with an aggressive power cut and comfortable if I could get some work done in the sometimes
steering shove, and Ford offers great value if you specify the two hours that it takes to get to work by car. True happiness is
feature on a Kuga or Fusion. also the absence of liability. It’s fantastic to not have the added
stress of having to avoid anything or anyone.
There are more advanced versions of this idea available Road accident data is skewed towards fatalities, but just
in other territories and at the moment Tesla’s Autopilot is the viewing the evidence on a daily commute gives the sense that
most complete option. The Elon Musk-developed car adds GPS non-fatal accidents dominate on congested roads. A life with-

CLEVER CARS
out the inconvenience of The main components of the

XC90’s autonomous powers are
fender benders is what we radar and camera-based, allow-
all should be striving for ing full spectrum coverage
and the only way we’ll around the car’s perimeter.
achieve that is by letting
the cars take over.
Imagine the impact problem with that is
that situation would although computers have
have on the insurance started learning from
industry. Although no each other, we still do the
company would go on programming. I’m more
record with a state- than comfortable telling a
ment, the overwhelm- car where I need to go and
ing sentiment is that it driving me there. That
the autonomous car scenario also ties in with
would reduce risk to Volvo’s bold Vision 2020.
the point of making The Swedish company is
accidental damage said to be developing services
insurance obsolete. and software in partnership
I won’t see it in my lifetime, with Microsoft. The idea flighted
though. I know this because the in its marketing video places
technology is currently an expensive Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana at
optional extra and there is no indication the centre of the equation, with the vehi-
of that changing. cle owner requesting that the address for a
For instance, Tesla’s Autopilot is a $2 500 meeting be sent to the XC90. Logic dictates that
added extra. The hardware is standard on all new Model S, after the man leaves the coffee shop and the screen fades to
X and the upcoming Model 3, but the software is optional. As black, he gets behind the steering wheel and is chauffeured to
infuriating as that may sound, you can kind of forgive the the destination.
company for pursuing aggressive profit margins. Tesla has It’s supposed to be that easy. Flying is that easy. Taking a
opened up its patented technology to the free train is almost that easy.
market and open source AutoPilot is great for everybody.
But a car doesn’t need to be able to drive itself to be con-
It doesn’t help that the masses are still vulnerable to insur- sidered clever. Parking is another part of the motoring hell
ance companies that refuse to pay out claims because they we’ve created for ourselves. How much land has been converted
can’t afford a million-rand SUV. There’s also the tide of privi- into a space to leave your car?
leged folk who choose to invest in raw power and speed pro- That flush of pride you feel when emerging from an
vided by motoring manufacturers that only think as far as unscathed vehicle in a particularly tight parking spot is your
vehicle occupants in its safety offerings. body rewarding you after a time of severe stress. For under
If all the cars on the road were smart, constantly communi- R300 000, you could climb into an Opel Adam that can park
cating with each other via high-speed data transfer, we’d have itself perfectly every time. There are limitations, like only
no traffic. Machines don’t second guess and will always indi- working in on the left-hand side, but it’s a start.
cate. Robots can’t take eyes off the road. Drones don’t deviate The best thing on Earth would be to arrive at a busy shop-
from the programmed path. ping mall, pull up to the entrance, get out and send the car to
Cars also don’t drink alcohol. They run on it, mainly. find its own parking space. The system will rely on the sensor
Humans do forget things, though. We’re also paranoid that data from the parking lot (like those red and green lights at
the machines we create will one day seek to overthrow us. The OR Tambo airport). The cars can also employ a low-power

While able to operate at higher
wireless standard and tell each other speeds and benefit from a
where the open bays are. hive mind, Volvo has recently
criticised Tesla for not taking
When you’re done shopping you summon enough responsibility in the
your car to you, because you’re leaving event of an incident while the
from a different exit than you arrived. The autonomous systems are run-
climate control will already have the cabin ning. The Swedish manufac-
turer is currently undergoing
at your desired temperature, your music civilian trials with families
will be queued up and your next destina- testing its fully autonomous
tion will already be preselected on the mode in Sweden.
navigation system because Google Now,
Siri and Cortana have flagged your agenda
by scanning your texts, calls and emails.
In this world all cars ship with a com-
patible infotainment system, loaded
with the software of your choice.
Android Auto, CarPlay and Sync
allow operating system makers to delve into your car’s sys- start up certain systems remotely.
tem and control relevant settings. Your car is, to all intents Many manufacturers have home-baked applications for
and purposes, a bot that’s constantly monitoring your life Android or iOS that allow remote engine start and climate
to pre-empt tasks to make your life simpler. control.
You can already summon a Tesla like a dog obeying your
command. You can even have the car eerily follow you along We’ve been sold a lie. Cars are liabilities that manufactur-
because it tracks your key fob. On its new 7-Series, BMW will ers market as essentials because they maintain the status quo.
let you view a vehicle diagnostic on its smart key and even But since we’re already at a point where our world is designed
around the idea that every successful person owns a motorcar
befitting their station in life and meets the needs of their life-
style, cars have to work harder to earn their keep. That means
they need to get smarter. A lot smarter.
And as I’m being driven through traffic affected by three car
crashes, I’m very happy to be at the helm of the cleverest car
on South African roads at the moment. It still has a way to go
in terms of being the future reality that is capable. But that
requires even more thoughtfulness on the part of manufactur-
ers and better co-operation between software companies and
hardware makers. And it needs to be made cheaper.
We should support initiatives from Google, Tesla, Ford and
Volvo because those are our firsts steps to the future that was
promised. We should buy their products and familiarise our-
selves with the idea of outsourcing control over our vehicles.
We should banish the notion that assumes that driving is part
of masculinity.
Man made the wheel to save on manpower. We built the car
because it was better than the horse. Making the car more
clever is just another rung on the ladder of evolution. The
quicker we master the autonomous car, the closer we get to
taking to the skies. Now that would be really clever.

CLEVER CARS

Got the sportscar but lack the know-how to actually get around a
circuit fast? Look no further than BMW’s M2 and the suite of apps
built-in to extract the best performance.
In my early teens, Gran Turismo and its numerous succes-
sors in the series stood tall as the driving simulator of choice
for the young enthusiast. Apart from the soundtrack, ground-
breaking 3D visuals and the realest physics you could possibly
find in a video game at the time, what really changed my
experience was the ghost.
Not a spook, but similar. Essentially, the lap you’ve done
before is recorded on the system. When you cross the start/
finish line, the ghost or outline of the vehicle on the previous
(or fastest lap) is right there with you, falling behind as you
brake later, nail apexes and get on the throttle earlier or edging
ahead as you run wide, miss markers or follow the incorrect line.
To my dismay, reality was vastly different. And my first few
outings on race circuits as a young motoring journalist were a
mix between overzealous prodding of brake and throttle, to not
being brave enough to venture to the next brake marker and
being worried about my lap time. If your car doesn’t come with a
timer, it’s very different to keep track of where you’re quicker or
slower. Driving a racetrack at speed is such a sensory overload
that it can be overwhelming if it’s your first time.
But you no longer have to worry about how to improve,
because if you’re one of the discerning connoisseurs who have
ordered a BMW M2 or have one on the way, there’s a suite of
assistance programs that are included to help you go faster.
The optional BMW ConnectedDrive Services, which opens up a
host of vehicle connectivity features to drivers and customers,
includes a GoPro app and M laptimer App from BMW’s in-
house performance division, M GmbH.
Used together, the two are very much like that ghost I
referred to earlier. Apart from the obvious high-definition
video that’s recorded, allowing the driver to analyse the little
details of the circuit, environment and inside the cabin, the M
app provides information about velocity, longitudinal and lat-
eral acceleration, steering angle, engine speed, engaged gear
and throttle position.
Analysing the precise details from corner to corner, sector to
sector, could very well be the ace in your sleeve. As anyone who
follows high-level motorsport knows, the teams use complex
telemetry to extract the very last bit of performance. Simply,
you could transform your next track day from mild to wild.
Both apps are navigated using the latest generation of
BMW’s iDrive infotainment system and viewed on the M2’s
central display. And if you’re sufficiently happy with what
you’ve managed to do on your latest outing, you can share it
with your community and then compare laps and data with
other drivers. Or simply post your triumph on, you know,
Facebook. – K K
BMW’s ConnectedDrive Services now include a GoPro app and

M laptimer App from BMW’s in-house performance division, M
GmbH, which can be navigated using the latest generation of
BMW’s iDrive infotainment system and viewed on the M2’s
central display.

CLEVER CARS
Connectivity isn’t just for clever cars. Tomorrow’s truck arguably stands to benefit most of all.
As the Internet of Things grows apace, we’re under- Daimler’s Promote Chauffeur system involved two interlinked
standably excited about how advances in connectivity and net- semitrailer/tractor combinations. The lead vehicle used infra-
working will transform car travel. Yet our increasing reliance on red signalling, a camera and a radio connection to transmit its
transport by road makes it almost certain that the biggest bene- driving status to the following vehicle, between 6 and 15 metres
ficiaries will be not our Sunday afternoon drive or the weekday behind. As Autonomous drive wasn’t yet on the agenda, a
commute, but instead the trucks that ply our roads 24/7. human driver was in control.
The communication buzzwords V2V and V2I – Vehicle to By the turn of the millennium, the company had introduced
Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure – are being touted as the its Fleetboard telematics system on board a major customer’s
answer to gridlock, heavy fuel consumption and emissions and vehicles. For the first time, the truck now became a fully inte-
traffic accidents. grated element of the logistic transport chain, entailing route
One of the companies at the forefront of efforts in this field planning, continuous positioning and the transmission of
is Daimler Trucks, which casts the fully connected truck as a vehicle data. A few years later, an upgrade to that system
success formula for companies, drivers and society. Since the involved an interface that allowed data to be integrated into
company decided in 2013 to pursue connectivity as an integral forwarding agents’ own software systems. At the same time
element of its technology strategy, more than 365 000 vehicles DispoPilot, a mobile hand-held device for logistics manage-
worldwide have been connected. ment, navigation and scanning, was presented. The system
Elements of this connectivity could include: now extends across 40 countries and covers 180 000 vehicles.
l Short- and long-range surveillance; In North America, the company’s networked services in
l Monitoring of the road friction level; partnership with logistics and telematics developer Zonar
l Driver aids and information systems; Systems have encompassed the Virtual Technician remote
l Inter-vehicle communication that can be used to optimised diagnostics system and an all-round system it calls Detroit
traffic flow; Connect. Virtual Technician sends a snapshot of the engine’s
l Telematics. technical status to a service centre when warning lights come
Smart trucks aren’t that new. As far back in the 1980s, on so that the team there can analyse the data, identify the
problem and send out an email with advice on what action
should be taken.
CONTROL UNIT
(REACH 200 M)
VIDEO-LINK CAMERA
(60˚, 100 M)
DRIVER INFORMATION PANEL
STEREO CAMERA
(45˚, 100 M) HIGHWAY PILOT CONNECT CONTROL
UNIT
HYBRID STEERING (SERVOTWIN)
LONG-RANGE RADAR (18˚, 250 M)

SHORT-RANGE RADAR (130˚, 70 M)

TIMELINE: ALL BY MYSELF
These kinds of technologies – and a few others besides – all
Milestones in Daimler’s come together, of course, in autonomous drive. Highway Pilot,
connected trucking Daimler’s system for autonomously driving trucks, keeps an
individual vehicle in touch with its surroundings by radar and
camera systems. It combines adaptive cruise control and lane
1886 Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invent horseless mobility. departure warning systems. However, in a first, it also incorpo-
rates steering intervention.
1896 For good measure, Daimler and Benz render the
horse-drawn transport cart obsolete by filing a patent
Highway Pilot functionality is initially limited to motorways,
which lend themselves to this kind of operation because of
application for a truck. their layout and traffic flow. Conceivably, though, it could be
extended to non-motorway truck routes.
1986 Daimler-Benz AG initiates the Prometheus research
project, aimed at making road traffic in Europe safer,
A further developoment is Highway Pilot Connect.
more economical, more environment-friendly, more Interconnection enables two or more trucks to form a platoon
comfortable and more efficient. observing the tightest safety distance of 15 m while maintain-
ing the same speed. The close distance between the vehicles
reduces drag, resulting in a substantial lowering of fuel con-
Mid- Development of on-board electronic systems, mobile
communications technology, the use of GPS data. sumption and emissions – on average by up to seven per cent
2990s And, of course, the Internet. for all vehicles in the platoon.
Where the early Promote Chauffeur project essentially
1998 Promote Chauffeur: two trucks linked by an electronic
“drawbar”.
amounted to a fairy rigidly linked two-vehicle road train,
Highway Pilot Connect makes it possible to link up several
autonomous smart trucks teaming up temporarily for practical
2000 FleetBoard telematics introduced.
purposes. It also allows cars to weave in and out of the lane
Interface allows telematics to integrate data into for- being used by Highway Pilot Connect. Because they are con-
2004 warding agents’ own software systems in addition to nected to each other, their surrounds and other roadusers,
DispoPilot, a mobile hand-held device for logistics man- they react as one to unforeseen events. Braking is automatic
agement, navigation and scanning. with a reaction time of only one tenth of a second – far swifter
than human driver’s response. The technology available makes
2010 Remote diagnostics implemented. it possible for, say, a camera on the leading vehicle to relay
images to monitors on board the following vehicles.
2013 Connectivity identifed as integral element of technology
strategy.
2016 Highway Pilot: multiple, smart trucks can be intercon-

nected.
In future, trucks will be able to pre-empt impending problems -
even to the extent of booking services themselves.

CLEVER CARS
Up for the challenge

In early April, six 22-wheelers hit the road from the Belgian
capital Brussels, bound for the port city of Rotterdam on the
Dutch coast. Tucked in closely behind each was an identical
truck-trailer combination.
Ordinarily, the sight of a dozen tailgating trucks on some
of Europe’s busiest roads would have attracted little atten-
tion. But this was something special: the European Truck
Platooning Challenge, the first ever journey of semi-auto-
mated truck platoons on public roads.
Each of DAF, Daimler, Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo pro-
vided a two-truck platoon to show off their autonomous
Tomorrow’s bespoke trucks will be tailored to drivers, road drive tech. And, more importantly, to highlight the limitations
conditions and assignments. of existing infrastructure and regulations.
Because the fact is, the manufacturers are ready to roll.
TRAFFIC JAMMING
Last year, Germany alone reported 568 000 traffic jams. Road
users spent 341 000 hours stuck in traffic. By receiving and
passing on information about their movements, fully connect-
ed trucks can provide one another with warnings about traffic
jams and unnecessary waiting times, while the entire popula-
tion of such vehicles can prevent many traffic jams from the
outset, says Daimler.
As an indication of just how smart the dumb goods trans-
porter envisaged 120 years ago has become, Mercedes-Benz
says its present-day Actros already incorporates hundreds of
millions of lines of software code – more than an airliner’s. On
a modern semitrailer/tractor combination, 400 sensors pro-
vide data to optimise drivetrain operation and minimise fuel
consumption and emissions. The anticipatory cruise control
system Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC), for instance, cor- other drivers, friends and family.
relates the data from 3-D road maps with the data collected At the same time as they are consuming data, of course,
from the truck’s drivetrain. Using that data, it’s able to antici- trucks are themselves collecting data while on the move. That’s
pate gearshifts and braking better than any human. It can a distinct plus for V2I, where trucks will be data distributors to
even teach a driver how to be better. (While he still has a job, infrastructure such as enabled traffic signs and signal gantries.
presumably.) Information it can pass on could include traffic, weather and
In fact, the company says, transport is evolving into a self- road conditions, benefiting all road users. By extension, this
learning system that is integrated into the overarching logisti- information could be useful to insurance companies, which are
cal environment. Autonomously driving trucks will seek able to identify individual risk profiles depending on mileage
appropriate partners on their route automatically, with plan- and types of use and can thus adapt their premiums with
nable journey times improving scheduling at ramps and load- bonus systems on an individual basis. Not only in terms of
ing doors. Docking will take place automatically or with a individual fleets, as has been the case to date, but also at the
smartphone app from outside of the vehicle, combined with level of individual trucks and their drivers.
the vehicles’ built-in Active Parking Assist function. From the ergonomic point of view, the driver will be able to
enjoy a flexibly designed dashboard that enables different cab
ONE HAPPY FAMILY layouts and usage scenarios to those that apply today. The use
On a wider scale, the data that is collected provides the basis of devices such as tablets for interaction with the vehicle will
for precise fleet control. Take that a step further, and you have become commonplace.
connectivity that permanently links the driver and vehicle In the long term, this could even result in unforeseen events
with operations planning, with consigner and consignee, with being, well, foreseeable.
other vehicles and with the infrastructure, as well as with No more sudden panic, then, when cresting the brow of a

Four future trucking trends
1. SMART SERVICES
In addition to predicting faults, truck manufacturers will soon be
able to pre-empt fault conditions. The vehicle will also be able to
rectify minor faults on its own, issue an alert and book its own
service.
2. LESS ADMINISTRATION
The truck will be able to handle most admin drudgery itself, such
as booking service and downloading and updating its own on-
board software.
3. CONNECTED DEVICES
As everything from watches to jackets and cycle helmets
becomes connected, tomorrow’s wristwatch will also be able to
monitor the driver’s pulse and issue an alert – even activate
autopilot – if something happens to the driver.
4. PERSONALISATION
Future platooning will allow other road-users to move in and The more information a truck manufacturer has about who is
out of the convoy, top. Above, the lead truck feeds images to behind the wheel and who owns the truck, the easier it becomes
the “train”. to tailor the truck to match specific driving styles and transport
assignments.
hill to be confronted by a traffic jam dead ahead. Fog, rain, Source: Volvo
uphills, bends can be “seen” in advance. Even pedestrians’ and
cyclists’ probable directions of movement can be computed,
incredible as that may sound.
Here’s another practical example of a scenario tailor-made employing the so-called flash-over-the-air (FOTA) method. The
for this kind of data. When a new route leads through TeamViewer which is familiar to computer users will become
demanding terrain, it is conceivable that the company might standard on board trucks, too. When it becomes apparent that
book a higher power rating for a brief period, digitally. This is a visit to the workshop will be necessary in the foreseeable
an optimised version of what the company currently markets future, this will be integrated into the trip planning, mitigat-
as Top Torque, which boosts torque in certain gears at full ing downtime.
load. At heart, connectivity is the essential basis for the continu-
Just as situations on the road and in traffic can be predicted, ally self-optimising truck. That’s to say, a truck that travels
so such systems are able to predict and prevent breakdowns intelligently and autonomously along the motorway to its des-
automatically. The truck will be checked by remote diagnosis, tination – more safely and economically than ever before.
and new software can be installed by remote maintenance Source: Daimler

CLEVER CARS
Ford’s modern camouflage design

keeps prototypes safe from spies.
By Kyle Kock.
Disguise used to be by means of heavy black vinyl cladding.
Now, complex patterns are used that fool the eye into being
Spy photography, the art of capturing prototype vehicles unable to make out styling that is specific to certain models.
testing on public roads or racetracks, has long been the bane of
automakers trying to keep their upcoming products “secret”
until the right time to unveil them to the world.
Before, you needed specialised equipment to capture images techniques that trick the human mind.
worthy of publication. Now, the modern smartphone has Essentially, the complex patterns are of such a design that
empowered ordinary members of the public to be able to snap styling distinct to certain new models can’t be made out. The
up what interests them and make it publicly known via social result is obscure photographs. This is of particular importance
media, personal blogs, or even to sell the particularly sought- to Ford, which factors design as the number two reason for
after stuff to various media outlets. The technology accessible purchases, following fuel consumption.
to the ordinary man has even allowed amateurs to take profes- Although vinyl cladding certainly did have its place, it was
sional-level images. vehicle-specific, added a lot of weight to a prototype vehicle
To keep as much of its upcoming vehicles under wraps as and negatively affected vehicle aerodynamics. Stickers, on the
possible, Ford has had to continually update the camouflage it other hand, can be universally applied and can even be stuck
uses. The technology started out with what was essentially a on in a random manner. Further to that, faux body panels are
cover-up, usually heavy black vinyl cladding. That’s still broadly also employed to give the illusion of extra length and height,
used across the industry, but the art of disguise has evolved to misleading nosy spy photographers and those not patient
a new level. Current methods involve different designs and enough to wait for the final product.

GPS units are staging a comeback by adding
instant smarts to any not-so-clever car.
Remember when you first fired up GPS navigation?

That mysterious voice guiding you along your path,
making you miss the turn off because it lost signal. Then
Google Maps gained the powers of turn-by-turn naviga-
tion and Google acquired Waze to endow Maps with live Garmin nuviCam LMT R7 500
traffic and alternate route suggestions. You thought you
Though the company is quite successful in the fitness wearable market,
were done with these archaic relics of a time before
Garmin has gone in an interesting direction with its traditional bread-
ubiquitous smartphone ownership. You were wrong.
winner navigation units. Where its big rival has gone down the software
TomTom and Garmin are slowly turning the corner
and big data path, Garmin has turned to hardware to bring the focus
and adding useful services to breathe life into dying
back to in-car units.
product lines. These solutions might not be for every-
Nuvicam is a 6-inch touchscreen device that does all the live traffic
body, but it’s good to see innovation that will inspire
and mapping things, but has a built-in dashcam. That dashcam will also
companies like Google to keep improving its offering.
sound a collision warning if it feels you’re too close to the car ahead
and you can pair your phone via Bluetooth for hands-free calling. Add
the fact that it overlays route guidance information on the camera
feed, and you can kind of justify the steep price.
TomTom GO6100 R4 700

This 6-inch unit is TomTom’s halo product that showcases the company’s
superior traffic data powers. It syncs to your phone via Bluetooth to
tap into live traffic. The service has also gained a new feature called
Traffic Dispersion, so TomTom won’t send all of its users along the
same alternate route. Yes, the GPS units are using a hive mind to try to
thin out traffic by intelligently rerouting drivers.
TomTom has also integrated its services into other software, so you
can now plan your schedule in Outlook and use My Drive Connect to
sync those addresses to your device. All that data then gets processed
along with traffic data to give the user realistic departure times and
estimated travel time.

CLEVER CARS
Why plug-in hybrids are the future of off-road cars.

There’s an interesting trend happening in electric cars: off-road prowess of their respective concepts.
dual motors. One motor to drive the front axle and then an Where Kia has turned to its Soul urban crossover as a base
entirely separate power plant on the rear. The combination of for the Trail’Ster, VW is working off the new Tiguan platform.
the two is a concept known as a road lock and it will change The GTE shares much of the styling from the upcoming new
your life when you pilot this set-up off-road. model, adding more aggressive detailing and off-road specific
The argument for the electric 4x4 is based on the unique power cladding. Drivers will be able to select one of six programs:
delivery properties of the electric motor. From the lowliest Leaf to On-road (Comfort or Eco); Off-road (Rocks, Sludge & Sand, or
the ludicrous Tesla P90D, when you put your foot down you have Gravel); Sport; Snow; Charge (battery is charged while driving);
100 per cent of the available torque from standstill. and Battery Hold (maintains a constant battery charge).
What manufacturers are proposing in the SUV space is using All-wheel drive can be fully electric (there’s a small electric
that 100 per cent torque to negate the need for low range. Just motor alongside the petrol engine), or hybrid-powered for all
one massive problem that anyone who has ever tried to fly a the car’s grunt at the same time. VW claims a 32 km range in
drone against the wind will tell you about: electric motors full electric all-wheel drive, but the engine can be recruited to
consume much more power when working hard. charge the batteries along with regenerative braking technology.
All of this is distinct from all-electric 4x4 drivetrains, of Although that limited range can be considered a nightmare
course. Enterprising locals are among those who have pursued scenario for overlanders, we need to be sensitive to the tech-
their own initiatives using existing platforms. Two of these nological shortcomings of our current lithium-ion batteries. In
previously featured in Popular Mechanics* are a game view- the future, when we’re storing massive charge in snail slime or
er based on a Land Rover Defender and the
Freedom1 Jeep Grand Cherokee EV.
Kia and Volkswagen seem to be the fur- Kia’s Soul is the
Korean company’s
thest along in terms of concepts that could test platform for
make it to market. Both manufacturers have its self-driving
opted for a hybrid model with an electric systems as well
motor powering the rear axle and a petrol as the electric 4x4
off-road systems.
engine on duty up front. We should mention
that Volvo has used the same trick for the
newly launched flagship T8 variant of XC90,
but Kia and VW seem bullish about the

Volkswagen is
focused more on
power output and
can recruit an
electric booster
motor to assist
with front wheel
traction.
about half-an-hour of foot-to-floor driving on the route for the

international launch in Barcelona last year. Energy is recovered
from braking or you can plug in at any charging station.
Taking the car out in the Spanish vineyards gave a fair idea
of what the SUV is capable of when you leave the tar. Power
was delivered smoothly with both power plants working hard
to maintain traction on the steep gravel incline. You don’t
notice the handoff from petrol engine to electric motor, but
the lack of mechanical differential lock can induce the occasional
spin when the computer isn’t too certain where to send the
front axle power. Rear-wheel spin felt natural, like when a tra-
ditional four-wheel-drive system releases wind-up tension.
The Volvo was also aided by adjustable ride height – which is
set to maximum when you select the off-road drive mode – but
there is no terrain management system outside of this. You
can change gears manually via paddle shift, though.
liquid salt and have perfected nano-photovoltaic cells, the electric We’re still far off from seeing a an all-electric off-road 4x4
car range will rival even the most frugal diesel vehicles. that can compete with the current market leaders, but there is
Electric motors also have fewer moving parts and are inher- hope. Less mechanical maintenance, no lubrication, less moving
ently less prone to accidental damage. Besides, the motors run parts and better component sealing are only some of the posi-
silently, don’t overheat, switch off at idle and can run via tives we can look forward to. It’ll also be great for the environ-
direct drive. ment, which will ensure that there’s wildlife to see out in the
But in the future we’ll have much fewer wide open spaces to wilderness for generations to come. – L S
explore. We’ll also probably want to do it under our own power * See http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/wheels/land-rover-
and take a break from all the connected technology. electric-defender-game-viewer/ and http://www.popularmechanics.
The 4x4 of tomorrow may not need to take you up the co.za/wheels/sa-man-converts-his-jeep-to-electric-power/
mountain, but merely to the trailhead where you’ll set out on
foot or by bike. In those situations (which are becoming more
common) a thirsty off-roader seems wasteful. Volvo has tried and mostly succeeded in concentrating the
weight of the electric system in the centre of the car. Here
There’s also a considerable safety concern should batteries you can see the battery pack between the two axles, with
get damaged in your off-road pursuits, you don’t want to the generator bolted on the engine in front and the electric
rupture the lithium-ion batteries and release that chemical motor on the rear axle.
reaction in the cabin. BMW (on the i8) and Volvo (XC90 T8)
have what can be considered as the best solution to this prob-
lem. All of the XC90’s 96 cells are placed in the centre of the
car floor. Volvo’s director of powertrain engineering Lutz
Stiegler describes it as the safest part of the car that “never
gets deformed by accident”.
The T8 powertrain comprises:
 The two-litre turbo supercharged engine from the T6;
 A crank-integrated high-voltage starter generator
(which acts as a starter motor and charges the batteries)
that can also be recruited as an engine power booster;
 And, on the rear axle, the electric motor.
The battery pack is rated at 9,3 kWh and was good for

CLEVER CARS
With autonomous driving on everyone’s lips, Goodyear

announced what could potentially revolutionise the tyres
of tomorrow. By Kyle Kock.
At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, the American

tyre giant’s showcase included the next two generations of the
automobile tyre. That is to say, tyres for the semi-autonomous
car, and fully autonomous car after that – the cars of tomorrow
that will be integrated with infrastructure and the rest of
modern society.
They’re essentially only prototypes, for now, but the Intelligrip
Concept and Eagle 360 are also pioneering the way forward for
one part of a vehicle that keeps us in contact with terra firma.
INTELLIGRIP AROUND THE CORNER

According to the JD Power 2015 US Tech Choice Study, con-
sumers deemed collision protection technology the most Above: Like a maglev a vehicle’s body through magnetic
train, the Eagle-360 is levitation (yes, really), which great-
important aspect of the changing automotive industry. “connected” to the vehi-
Goodyear believes that the Intelligrip, with its advanced cle by magnetism. The ly increases ride comfort by not
sensor technology, which uses a microchip developed by tele- Intelligrip, below, feeds being physically connected to any-
matics/locking/tyre pressure monitoring specialists Huf to back information about thing on the vehicle. It keeps cabin
relay information about the road the road surface. noise to the bare minimum, too.
and tyre conditions back to the But what’s being touted as the
vehicle’s ECU, provides optimum main advantage of the spherical
autonomous control. The tech- Eagle-360 is unprecedented
nology used in the Intelligrip manoeuvrability thanks to multiple
tyre means that manufacturers orientation that allows the tyre
would do well to use it to their to move in any direction, at any
advantage – and supplement the time. Active technology through
ABS units, electronic stability the use of autonomous systems
control systems and adaptive will also minimise sliding in haz-
suspension systems already in ardous situations, and overtaking
production. Not to mention the slower-moving vehicles will be
ongoing strides in active safety realised without changing the
systems that will keep the vehi- driving direction.
cles of tomorrow collision-free. Another benefit: because
Basically, the Intelligrip’s chip 360-degree turns are possible, less
will send information about the space will be required to park a
road conditions to the vehicle’s vehicle. And because it’s a sphere,
ECU, which is in turn, monitor- the sensors in the Eagle-360
ing the tyre’s wear and pressure inform the vehicle about the wear
monitoring and can adjust and tear on the tyre – which will
accordingly through special regulate the tyre accordingly and
algorithms developed by extend mileage.
Goodyear. The 3D-printed Eagle-360’s
design is strongly influenced by
EAGLE-360 – A VISION biomimicry. It uses multidirec-
OF THE FUTURE tional blocks, tread and groove
The Eagle-360 concept tyre that act as a natural sponge to
looks nothing like the tyres that soften the contact patch when wet
have been around since the first to adjust performance to adverse
horseless carriage. That’s because driving conditions, and harden to
it’s a sphere. improve performance in optimal
The Eagle-360 is connected to dry environment driving. PM

FOOTBALL THAT SHAKES THE WORLD
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There’s no one description for a tough guy. He’s not necessarily a guy, for one thing.
And he doesn’t have to look physically tough, although it doesn’t hurt. He doesn’t
even have to have a moustache. What he does consistently have is composure – an
ability to react and handle any situation. And the trust of those around him to handle
it appropriately.
Among the toughest of the tough are those tasked with keeping the world safe. As the
shock-and-awe of conventional warfare has given way to the unpredictable carnage
of terrorism, much of that job of has fallen to the military’s most elite soldiers. In America,
that means Delta Force. Green Berets. Navy SEALS. The special operators. But with
new threats every day and the men stretched thin, can this new strategy last?
We address that question in the next six pages, as we celebrate the men and women
who are changing the way we fight wars, catch criminals and face mortality. You may
not recognise their faces. But you will be glad and grateful to know they exist.
LETTERS BY RND STUDIOS
They are the unseen, the unsung. They are the tough guys.
BY JOSHUA HERSH PHOTOGRAPH BY TRAVIS SHINN

n his last flight home, three ruthless and scrappy, impossible
to find and yet adept at social media.
months before his death, Joshua They went to places where large
Wheeler tore through a copy of deployments of “boots on the
DH Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. ground” would not have made
sense – and would not have been
It was the only book he could popular policy in the United States.
find in English at a shop where They went everywhere. In fact, the
he was stationed, near Erbil, special-operations forces – a hand-
ful of elite, highly trained, often
the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. clandestine units that make up
Wheeler was a master sergeant only a tiny percentage of the total
in the US Army, a former Ranger number of troops in the armed
forces – were approaching burn-
and a member of Delta Force out. “Post-9/11, it had become
since 2004. He was the recipient something of a mantra for our
of eleven Bronze Star medals – government: ‘Just throw special
forces against it,’ ” says Jim Reese,
four of them with the letter V, a former Delta operative who retired
signifying valour in combat. This was his 14th deployment in 2007 after a 25-year military
to either Iraq or Afghanistan. As he sat on the plane back career. “The operational tempo
gets to a point where it’s not tena-
to North Carolina, he read a hundred-year-old novel about ble.” Special ops were becoming
a struggling London artist. the new way of fighting in these
places, whether the public knew it
It was one of the things his wife, Ashley, loved most a new house in a patch of quiet or not. There weren’t supposed to
about Josh – his appetite for knowledge. “He would woods near a small lake, not far be any more troops in combat in
read whatever he could get his hands on,” she says. from the base at Fort Bragg. “Our Iraq. That war ended in 2011. And
They were married for two years and in that time Josh dream home,” Ashley says. yet here was Joshua Wheeler, mid-
had read more books than she could count. He espe- Officially, the United States 2015, in the middle of his 14th
cially loved history and anything related to interna- government does not acknowledge deployment and now going home
tional travel – anything that might help him know that Delta Force even exists. And to meet his boy.
the world better. He kept a pocket dictionary in his yet in 2015, special operators from The leave lasted five weeks. Josh
car so he could look up new words at traffic lights. across the US military were deployed watched a lot of HGTV. He mowed
This was a rare leave for Wheeler. He was about a to 147 countries, the most ever. the lawn and set up the backyard
month into his four-month tour. But Ashley was about They went to places where what grill, which come deer season he
to give birth to their first child, a boy, and Josh was we typically think of as warfare would use to cook the meat he’d
going home, if only for a short while. A few weeks has devolved into a frightening hunted. But he spent most of the
before he left for Iraq, he and Ashley had moved into morass of enemies who are both time cooing over his newborn son,
waking up early with him, holding
him in his lap as he drank coffee.
In a photograph that Ashley keeps
US Army master sergeant with other favourites in an album
Joshua Wheeler in his titled “Our Father and Hero,” Josh
service uniform with his is napping on the couch, peaceful
newborn son in 2015, shortly
before his death in Iraq. and happy, the baby tucked securely
and sound asleep under his arm.
One of the last afternoons, he and
Ashley took the baby for a drive.
There was a burgeoning wine coun-
try in the part of North Carolina
where they lived. Josh and Ashley
liked to stop in and taste the wine
at as many wineries as they could.
Josh pulled the car into one they
hadn’t tried before. It was a beauti-
ful, warm day – perfect for sipping
merlot. They sat on a hill overlook-
ing the vines and an old barn. The
boy lay in the grass in front of them.
RECENT NOTABLE
TOUGH GUYS

Ashley looked at her husband. “Is it always going won’t watch a movie about it – in fact, if all goes well, you will never
to be this wonderful? This perfect?” know it even happened.
Josh smiled. As the neatly defined wars of Iraq and Afghanistan wound down,
“Yes,” he said. this kind of shadowy conflict – hasty, dangerous, executed in the
dark of night by small groups in parts of the world where the laws
n September 20, 2001, nine days of war are murky – had become the rule rather than the exception.
after four airliners had destroyed the The experts even had a name for it: the grey zone.
Twin Towers, parts of the Pentagon
and thousands of lives, President hey used to be called Jedburghs.
George W Bush stood before the On a warm night high above the coast of Brittany,
entire US Congress – before the France, the bomb bay opened on a B-24 Liberator
entire world – and told of a new and and three men tumbled out. Their parachutes
imminent fight against terrorists and the governments opened. They landed gently in a secluded area.
that support them. “Our response involves far more Quickly, they were greeted by a small party of
than instant retaliation and isolated strikes,” the French resistance fighters, alerted to their arrival
president said. “Americans should not expect one by coded messages embedded in a broadcast on the BBC. These
battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we were the first special-ops guys.
have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible Most military historians date the origin of US special-operations
on TV and covert operations secret even in success.” forces to Operation Eagle Claw, the military’s failed 1980 attempt to
His forecast, that fighting would increasingly be rescue the hostages being held in Iran. But a version of them existed
done in secret, proved especially true, and continued in World War II. The United Kingdom created an entity known as
into the Obama administration. Before 9/11, there the Special Operations Executive, part of whose job was to blend
were roughly 33 000 members of US special-opera- into the French population and cultivate a resistance against German
tions forces. Today, there are approximately 70 000. occupiers. They called on America for support and, starting in July
The budget for special operations has tripled since 1944, US commandos called Jedburghs parachuted into French ter-
9/11, to around R14 billion. Meanwhile, the military ritory. They worked in three-man teams, helping co-ordinate attacks
as a whole has been shrinking. In 2015, active Army against the Germans and keeping the various French resistance
personnel dropped below half a million for the first factions from fighting one another.
time in ten years and is projected to return to lower, “Everyone in Special Operations Command knew about the Jeds,”
pre-9/11 levels by 2019. says retired Lieutenant General Charles T Cleveland, who served from
As special-operations forces have grown, so has their 2012 to 2015 as the commander of US Army Special Operations.
visibility. There was the daring Navy SEAL rescue of the “They were a big part of the lore.”
crew of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship held hostage As commander, Cleveland oversaw the Army’s entire special-
by Somali pirates in 2009. The dramatic 2011 SEAL operations forces. Years before, as a young officer, he had battled
Team Six raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his hide- drug lords in Bolivia and planned sabotage missions in the Soviet
away compound in Pakistan. (Before the raid, the Union. He had seen it all – Charles T Cleveland was the man, the
existence of Team Six, now known as the Naval Special epitome of special forces – and he was proud of the recent high-
Warfare Development Group, or DevGru, was classi- profile missions: Maersk. Bin Laden. Sayyaf. But now he was con-
fied.) In Syria, the May 2015 attempt by Delta Force cerned.
to capture Islamic State financier Abu Sayyaf that In the early days of the Afghanistan conflict, Green Berets rode
resulted in his death. The Alabama rescue was made into Kabul alongside the horse-backed warriors of the Northern
into a movie, Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks, Alliance. Special-forces operators did the same in northern Iraq
which grossed more than R2,8 billion worldwide. The with the Kurdish army, known as the peshmerga. Then the wars
Bin Laden mission, too, went to Hollywood, as Zero bogged down in insurgency, nation building and many of the tasks
Dark Thirty, nominated for an Academy Award for best once reserved for top-level operators such as Delta and Team Six –
picture. And multiple members of SEAL Team Six wrote the assimilation, the mixing in with society, the searching for both
memoirs of their experience. Special-operations forces, allies and foes in plain sight – were handed off to the Army Rangers
long the mysterious and unpublicised divisions of the and sometimes even to basic infantry. But Cleveland now worried –
world’s largest military, had been deployed so prolifi- worried a lot – that direct action had come to dominate the strate-
cally and on such important missions that they had gy and that unconventional warfare was becoming a lost art.
gone mainstream. “We had a hundred days of brilliance in Iraq and Afghanistan,
But these conventional, or direct-action, strikes – followed by four thousand days of strategic muddle,” he says. “We
kicking in doors and taking out the bad guy – make weren’t seeing the conflict properly. We thought traditional air and
up only half of special operations. The other is some- land battles of attrition could win the day. In reality, those tools were
thing more delicate, closer to spycraft. It’s called un- becoming less and less useful. It required a new way of thinking.”
conventional warfare and it involves working with a In the spring of 2013, Congress mandated across-the-board
local population to foment insurrection against an spending reductions – what was known as sequestration. This meant
undesirable government or terrorist group. Infiltration. a potentially drastic reshuffling of the military’s make-up. But where
Propaganda. False flag attacks. Guerrilla combat. You most military officials saw chaos, Cleveland saw opportunity: to
< HAFTHÓR JÚLÍUS BJÖRNSSON “The Mountain”

from Game of Thrones lifted a 635 kilogram tree < SCOTT KELLY He redefined business travel.
to break a 1 000-year-old Viking record.

resurrect the Jedburghs. Just over a year later, in the fall he strategy shift that Cleveland
of 2014, the Army quietly opened a new division at Fort championed has become even more
Bragg known as 1st Special Forces Command, which would important as the threats facing the
ally five active-duty and two National Guard special-ops West have grown increasingly unpre-
groups – about 16 000 troops total. Within the division would be small dictable, unorthodox and terrifying.
three-man teams of Green Berets, specially trained in both the art of ISIS is a foe unlike any other – nation-
combat and the science of social movements and terrorism. Between less, leaderless, recruiting participants from around
missions, they would spend years in the classroom studying languages, the world, staging and broadcasting beheadings, kill-
political theory and the history and culture of specific regions. And they ing thousands of civilians. Vladimir Putin’s Russia
would be called the Jedburghs. first forcibly annexed Crimea and is now trying to do
the same in other eastern regions of Ukraine, led by
a proxy army of non-uniformed “little green men”.
Borders or treaties have been rendered obsolete. This
is the grey zone.
In January, in the military academic journal Joint
Force Quarterly, Cleveland published a paper titled
THE TOUGHEST GUY I EVER MET “Unconventional Warfare in the Grey Zone”. One of
his co-authors was four-star Army General Joseph L
Votel, the current head of US Special Operations
Command who was recently nominated by President
BY: CRAIG DAVIDSON Obama to lead US Central Command. Their goal was
to define combat in this new and unpredictable world.
“It’s the sort of conflict that is below the threshold of
Picture it. End of times, man. DEFCON 1’s traditional war,” says Cleveland. And because of a
come and gone. Now, only scorched earth. reluctance to commit forces, the need for special
All that’s left are mutant rats, cockroaches operators has skyrocketed.
and, somewhere lurking in the radioactive Hence the 14 tours for men like Joshua Wheeler
rubble, Paul “The Mauler” Lazenby. The and the warnings of burnout by men like Jim Reese,
toughest sumbitch to walk the planet. and the uncertainty that hangs over the ability to
Have you heard about the Mauler? Probably not. sustain this kind of combat. And the joke special
He’s the Kwai Chang Caine of tough guys, ghosting operators always make when someone mentions
down dark alleyways and shying away from the light, “boots on the ground” – their uniforms should
just doing what he does. And what is it he does? What- include sneakers.
ever pays the bills. You need an MMA fighter? He’s In early 2015, the Army put out a call for 5 000
fought in Japan’s Pancrase organisation, tangling with new special-ops candidates. And the demand is only
world-class fighters like Ryüshi Yanagisawa. How about expected to rise in the coming years, due to every-
a professional wrestler? Lazenby has competed around thing from the continued spread of ISIS to melting
the world, grappling in high school gymnasiums in ice in the Arctic, which will create tensions over
scratch-ass rust-belt towns or under the bright lights
newly accessible territory. (The Army’s Northern
of the Tokyo Bay NK Hall. Makes no nevermind to the
Warfare Training Centre in Black Rapids, Alaska,
Mauler; he picks up his lunch pail and wades into the
fray. Powerlifter, strongman, stuntman, bouncer, body
double for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, video-game body
model – at 47, he just keeps ploughing forward. He’s Lieutenant General Charles T. Cleveland (right) with
like a shark, my man the Mauler: he’s got to keep mov- Ash Carter (left) at Fort Bragg in 2012.
ing, keep eating, to survive. But the very best thing
about Lazenby? He’s a kitten. A more genuinely kind-
hearted, easygoing man you will not find… although
some of that has to do with the mellowing effects of age.
Back in his bouncer days, Lazenby was a hellion.
He told me about this time he walked out to a bar’s
parking lot to confront a trio of highly pissed dudes
who wanted to murder him – and as the Mauler’s
making his way towards them on that sultry summer
eve, he snatched a low-flying beetle out of the air
and ate it alive, without even breaking stride. “That
took the fight right out of them,” he told me. “Nobody
wants to fight a guy they suspect isn’t right between
the ears, y’know? You have no clue what a dude
like that might do.”
> SHAYE HAVER AND KRISTEN GRIEST The first women to qualify > BECCA PIZZI The first American female to finish the World Marathon
for the Army’s elite Ranger unit. Challenge – seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.

Categories of
trains special operators in skiing, people you Now, after two decades in the military and with a baby at home,
snowshoeing and other cold-weather can safely Josh was ready for another change. He wanted to devote more time
skills.) But finding more special assume to his family. (His three sons from a previous marriage lived nearby.)
operators is neither quick nor easy. to be tough He talked of getting into real estate, or maybe becoming a history
For instance, only 37 per cent of teacher. He would have been great.
applicants are accepted for the “He loved the Army,” Ashley says. “But I really felt this time he
Army’s Special Forces Qualification Roughnecks didn’t want to leave home. It was the first time I felt that.”
Course, which typically lasts more
than a year. Leathernecks he five Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters swept
“What it really takes to get Sandhogs low across the northern Iraq desert. It was a little
through training isn’t just athleti- after two in the morning on 22 October 2015 and
cism or even physical toughness,” Featherweights the sky was black and still. On board were 48 counter-
says Jeff Eggers, a retired Navy terrorism commandos from Iraqi Kurdistan and 27
Stevedores
SEAL officer and former special American elite operatives, including Joshua Wheeler.
assistant to President Obama for Steves The rescue mission was both a direct-action strike and a perfect example
National Security Affairs who now of unconventional warfare – the first time the US commandos had
serves as a senior fellow for the teamed up with the Kurds for a combat operation since the Iraq War
non-partisan think tank New America. “It is a high began in 2003. The Americans weren’t in charge. They were just
degree of mental toughness, the ability to work with there to advise and to assist only if absolutely necessary.
a team and the intellectual adaptability to approach The call had come in only a few hours earlier. American surveil-
problems from a variety of unorthodox ways. That’s lance drones had spotted figures outside a suspected Islamic State
the rare mix of qualities.” prison compound, near the Iraqi town of Hawija. The figures seemed
Such problem-solving and maturity can’t always to be digging trenches. Intelligence analysts believed there would be
be taught in the classroom or in war games. Rather, a mass execution in the morning.
it comes from real-life experience. “The average age The 70 prisoners – Iraqi soldiers and policemen, civilians from
of a Delta Force member is around 35,” says Reese. nearby towns – had already experienced months of brutal beatings
“We’re not recruiting high school quarterbacks. Delta and mock executions. They had seen cellmates taken away for inter-
is known as the Eagles, because eagles are not a flock- rogations, only to return broken and bloodied – or not at all. Rudaw,
ing bird. They don’t follow the pack.” a Kurdish news outlet, interviewed some of the prisoners later. “They
To accommodate the demand, then, the pace of their tortured us with electricity and put bags on our heads until we could
deployments has quadrupled over the past decade. The not breathe,” said one, Mohamed Hassan Abdulla, a police official
ratio of time at home versus time deployed is close to from Alkhan, a village in Kirkuk.
one to one, though military officials hope to eventually As the helicopters closed in, American fighter jets “prepared the
get it to two to one. battlefield”, dropping bombs on nearby roads and bridges, cutting
“People can’t stay productive,” says Reese. “It’s the off the path for any ISIS reinforcements. Then the commandos
old Apache theory: run that horse till it drops, then surged in, assault rifles ready.
eat it. You get guys who came in for a career in special According to a New York Times account, which anonymously cited
ops, but after five or six years, they’re worn ragged.” a former Delta Force officer briefed on the mission, the plan was to
detonate several holes in the compound walls and get inside. But a
ike many special operators, Joshua few of the Kurdish soldiers had trouble setting one of the explosives
Wheeler didn’t talk about the stresses properly. Wheeler rushed over to help – this is what the Americans
of work with his wife – didn’t talk about were here for. To guide, to assist, to step in when needed. They blasted
his work at all. And Ashley didn’t ask. the hole and Wheeler ran through it. On the other side, he was met
“My father spent 20 years in a plant with a spray of enemy bullets.
and I never really knew what he did All of the prisoners were freed. “We were already dead,” one would
either,” she says. But Josh was starting to talk about later say. “Then God sent us a force from the sky.”
life after the service. As many as 20 ISIS fighters were killed. The only casualty among
He was 39. He had enlisted when he was 19 as a way the American and Kurdish forces was Joshua Wheeler.
to escape poverty in rural Oklahoma. His father died He was the first American to die in combat in Iraq in nearly four
when he was young and he was raised mostly by his years – the mission would likely have
grandparents. In turn, he helped take care of his brother remained secret if not for that news-
“IT’S THE OLD
and four half-sisters – changing nappies, getting them worthy fact. The next day, at a press
APACHE THEORY,”
off to school and making sure the fridge always had conference in Washington, DC, Secretary SAYS A FORMER
something in it, which sometimes meant hunting deer. of Defence Ash Carter faced a frenzy DELTA FORCE
Even with Ashley, he always insisted on keeping deer of questions from confused reporters. OPERATOR. “RUN
meat stocked in the freezer, his little way of ensuring Why were American troops still in THAT HORSE TILL
she would never go without. “He was one of those very Iraq? Wasn’t the war over? Hadn’t IT DROPS, THEN
rare people who are able to claw their way out and the White House repeatedly insisted EAT IT.”
just completely change their lives,” she says. there were no boots on the ground?
> DARIUS FLEMING A New England Patriots special-teams player who kicked > JAMIE FOXX He also dragged a trapped driver
out a car window to save a trapped motorist, then played in a playoff game from a car after cutting him free from his seat belt.
two days later with 22 stitches in his leg. Plus, the car was on fire.

H OW I T W OR K S
PA N ORA MIC NIG H T V ISIO N

Four-eyed night vision goggles look like something out of Greek mythology. Just imagine
the terror of seeing this monster head rushing out of the midnight darkness. But what do the
four lenses actually do? Traditional two-lens goggles provide only a 45-degree field of
vision. (The normal field of vision for humans, looking directly ahead, not peripherally, is 60
degrees.) Four-lens, or panoramic, goggles – originally developed for US Air Force pilots in the
mid-1990s – can see 97 degrees. This is especially useful for soldiers when clearing rooms
and rounding corners. The ones shown here – the same used by SEAL Team Six in the Bin
Laden raid – are manufactured by L-3 Warrior Systems and sell for more than R500 000.
PHOTOGRAPH BY TRAVIS SHINN
< RONDA ROUSEY As tough and dignified in her first UFC < ANGELA MERKEL So tough (but fair!)
defeat, which included a dislocated jaw, as she was in her on Greece. She’s the Dawn dishwashing
previous six wins. detergent of the EU.

All perfectly reasonable questions
in another, earlier era of combat.
But not now. Not in the grey zone.
“There will be more raids,”
KURDISTAN REGIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL/AP IMAGES

Carter said bluntly. “They will be in harm’s way.
There’s no question about it.”
He was more eloquent about Wheeler’s sacrifice:
“This is what is so consistent and so amazing about
the American soldier: he ran to the sound of the
guns… I’m immensely proud of this young man. But
pride doesn’t make it any easier to welcome him
home, fallen.” Helmet-cam
Josh had only 11 more days left in his tour. footage of
Months later, Ashley still sometimes feels like the 2015 raid
she is in shock. He did everything in life so well, so during which
thoroughly and competently. “I never worried,” she Wheeler died.
says. “I never thought in a million years that any-
thing would happen to him.”
The dream home in the woods is still much the
same way Josh left it before returning to Iraq. The
grill is still out back. The fridge is stocked like he would keeps the copy of Sons and Lovers. Inside the front cover is a brief
want it. But some things have changed. Ashley has inscription Josh wrote to his family on that last flight home.
disconnected the doorbell so she won’t have to hear Good book. I hope someone reads it.
it ring, like it did that night when military personnel And to his unborn child, a simple declaration – one that suggested
showed up at her door, to tell her. there would be plenty of time to say more.
And in a place of honour in the living room, she I’m flying over the ocean right now to see your mother give birth to you.
THE TOUGHEST GUY I EVER MET had a neighbour, a young guy who was always getting in her
hair. One particularly bad day, she noticed that he was limping.
“Get in here,” she yelled. He shrunk at her voice and hobbled
into the house. She found out he had gashed his foot. My brother
BY: ROY BERENDSOHN came home a short time later to find Mark on the couch, his
foot freshly bandaged and a sandwich in his hands.
Even as she neared the end of her life, when her hospice
nurse would come by, Mom would put up a pot of coffee and
She never talked about it, but my mom, a German
set out a plate of cookies. When the nurse claimed to be on a
immigrant, had a tough childhood. An early surgery
diet, Mom lowered her bifocals, looked the woman up and
left her with a pinned hip and a permanent limp. When
down and said, “A diet? You must be kidding. You’ll have a
she was in her teens, she was conscripted by the
cookie.” The nurse knew exactly what was expected of her.
Nazis. They sent her to Hamburg to care for dis-
She had two. PM
placed children who had fled the advancing Russian
army. Once, she’d tell me, she was shot at by a low-flying Spitfire.
The plane came so close that she could clearly see the pilot’s
white scarf as he banked and flew away. Later she would survive
three days in a collapsed bomb shelter.
Despite all that, she remained positive. In fact, the best meal
she ever ate, she said, was served to her by the occupying
forces. As my mother was led to the chow line, she wondered
if the whole thing was a hoax. She thought the British might
just line the Germans up and shoot them. Instead they served
them food: greasy beef stew over noodles. It was a meal my
mother never forgot.
Food was her way of connecting with people. No matter
what my three brothers and I would put her through – no matter
how many times she’d come at us with a wooden spoon, which
we knew we had to stand and take, and not only because we
always deserved it – she never let us miss a meal together. We

SIX YEARS AGO, engineer Naadiya
KIN
Moosajee and her NGO colleagues sat
A
down to try to work out what makes
a girl take up engineering as a career.
E
The answer is as obvious as it was
simple: mostly luck.
The aspirant engineer first needs
to choose her family wisely. So one
BR
where the dad, uncle or acquaint-
G
ance is an engineer. (Note the preva-
lence of males in all of that.)
Failing that, a guidance counsellor
at school or other place of learning
points her in that direction.
And finally… well, she needs a big
helping of dumb luck.
AS
It was all a little discouraging.
Still, even Moosajee herself today
jokes that her own entry in the field
S
was something of a fluke.
An engineer and sometime restau-
rateur, ten years ago she co-founded
TIGM
WomEng, a Cape Town-based non-
profit group of 120 volunteers aimed
at encouraging girls to become engi-
neers through workshops and men-
toring. WomEng started life as
SAWomEng, whose aim was to moti-
vate, empower and celebrate women
who are pursuing careers in engi-
neering. They offered courses to
those who were already converted –
engineering students. But to nurture
cal the next generation of female engi-
. O ne lo that neers required getting involved with
n
e me idea a far younger audience. Mainly, those
v e to b en the learners who were starting their sec-
st ha wom KOCK
d o n’t ju g young BY KYLE ondary schooling.
inee
rs givin do it
. That’s why, six years ago, they
Eng sation is o, can established GirlEng.
ni , to
orga they After looking into why girls didn’t
– and still don’t – want to study engi-

neering, the WomEng team found that We want to inspire all minds to study
a lack of awareness of the opportuni- engineering. But our focus will always
ties out there was the greatest barrier. be on girls, because that’s our mandate
As well as misconceptions about what at WomEng,” says Moosajee.
it is that engineers do. Cue images As the GirlEng programme grew
of overalls, boots, construction sites and moved into other cities across
and guys. Guys in hard hats, guys South Africa, it evolved from just
poring over blueprints, but… guys. information and awareness to the
And so that was the initial inspi- girls actually working on projects that
ration behind GirlEng: to change
perceptions about the engineering
reflected the sort of challenges that
might come about in daily life as an
THE POWER
field for girls, inspiring them to pursue
careers in that industry and showcase
engineer. One of the more recent
exercises involved them building a car
OF THE PINK
the broad nature of the field. The pilot out of trash, for example. The girls, HARD HAT
programme was launched in 2009, split into groups, build vehicular
with a handful of high school students structures that not only have to move Not long after the GirlEng programme
at a university campus. Their simple easily, but also have to safely house was conceived, one of the WomEng
goal was to show young women that and transport eggs. Whether the partners had the brainwave of taking
they, too, could be responsible for com- group is successful or not depends a universal symbol of machismo, the
ing up with cool and amazing things. on the condition of the eggs after run- hardhat, and making it pink.
ning them down a ramp. And if they Imagine calling up a supplier and
GIRLENG IS APPLICATION-based; are not, they are allowed to start back ordering 500 pink hardhats.
students have to RSVP to take part. at square one, redesign and attempt Moosajee recalls some initial
And the demand for courses is the task again. Other activities have confusion on the part of the
growing. “In Limpopo, last year included building tall structures out firm they had contacted.
there were 1 000 applicants, so the of straw. From what Moosajee has It was a masterstroke, though.
list had to be cut short,” Moosajee shared, it sounds like the girls are “Taking something that is really
says. “We physically couldn’t do having a great time discovering masculine and feminising it in a
that, venues didn’t allow – the only “There was so much learning really stereotypical way started
solution being to split the event in happening through gamification, and making things really accessible.
half and hold them separately.” we were loving it,” she says. The girls loved it and it became
The organisation constantly has a symbol for GirlEng.”
to field questions from teachers, AS A SMALL ORGANISATION, Wom- The girls are allowed to decorate
schools and individual students Eng wasn’t tracking the progress and the pink hard as part of a session on
wanting to know when the next impact GirlEng had. For example: understanding themselves. Now
GirlEng course is being offered. how many students were planning women who are already engineers,
Even young men have slipped into on studying engineering? How fellows, and mentors want a pink
the back of the halls and venues to many were not going to? How many hardhat, too. It’s becoming something
sit among the ladies. were going to enroll? How many are of a symbol of transformation in the
“They bring their sisters and now considering it. But, beyond just ever-evolving world of engineering.
friends and want to know about the initial goal in changing mind-
engineering, we really don’t mind. sets, WomEng has done surveys on

girls who had gone through GirlEng.
They found an 80 per cent shift in
number of girls thinking that they,
too, could become engineers. And in
some provinces there has been a 60
per cent increase in those who at least
aspired to becoming an engineer.
With engineering studies boasting
some of the highest dropout rates
and highest fees in the world – up
to 66 per cent fall by the wayside
from the first to second year – the
cost to the economy is tremendous.
So, the organisation believes that the
GirlEng programme is at least a
form of guidance.
Realistically, not every girl who is
on board in the programme will enrol
to study engineering. More important-
ly, though, more girls are applying
and more girls will at least know
that engineering is not what they
want to do.
Besides the programme’s broader as a direct consequence of her par-
goals, it does have more specific out- ticipation in GirlEng.
comes. Right now there are 60 fellows “We haven’t tracked them all.
in South Africa and 50 in Kenya about There are some in the system who
to graduate. are engineers that we don’t know
“Last year, we started thinking that came through our programme. Every
as WomEng turns 10 years old, we’ve year, there are GirlEngs who graduate,
seen 10 000 girls through different some of whom have come back free-
programmes and many who’ve become ly as volunteers and help to empow-
engineers. Up to 90 per cent came er even more girls.”
through the GirlEng programme,” What’s really encouraging is that
Moosajee says. They have raised the GirlEng is bigger than just South
bar at tertiary level as well, with Africa. Last year, more than 4 000
classes comprising a 40 to 50 per participants across the country were
cent female-to-male ratio for first- involved. Even in the parent body,
year engineering students. WomEng, the GirlEng team is by far
the largest of the leadership corps.
INCREASINGLY THERE are moments It also provides the biggest group of
of affirmation that reflect the swelling volunteers who get trained to assist
numbers of graduates. “About two the programming. GirlEng has teams
years ago, we were running a univer- in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, the
sity-level programme and at the busi- Western Cape and Gauteng.
nesswomen dinner I sat next to one Recognising that WomEng has been
of our fellows. She told me that she doing amazing work by attracting
had been on the GirlEng programme more females into the engineering
and became an engineer because of field and retaining more of them in
our organisation,” Moosajee recalls. the industry, the African Union award-
Even more powerful was what ed the organisation the title of Best
happened when Moosajee shared Vocation and Education Training
the story with the assembled group Programme in Africa. That award was
of students, fellows and mentors.
Five other women put up their hands
made at a ceremony in the Ethiopian
capital of Addis Ababa, attended by
“The shift is
and stated that they too, had come the South African Ministers of Science slow, but it’s
through GirlEng. and Technology and Higher Education.
Another time, while shopping at a Seeing the opportunity to spread happening,”
fabric store, Moosajee was approached awareness deeper into the continent,
by a young woman. She was a civil WomEng has expanded to offer Girl- believes
engineering student at the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology
Eng-style courses in Kenya, in central
Nairobi and Kirichu through the help
Moosajee.
of one of its partners, Unilever. Last awareness. That engineering is
year, a GirlEng workshop was held accessible. Any girl round the world
in Rwanda. As the organisation gains can become an engineer, and the pink
momentum and recognition, it’ll move hard hat is proof that you can travel
further across the continent. There round the world as an engineer.”
is already interest in programmes The second aspect of the campaign
for Nigeria, Mauritius and Ghana. is for celebrities to take a picture of
“The shift is slow, but it’s happen- themselves wearing the pink hard
ing,” Moosajee believes. And now hat on. WomEng can proudly count
they’re thinking globally. among its hard hat wearers Canadian
Prime Minister and gender activist
MOOSAJEE AND CO-FOUNDER Justin Trudeau, Sheryl Sandberg
Hema Vallabh travel the world, rep- (COO of Facebook), Unilever COO
resenting WomEng at various con- Paul Polman and Melinda Gates of
ferences (like the World Economic Microsoft fame and the Bill and
Forum in Davos, Switzerland) and Melinda Gates Foundation. Seeing
take selfies wearing the pink hard hat the collapse of STEM grades locally a
in different regions and at different few years ago, WomEng got involved
landmarks. “The campaign is about with a project that outlined a 15-year
plan to enrich and empower teachers
– instead of students – to give the
heads of maths and science class-
rooms the skills to deliver a high-end
curriculum. In that way, teachers
can effect ongoing change after just
a single investment, instead of hav-
ing to constantly train a new group
of students.
Unfortunately, government can’t
commit to long-term investment
because of its finite five-year lifespan.
But WomEng doesn’t believe in short-
term solutions, and therefore relies on
the funding and support of private-
sector partners such as Unilever,
Unesco, Denel, Rexona, Barloworld,
Jacobs Engineering and Sasol for col-
laborations to constantly make possi-
ble the various courses it offers. Em-
bodying the philosophy at WomEng,
Uni-lever set itself a deadline for 50
per cent gender equity by 2015, and
achieved that. Unilever and Denel
both offer a bursary programme for
students to study engineering.
Moving forward, the organisation
Ideas get thrown around and is looking to empower one million
discussed, and solutions are girls through STEM education, largely
presented and celebrated in
front of the collective. under the GirlEng banner, with the
rallying symbol behind it all being
Top left: Moosajee (far right) the pink hard hat. “One million sounds
in a panel discussion at a like a lot, but if we break it down,
recent networking event.
it’s not that many. Simply put, it’s
100 000 girls in ten countries over
ten years.”
Reflecting on the many moments
that have helped the WomEng team
to keep moving forward, it’s hard not
to share in their quiet pride at how
things have turned out. As Moosajee
says: “We didn’t realise the impact
we could have.” PM

ABOUT
THE MAKER
Yuki Kawae was born in
Kyoto, Japan, and lived
there until high school.
But his taste is much
more Western. “The
Japanese aesthetic is
strict and lacking in
excitement,” he says. “I
like chainsaws and axes
and gasoline. And Jay Z.”

A BEAUTIFUL THING These tables don’t need coasters
COMPANY: LOCATION: FOUNDED:
Yuki Kawae Cambridge, Massachusetts 2015
COFFEE TABLES AREN’T FOR COFFEE. Kawae, 28, is a graduate of the vaunted Rhode Island
Not anymore. They’re not even really for coffee-table School of Design, where they talk about things like hav-
books. In living rooms around the world, the coffee ing a conversation with wood. Working out of the
table has become the centre of the familial universe. Artisan’s Asylum maker space near his home, he turns
It’s the kitchen island of the 2000-teens. The place salvaged timber into tables. He keeps the wood looking
where homework is done, where the bowl of popcorn fairly raw, relying only on the 9 000-r/min engine in the
sits on movie night, where feet are put up, where chainsaw, some 120-grit Diablo sandpaper, and a bit of
drinks are spilt. walnut oil or wipe-on polyurethane. The result is some-
“I really like the danger,” says Yuki Kawae. He refers thing that looks better the more you live with it. Like a
not to the danger that a coffee table might get wrecked, nick on the banister, or the pencilled marks on the
but rather to the way he makes his: using a Husqvarna doorjamb showing your kid’s height, every scuff, little
chainsaw. “You could cut your feet off. Or your finger. dent and halo created by condensation on the bottom
That makes the material speak more. Because if I cut it of a glass renders a Yuki Kawae coffee table less an
this way, then the chainsaw will fire back at me. That’s inanimate piece of furniture and more a part of your
the wood telling me what I can do. It’s a conversation.” life. – S E A N M A N N I N G
PHOTOGRAPH BY BURCU AVSAR

TESLA'S COMING ➜ VOLVO EVS ➜ LAUNCHES: M2, ASTRA, KADJAR ➜ ONLINE SHOPPING ➜ FORD ECOBLUE
Compiled by KYLE KOCK kyle.kock@ramsaymedia.co.za
RIDING THE CURRENT

The Palo Alto, California-based company only has 13 years of carbuilding experience
to its name and already has seen tremendous success. Currently, it’s built a roadster, luxu-
ry sedan and crossover-type vehicle. But it’s going to scale down somewhat to offer a
AS SOUTH AFRICAN MOTORISTS global competitor in the form of the Model 3, which is reportedly going to be launched
STEADILY OPEN THEIR WALLETS here by the end of this decade. Before we look at this, let’s find out who paved the way for
TO FULLY ELECTRIC VEHICLE, THE Tesla’s upcoming current.
BIGGEST DEVELOPER OF ELECTRIC There was much hype five years ago about the progress of the Joule, the electric car
VEHICLES WORLDWIDE, TESLA built right here in South Africa by Optimal Energy, a Cape Town-based firm that had
MOTORS, HAS ITS SIGHTS SET ON actually built driving prototypes of what seemed to be our very own EV, and even show-
cased their product at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010. Unfortunately, the company ran
OUR MARKET.
out of funding and that project never saw the light of day.
What did manage to make it out to SA was the Nissan Leaf, the first full EV to go on
sale in Mzansi. Nissan pioneered the way forward locally with a product that brought
the dream of environmentally conscious motoring to fruition for South Africans. Sized
to compete in the C-segment, the Leaf is practical enough for most families and offers a
TESLA MODEL 3

HOW THEY STACK UP
MODELS LEAF i3 MODEL 3
PRICE: R474 550 R556 500 ± R495 000
POWER/TORQUE 80 kW/254 N.m 125 kW/250 N.m TBA
0-100 KM/H 11,8 seconds 7,2 seconds sub 6,0 seconds
CLAIMED RANGE: 195 km 160 km 320 km
surprising amount of grunt off the line (254 N.m available immediately). Dynamically, Tesla Roadster (which cost almost three
the Leaf is no ball of fire and the realistic range from a full charge is around 140 km. It times the price of the Model 3), the Model
also manages to blend in with the internal combustion crowd, thanks to safe styling. S and Model X – so much so that it began
Fast forward to 2015, and the BMW i3 captured the attention of the automotive world, showing profits only in 2013, 10 years
partly for being the baby brother of the i8 sports car, but mostly because it appears so after opening its doors. At the time of
obviously different from everything else on four wheels. Funky design, glossy finishes and writing, the company had already secured
futuristic details are found inside and out, and even though the i3 packs only slightly more in excess of 300 000 pre-orders, roughly
torque than the Leaf, there’s plenty more peak power – making full-blown acceleration runs R200 billion in funding.
the order of the day. Even the i3, with all of its bells and whistles, and clever regenerative
braking, can’t overcome the thirst of its battery-powered motors and its range isn’t any
more impressive than the Nissan’s.
And this is where Tesla comes in. The upcoming Model 3 mid-sized sedan, the
first of its kind for the brand, is claimed to be capable of a range exceeding
320 kilometres, while offering seating for five adults and enough room
for their luggage. The best part is the asking price of just
$35 000 (roughly R495 000) given the Model 3’s size
and range.
Why should we believe Tesla? Above all, the company
has delivered on all of its promises with the original
TESLA MODEL X
TESLA MODEL S

VOLVO 2025 TARGETING ONE MILLION EVs
By 2025, Volvo aims to have sold a million electric vehicles. It will be offering at be built on SPA, and the company will soon
least two hybrid versions of every model in its range and plans its first dedicated launch a global range of smaller 40 series cars
all-electric car in 2019. on the CMA platform. All of these cars will be
The company’s two all-new vehicle architectures for larger and smaller cars – Scalable available as electric models alongside their con-
Product Architecture (SPA) and Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) – can incorpo- ventional petrol and diesel variants.
rate either hybrid or fully electric technology. The larger 90- and 60-series cars are to The new electrified car pledge forms part
of a review of Volvo’s strategic sustainability
programme, which contains several new com-
mitments that place sustainability at the
centre of its future business operations.
The company’s other commitments in this
vein include:
 Climate-neutral operations by 2025.
 Women will hold 35 per cent of its leading
positions by 2020.
 A further move towards its vision that by
2020 no one will be killed or seriously injured
in a new Volvo.
 Working with international partners to pro-
mote sustainability.
In South Africa, the first step towards elec-
trified mobility is about to be taken – Volvo
Car South Africa is due to release the all-new
Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine (plug-in hybrid)
in May 2016.
The T8 Twin Engine features a two-litre, four-cylinder super-
charged and turbocharged Drive-E petrol engine that powers
the front wheels and a 60 kW electric motor that drives the
rear wheels. In all-wheel-drive mode, the power balance
between the front and rear wheels is controlled electronically.
INSIDE STORY
Giving a foretaste of how 2025’s cars will look – EV or not – is
this “sculpture”, based on the interior of the forthcoming new
Excellence, the flagship of the Swedes’ S90 range (below).
The S90 Excellence Lounge Console Concept is actually
three interiors in one:
 a mobile workstation with fold-out work table and large
screen;
 a pure entertainment area;
 a relaxation zone in which the occupant can recline the
seat, enjoy a cold drink from the fridge and put his or her feet
up on the heated foot support.
“We had such positive feedback with our original Lounge
Console Concept in the XC90 that we wanted to take it a
step closer to reality with an S90 Excellence interior. With
this interior we wanted to create a piece of art, a sculpture.
We’ve taken many of the original concepts and brought
them to life,” says Robin Page, the company’s vice president
of interior design.
A centre control panel incorporates features such as heat-
ed and cooled cup holders, sound system, massage func-
tions and large multimedia screen. The rear armrest holds a
refrigeration unit and boasts hand-cut crystal glasses from
Swedish glassmaker Orrefors. In case you wondered, no
there is no front passenger seat. The seat was removed to
provide unrestricted forward visibility, a sense of space and
more light.

BENTLEY MULSANNE FIRST EDITION
LOW FLYING show vehicle featured a ripple-patterned Fulbeck veneer
Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly get grander, Bentley has sourced from a 350-year-old English walnut tree. According
shown off its craftsmanship with a 50-unit limited edition version of to Bentley this extremely rare and sought-after wood fetched
its Mulsanne, the First Edition (above). Showcased at the Beijing Auto an undisclosed record price at auction. The Mulsanne Extended
Show and with the new Flying Spur V8 S and a one-off Bentayga by Wheelbase gets 250 mm extra passenger room and new air-
Mulliner, the First Edition will be available in either the standard line-style reclining seats with extending footrests. While
Mulsanne, the performance-oriented Speed or the high-end long reclining in comfort, rear passengers can enjoy the Bentley
wheelbase models. Entertainment Tablet – a pair of 10,2-inch Android devices
Features available on the First Edition include a bespoke Mulliner (with 4G, WiFi and Bluetooth) seamlessly integrated into
sterling silver vanity kit inlaid into the rear picnic table. The Beijing the backs of the front seats.
PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN JUST FOR STARTERS

Besides sparkling performance, the 718
Cayman also promises high agility thanks
It would be stretching things to call this a poor man’s 911, but the redeveloped sports to chassis tuning, better brakes and driving
coupé, now priced below the convertible roadster, represents Porsche’s new entry-level dynamics options – including, for the first
model for the brand. The latest addition to the range, the 718 Cayman, is powered by the time, active suspension.
same new flat-four turbo found in the Boxster equivalent. The two-litre entry-level ver- A 718 Cayman equipped with Porsche’s
sion produces 221 kW and the S version delivers 257 kW from 2,5 litres. Torque is the PDK transmission and the Sport Chrono
hallmark of the new engines, with the two-litre engine capable of up to 380 N.m between Package will do 0 to 100 in 4,7 seconds
1 950 and 4 500 r/min. The 2,5 gets up to 420 N.m thanks to a turbocharger with variable and reach a top speed of 275 km/h. The S
turbine geometry, previously restricted to the 911. version equivalents are 4,2 seconds and
285 km/h.
Price: from R854 000

REPORT
1 2 3
RENAULT KADJAR BMW M2 OPEL ASTRA

Once this company sets out to con- The 1M is still revered as one of the We all know that a Volkswagen has
quer a segment, it goes all-out. We’ve BMW M-division’s finest products. ruled the C-segment roost for quite
seen it pioneer the MPV market and domi- The best and worst part of it all was that it some time, but the 11th generation of
nate it, and then go on to create some was only available in limited amounts – Opel’s Astra is aiming slightly higher and
of the finest hot hatches the world has only 64 were sent our way in 2011. So it taking a swing at buyers who would con-
known. So it comes as no surprise that its brings me great pleasure to report that its sider one of the more luxurious brands at
crossover model onslaught has grown successor, the M2, will boast a normal life the higher end of the category. Cough,
from Sandero Stepway to Duster, Koleos, cycle. It’s only R200 000 more than a 235i. 1 Series. Cough cough, A3.
Captur and now what is arguably the most Only, you may ask? That’s pretty bold for a brand that faced the
polished example yet – the Kadjar. And And I say yes, because the M2 isn’t the axe by its parent company not too long ago.
this is definitely the most attractive. The result of a 235i on a crash diet with some The Astra backs up Opel’s claim to the
Kadjar’s overemphasised fenders give way mild weight training thrown in. Actually, throne with a host of niceties that its con-
to ample wheelarches that can house consider this car a CrossFit competitor – temporaries just can’t match. The centre-
attractive two-tone alloys if you spec it an all-round superior athlete. piece is the Opel Eye front camera, part of
correctly. As appealing as the profile is, the Tapping into what makes its larger cous- a system that controls the automatic
Kadjar’s front end boasts Renault’s familiar ins, the M3 and M4 so special, the M2 adjustment of the Intellilux Matrix LED
design language and the rear is straight off boasts some of the same componentry. Matrix headlamps, Traffic Sign Assist,
a Clio – not bad traits at all. Under the bonnet, the pistons and crank- Lane Departure Warning with Lane Keep
Although most crossovers are marketed as shaft have been borrowed, as well as the Assist, Following Distance Indication and
SUVs for the urban jungle, Renault’s launch spark plugs and modified sump – allowing Forward Collision Alert with Low Speed
crew sent local motoring scribes straight to the engineers to reliably push peak outputs Collision Mitigation Braking.
the dunes of Atlantis to put the Kadjar’s off- to 272 kW and 465 N.m of torque (there’s It all sounds very good in theory, but
road prowess to the test. an extra 35 N.m available on overboost). just what does that all mean in practice?
The range-topping 1,6 dCi Dynamique Adding to the magic are aluminium Altogether, the system provides a good
4x4 is 200 kg heavier than its front-wheel- axles front and rear, and suspension com- glimpse at the autonomous future of our
drive 1,2 petrol sibling. But the assistance ponentry based on the M3/M4’s, as well vehicles, for arguably the most value.
of the rear axle, thanks to the lockable as lightweight 19-inch alloys for reduced The exclusively turbocharged engine
four-wheel drive (accessed via a centre con- unsprung mass. An active M differential range includes a 1,0-litre and 1,6-litre
sole-mounted module), and sufficient and 380 mm/370 mm front and rear high- model, but my personal favourite is the
torque peak of 320 N.m were ample for our performance compound brakes add to its 1,4-litre – which is available in manual and
soft sand excusion. The optional low profile track-readiness. Unlike its predecessor, the automatic on two specification levels. The
rubber is perhaps optimistic for anyone M2 is also available with a lightning-quick Sport package comes with all the bells and
looking to do this kind of thing every sec- seven-speed M-DCT dual clutch transmis- whistles, and the 110 kW and 230 N.m
ond weekend, but for those who venture sion – which I was grateful to have in the peak outputs are sufficient to exploit the
off the beaten track occasionally, the Kadjar limited time I spent with the vehicle on a up to 20 per cent weight saving from the
is well worth a look. racetrack. Astra’s predecessor.
From R359 900 From R800 006 From R254 000

LET’S GO KICK SOME TYRES… ONLINE BRIDGESTONE CV2020
DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ARE THE NEW HOT SPOTS AS SALESMEN
MOVE OUT OF THE SHOWROOM IN THE BATTLE FOR THE HEARTS, MINDS AND The bad news: Bridgestone’s work-
WALLETS OF CAR BUYERS horse CV2000 LDV tyre is no more.
The good: in reality, it’s undergone some
Brick-and-mortar car showrooms are clearly just part of the mix for the new breed of significant upgrades and is available as
car salesmen. But there’s life in the forecourt yet. the CV2020. Besides being suited to pick-
Americans are turning to the www and social media in a big way when it comes to buy- ups, it’s also a cost-effective fitment
ing and selling cars, a group of local retail industry types found on a recent trip to the option for older-generation minibus taxis.
2016 US National Automobile Dealer Association conference in Las Vegas. The group was The new model has made advances
led by Mike Paxton, senior consultant at Sewells Group South Africa, the latest of several in areas such as durability and the
similar visits he has guided over the years. reduction of irregular wear. Its new tread
However, Paxton adds, salespeople are getting smarter in other ways. For instance, design includes additional sipes to
something we might see more of locally is a popular US ploy – mining of the workshop. improve wet-weather roadholding and
Targeted as potential new-car buyers are those who own: braking, with traction-aiding lug grooves
 Cars going out of service plan or warranty. on the shoulders.
 High-mileage cars. A new, tougher tread compound has
 Cars that are expensive to maintain. been designed that not only provides
Technicians are encouraged to team up with the sales force and in the process earn a stouter resistance to rough terrain, but
also improves durability up to five per
spotter’s commission. Dealers using this strategy are said to have increased sales by more
cent compared with the CV2000, while
than 20 per cent.
offering a quieter, more comfortable ride.
Salespeople at the Las Vegas dealerships only earn commission and most dealerships are
New tread compound and construction
open seven days a week. Here’s the thing: four out of every five sales come via the tele- materials reduce heat buildup.
phone, email or Internet. As showroom traffic plunges, guess where the top salespeople are The tyre is available in a single size,
being redeployed? Yes, that’s right, the call centre. 195R14C. It’s recommended for fitment to
Paxton said it was interesting to note that the dealers they visited opened their website the common 5,5 inch rim size.
home pages with their service departments. Clearly, that’s where the money is.
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FORD ECOBLUE ROCKET SCIENCE The EcoBlue turbo’s
aerodynamically advanced (and smaller)
GOOD ENOUGH FOR CARS, TOO turbine wheel is made from Inconel, an
Still basking in the glow of acclamation alloy used in extreme temperature envi-
ronments such as rocket engines. The
around its EcoBoost engine line, Ford has
reductions decrease inertia and enable
revealed an all-new 2,0-litre EcoBlue diesel.
faster boost performance with wheel
It’s the first in a new range of advanced speeds up to 240 000 r/min, contributing
engines that’s said to deliver unrivalled to improved low-end torque.
fuel efficiency, performance and refinement.
Clean-sheet design reduces friction with CREEPY FEELING “One important fac-
innovations including an offset crank, tor we noticed through customer feedback
belt-in-oil and Ford’s first use of modular is a growing tendency for drivers to ‘creep’
camshafts. Overall, fuel efficiency is 13 their diesel-powered vehicles by engaging
per cent better than previous engines’. the clutch while the engine is at idle –
But drivability is another area that came making low-down torque even more
in for some serious work. The company’s essential,” says Paul Turner, base engine
technical leader, Ford of Europe.
first mirror-image inlet manifold and a
low-inertia turbocharger with what’s SILENT TREATMENT The 2,0-litre
described as “rocket engine materials” are EcoBlue will be the first diesel commercial
part of a 20 per cent boost in low-end vehicle powertrain from Ford to achieve
torque at 1 250 r/min compared with the passenger car noise, vibration and harsh-
outgoing equivalent, a 2,2-litre. ness criteria. It radiates half as much
According to Ford, standard selective sound energy at idle as the 2,2-litre TDCi
catalytic reduction emissions after-treat- diesel engine. Optimised engine structure
ment contributes to improved NOx reduc- reduces radiated noise by four decibels
tion. The ultra-low emissions are in line at idle.
with Euro Stage VI standards, due to be 75 to 180 kW – including a 1,5-litre vari- TOUGH ENOUGH The EcoBlue engine
introduced in September 2016, that cut ant. Its design allows the same block to be meets Ford’s global commercial vehicle
the limit for the previous standard by used for front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel durability standards for extreme use in
more than half. -drive applications. It will make its debut, markets as diverse as Europe, the US and
The EcoBlue diesel engines will power though, as a four-cylinder 2,0-litre in the China. Testing includes the equivalent of
future passenger cars and commercial new Transit and Transit Custom commer- 5,5 million km of durability trials including
vehicles with power outputs ranging from cial vehicles. 400 000 km by real-world customers.
CRASH TESTING
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN FOCUS
Two firsts were recorded at the most
recent round of crash tests: autonomous
emergency braking systems for pedestri-
ans and a dual rating that assesses
optional safety equipment.
Toyota’s Prius is the first car to have
undergone Euro NCAP’s newest test of
autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
technology for pedestrians (right). Its test
results were announced at the same
time as those of the Suzuki Baleno,
which is the first to get a dual rating.
Besides detecting vehicles ahead, based on its standard safety equipment. will help the proliferation of the crash
today’s top AEB systems can detect situ- However, with the optional safety pack avoidance technology into all segments
ations where pedestrians are at risk of Radar Brake Support, which includes an of the market. At the same time, to pro-
being run over and can brake the car AEB City and AEB Inter-Urban system, vide accurate and clear information to
automatically. Toyota’s standard Safety the Baleno achieves 4 stars. From now consumers about the latest systems and
Sense system effectively recognised on, Euro NCAP will allow similar dual what benefit they might bring, is becom-
potential crashes with pedestrians and ratings. ing more challenging. The dual rating
cars and helped the Prius achieve the “The inclusion of AEB Pedestrian in will simplify the choice for the safest
first 5-star rating in 2016. the rating is a key milestone in the car,” says Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Euro
The Suzuki Baleno received 3 stars development of automotive safety that NCAP Secretary General. PM

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Immune
engineering By ANTONIO REGALADA, MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
THE DOCTORS looking at Layla treatment in 2011 after doctors

Richards saw a little girl with leu- in New York and Philadelphia
kaemia bubbling in her veins. She’d reported that they’d found a way
had bags and bags of chemotherapy to gain control over T cells, the
and a bone marrow transplant. so-called killer cells of the immune
But the cancer still thrived. By system. They had shown that they
last June, the 12-month-old was could take T cells from a person’s
desperately ill. Her parents begged bloodstream and, using a virus,
– wasn’t there anything? add new DNA instructions to aim
There was. In a freezer at her them at the type of blood cell that
CELLECTIS
hospital – Great Ormond Street, in goes awry in leukaemia. The tech-

London – sat a vial of white blood nique has now been tested in more
cells. The cells had been genetically than 300 patients, with spectacular
altered to hunt and destroy leu- results, often resulting in complete
The gene-editing skills of Biotech
company Cellectis, a leading player kaemia, but the hospital hadn’t remission. A dozen drug firms and
in the field of genome engineering yet sought permission to test them. biotechnology companies are
(above), are playing a pivotal role They were the most extensively now working to bring such a
in creating ways of targeting engineered cells ever proposed treatment to market.
cancer cells (above right).
as a therapy, with a total of four The T cells created by Cellectis
genetic changes, two of them intro- could have even broader applica-
duced by the new technique of tions. The previous treatments
genome editing. use a person’s own cells. But
Soon a doctor from Great some patients, especially small
Ormond was on the phone to children like Layla, don’t have
Cellectis, a biotechnology company enough T cells.
with French roots that is now Foreseeing this problem, Cellectis
located on the East Side of Man- had set out to use gene editing to
hattan. The company owned the create a more highly engineered,
cancer treatment, which it had but ultimately simpler, “universal”
devised using a gene-editing supply of T cells made from the
method called TALENs, a way blood of donors. The company
of making cuts and fixes to DNA would still add the new DNA, but
in living cells. “We got a call. The it would also use gene editing to
ISTOCKPHOTO: XRENDER (CANCER CELLS); MARCHENKOYEVHEN (BACKGROUND)

doctors said, ‘We’ve got a girl who delete the receptor that T cells
is out of T cells and out of options,’” normally use to sniff out foreign-
André Choulika, the CEO of looking molecules.
Cellectis, remembers. “They “The T cell has a huge potential
wanted one of the vials made for killing. But the thing you can’t
during quality-control testing.” do is inject T cells from Mr X into
The doctors hoped to make Mr Y,” Choulika says. “They’d
Layla a “special”, a patient who recognise Mr Y as ‘non-self’ and
got the drug outside a clinical start firing off at everything and
trial. It was a gamble, since the the patient will melt down.” But
treatment had been tried only in if the T cells are stripped down
mice. If it failed, the company’s with gene editing, like the ones
stock and reputation could tank that were sitting in Great Ormond’s
and even if it succeeded, the freezer, that risk is mostly elimi-
company might get in trouble nated. Or so everyone hoped.
with regulators. “It was saving a In November, Great Ormond
life versus the chance of bad announced that Layla had been
news,” Choulika says. cured. The British press jumped on
Cellectis began developing the the heartwarming story of a brave

A timeline of
ENGINEERING IMMUNITY
2015
1796 1981 2000
500
MILLION
1908
YEARS AGO 2011

1893 1971 1983 - 2016
1796 1908 1987
Edward Jenner German doctor
500 million 1981 2011
inoculates a boy Paul Ehrlich wins
years ago The HIV epidem- The first immune 2015
against smallpox a Nobel Prize for
Jawed fish are ic begins. By checkpoint inhib- Former US presi-
using pus from a his theories
first to develop 1987 the first itor, ipilimumab, dent Jimmy
cowpox blister. It about the 2000
“adaptive” antiretroviral is approved in Carter, at 90,
is celebrated as immune system. Two immune-
immunity – spe- drug treatment, the United States receives immune
the first vaccine. He introduces deficient children
cialised cells that AZT, goes on to treat late- therapy treat-
the idea of the are cured in
learn from, sale. A vaccine stage melanoma. ments for mela-
1893 “Wundermittel”, France of “bub-
remember and remains elusive The drug noma and a
New York sur- or magic bullet – ble boy” disease
respond to to this day. unleashes T brain cancer. His
geon William the precursor of in the first suc-
threats. cells. In many brain scans are
Coley believes today’s targeted cessful use of
1983-1987 patients, the later clear.
cancer can be drugs. gene therapy. A
Scientists dis- results are dra-
cured by an missing gene is
cover the T cell matic. 2016
immune 1971 added to their
antigen receptor. Recognising
response. He US President bone marrow.
It is what killer T 2011 “amazing
uses live bacte- Nixon declares a
cells use to iden- Carl June of the advances” in
ria, called “War on cancer.”
tify virus-infected University of immune therapy,
Coley’s toxins, to The US National
cells and cancer. Pennsylvania US President
treat tumours. Cancer Institute’s reports the suc- Obama and Vice
budget rises to cessful treatment President Biden
R30 billion in of leukaemia announce a new
current dollars. using genetically “moon shot” to
Today it is modified T cells. cure cancer.
R71 billion.
BIG DEALS
T-cell companies have sought agreements with
drug companies and specialists in gene editing.
AUGUST 2012 NOVEMBER 2015

Swiss drug giant Novartis Drug companies Pfizer
forms a sweeping alliance and Servier pay Cellectis
with the University of R580 million for rights to
“We got a call. The doctors Pennsylvania, site of the first off-the-shelf
early successes using T-cell treatment for
said, ‘We’ve got a girl who is engineered T cells. leukaemia.
out of T cells and out of JANUARY 2015

Novartis buys CRISPR
JANUARY 2016
Food maker Nestlé
options.’” ANDRÉ CHOULIKA, CEO OF CELLECTIS gene-editing rights from
Intellia Therapeutics.
pays R1,8 million to a
start-up named Seres
Juno and Editas Medicine for bacteria pills able to
later strike a similar deal ward off infection and
for R360 million. immune disorders.
JUNE 2015 JANUARY 2016

Biotech firm Celgene Juno pays R1,8 billion
pays Seattle-based to buy AbVitro, a Boston
Juno R14 billion for company that can
a slice of its T-cell sequence the DNA
treatment portfolio. inside individual T cells.

Immune engineering
kid and daring doctors. Accounts
splashed on front pages sent Cellectis’s
How it WORKS stock price shooting upward. Two
weeks later, the drug companies
Cells are
2 modified to Pfizer and Servier announced they
hunt and would ante up R580 million to pur-
T cells that
1 fight infections
destroy
cancer
chase rights to the treatment.
are taken from Although many of the details of
patient’s own Layla’s case have yet to be disclosed
blood and some cancer experts say the role
of the engineered T cells in her cure
ISTOCKPHOTO: ROYALTYSTOCKPHOTO/ANNARASSADNIKOVA/PALTO/STUDIODR
T remains murky, her recovery pointed
a spotlight on “immune engineering”
T and on the way that advances in
Millions of copies of controlling and manipulating the
3 these GM cells are immune system are leading to unex-
grown in the lab, pected breakthroughs in cancer
creating a living drug treatment. They also could lead to
new treatments for HIV and auto-
immune diseases such as arthritis
and multiple sclerosis.
Cells are returned to THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM

4 patient to attack and has been called Nature’s “weapon of
destroy their cancer –
and constantly patrol mass destruction”. It has a dozen
to stop it returning major cell types, including several
kinds of T cells. It defends against
viruses it’s never seen before, sup-
presses cancer (though not always)
and for the most part manages to
T Cells – the search-

▲
and-destroy special
forces of the immune
system – are depicted
in grey, attacking a
cancerous cell.

avoid harming the body’s own tissue. It even has a memory, “It’s the perfect set-up,” says Jeffrey Bluestone, a researcher
which is the basis of all vaccines. at the University of California, San Francisco. “Immune
More than 100 years ago, the American surgeon William cells are machines that work pretty well, but we can make
Coley observed that an unexpected infection could some- them work even better.”
times make a tumour evaporate. Subsequently, Coley injected Researchers are building on decades of research (and
streptococcal cultures into cancer patients and saw the tumours several Nobel Prizes involving immunology) that worked
shrink in some cases. The finding, published in 1893, showed out many important details, including how T cells recognise
the immune system could confront and fight cancer – but invaders and go in for the kill. Seen through a microscope,
how did it work? Until recently, the answers weren’t known these cells display almost animal-like behaviour: they crawl,
and cancer immunotherapy was seen as a failed idea. probe, then grab another cell and shoot it full of toxic
But scientists have gradually mapped the network of granules. “What’s exciting is they have the ability to move
molecules that govern how the immune system interacts all around; they’re autonomous,” says Wendell Lim, a
with a tumour. And over the last few years, these insights synthetic biologist who is also at UCSF. “Immune cells
have allowed drug companies and labs to start tinkering with talk to other cells, they deliver poisons, they can change
the immune system’s behaviour. “From 40 years and more what happens in a micro-environment, they have a memory
of science, we know the general nature of the conversation and they make more of themselves. I think of them as
between the tumour cells and the immune system,” says little robots.”
Philip Sharp, a biologist at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Lim is now breaking new ground in what he calls “syn-
Cancer Research and a recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in thetic immunology”. This year and last, he produced some
medicine. “That’s the conversation we’re trying to join in futuristic T cells. Tested only in mice so far, the cells deploy
order to have a therapeutic effect. We are still at the level of their targeted search-and-kill behaviour only if a specific
a five-year-old kid. We know there are nouns and that there drug is added – a feature that could be used to turn the
are verbs. But the diversity of the vocabulary is still being cells on at specific places and times, which Lim calls
mapped out.” “remote control”. Another T cell he designed is a two-
The most extreme of these proposals is to change the stage affair, which kills only if it locates not one, but two
genetic instructions inside the T cell itself, something that’s different markers on a cancer cell; it is like a dual authen-
become much easier using gene-editing methods like TALENs tication method for the enemy cell. Lim thinks of it as a
and the even newer CRISPR. Last year, the gene-editing start- sensing circuit or “advanced Google search”.
ups Editas Medicine and Intellia Therapeutics each struck Such work is critical because targeting T cells to tumours
deals with companies developing T-cell-based therapeutics. of the liver, lung or brain is dangerous and some patients
have been killed in trials. The problem has been friendly
fire. So far, easy ways to target only cancer cells are lack-
ing. Lim has founded his own start-up, Cell Design Labs,
to commercialise his engineering ideas. He declined to
say how much money he has raised, but he says every-
one working with T cells is stunned by the kind of money
being thrown at the idea. “It’s a ‘wow’ type of situation,”
he says.
THE SEARCH TO EXPAND IMMUNE THERAPY now

involves not only the world’s largest drug companies, but
also tech firms. Sharp says that last year Google held two
summits at MIT of top immune oncologists and bioengi-
neers to determine what parts of the problem could be
“Googlified”. Attendees say the search giant paid special
attention to new research techniques that fingerprint
cells from a tumour biopsy in rapid-fire fashion. These
methods might generate big data about what immune
system cells are actually doing inside a tumour and new
clues about how to influence them. So far, Google’s life
“Immune cells are machines

that work pretty well, but
we can make them work
even better.” JEFFREY BLUESTONE

Immune engineering
science unit, named Verily, hasn’t he says. “It might be one of the first times the output of a
revealed its plans in cancer immu- programme is the therapy.”
notherapy. But in New York’s Union In January, Juno Therapeutics paid R1,8 billion to acquire
Square, I met Jeffrey Hammerbacher, AbVitro, a Boston-area company that specialises in sequencing
a former Facebook employee who now the DNA inside single T cells. Now Juno is trying to locate T
runs a lab that is part of Mount Sinai, cells that are active inside cancers and study their receptors.
the hospital and medical school. With Juno’s chief scientist, Hyam Levitsky, says an experiment that
12 programmers in a light-soaked used to take seven months now takes seven days. And data
loft – the nearest thing to blood and is piling up: an average experiment generates 100 gigabytes
guts is a photo of an exhausted sur- of information. “A lot of what is happening is technology-
geon on the wall – he’s also spending driven,” he says. “The questions have been there for a while, but
time on T cells. He’s developing soft- there was no way to get at the answers. Now we’re visualising
ware to interpret the DNA sequence them with new technology in ways we never could before.”
in a patient’s cancer and predict from
it how to goose the response of killer IN MARCH, PFIZER APPOINTED JOHN LIN to head its
T cells. San Francisco biotech unit, which develops cancer drugs and
A clinical trial by Mount Sinai recently started making engineered T cells. He says the com-
should start this year. The patients pany had been negotiating with Cellectis well before the news
receive a dose of abnormal protein of Layla’s treatment and that no one there was even aware the
fragments that Hammerbacher’s girl had been treated before it hit the news. “The publicity
software predicts will train T cells to was a big surprise,” he says.
attack the cancer. “What was fun Lin says years of scientific work have finally resulted in a
was that what we submitted to the level of mastery that makes therapeutic products seem prac-
[US Food and Drug Administration] tical. He thinks the treatments will go beyond leukaemia and
was not a molecule, but an algorithm,” beyond cancer. “We think that this fundamental principle,
engineering human cells, could have broad implications,” he
says, “and the immune system will be the most convenient
vehicle for it, because they can move and migrate and play
such important roles.”
Researchers are already working on autoimmune disorders,
such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and lupus. Infectious disease
is also in the sights of T-cell engineers. Edward Berger, a viro-
logist at the USA’s National Institutes of Health who helped
discover how HIV enters human cells, thinks it may be possible
to permanently keep the virus in check, a so-called “functional
cure”. He plans to start giving monkeys T cells genetically
programmed to find and destroy any cell in which the simian
version of HIV is replicating.
The actual process isn’t as simple as the theory. Berger is
sure that years of missteps and do-overs lie ahead. Also, most
“We think that this protocols involving engineered T cells require patients, or
monkeys, to take drugs that temporarily kill off their own T
fundamental principle, cells, which isn’t without risks. “Where the technology stands,
it’s a pretty radical treatment,” Berger says. “You aren’t going
engineering human to use it on a cold sore.” But despite all the progress that has
been made treating HIV, a better approach is still needed.
cells, could have broad Because the virus hides in the body even after treatment,
patients have to take antiretroviral drugs for life. With immune
implications, and the engineering, maybe not. Berger sees the chance of a one-time
treatment that can hold the virus in check for good.
immune system will be “I was totally inspired by the cancer work,” he says. “They
cured leukaemia and we’ve borrowed it from them. The extension
the most convenient of those ideas for engineering the immune system against
vehicle for it, because other things that ail people is a major front. I think HIV is
the best candidate in infectious disease. If you talk to the
they can move and HIV community, they are crying for a cure – a treatment
that, ideally, you do once and never again.” PM
migrate and play such (Copyright 2016 Technology Review, Inc. Distributed by
important roles.” Tribune Content Agency, LLC.)
JOHN LIN, PFIZER

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ONE BRIGHT, COOL day in the Workers THIS LIGHTHOUSE, ON
spring of 2010, Richard Skidmore walked prepare the
tracks the MARTHA’S VINEYARD IN
up a small dirt path that runs along the
lighthouse MASSACHUSETTS, WAS
bluffs in front of the Gay Head Lighthouse on will travel
Martha’s Vineyard. The lighthouse had stood on over as it IN DANGER OF FALLING
the promontory since 1856. Skidmore, the lighthouse keeper, with his waits in INTO THE OCEAN. TO
wife, Joanie, could walk this path blindfolded, its soft rise from the street repose on
a platform SAVE IT, A GROUP OF MEN
towards the cliffs, a north-northwest approach. Each step added to the of steel and
view of Vineyard Sound, the Elizabeth Islands beyond and Buzzards Bay BATTLED THE FORCES OF
wood.
in the distance. Richard didn’t live at the lighthouse, the way keepers WEATHER, MASS AND
did in the old days, but he tended it and maintained it and visited every THE MIGHTIEST, MOST
few days. In fact, he had been up at the light just two days before and IMPERCEPTIBLE FORCE
everything was as it should be. But now, something was different. There
was a split-rail wood fence that ran along the bluffs, a fence Richard had OF ALL: TIME.
known for the twenty years he had been the keeper of Gay Head Light –
the fence was part of his life. As he rose to the top of the path, he stopped
abruptly and stared at the fence, or the place where the fence should be.
A large part of it was gone. He walked over to the bluffs, looked down. The BY KE VIN DUPZ YK
fence was strung like a necklace on the face of the cliffs, dangling beneath PHOTOGR APHS BY
the proud lighthouse towards the waves crashing silently into the E D K E AT I N G
rocks far below.

cigar in his teeth. Jerry is the boss.
Two months before, crews had dug
FIVE YEARS LATER on 28 May the trough around the lighthouse in a
2015, the promontory on which the matter of weeks. They had peeled off
Gay Head Lighthouse sat vibrated with the top layer of dirt and vegetation
activity. People from all over the island like a sticker, and re-stuck it several
– some tourists, a few journalists, but hundred metres away for safekeeping.
mostly hardened locals who’d been Then they scraped off the next layer
following the story and had heard that of earth, carefully sifted through it and
the old lighthouse that was falling into found bits of previous lives – a former
the ocean was actually going to be lighthouse keeper’s clay pipe, ceramic
picked up and moved today – leaned dishes that could have dated to the
on the barrier that kept them away 1600s, when the native Wampanoag
from the construction. people lived there. After that, they dug
The moving of the light was major past the two granite rings that formed
news in Aquinnah, the town that the light’s foundation, which over time
includes Gay Head. After he found the had settled below ground level. They
dangling fence, Richard had enlisted dug another two metres below that. As
engineers from the Woods Hole Ocean- the space opened up around the light-
ographic Institution to examine the house and its pedestal of red clay, it
structure. He fielded proposals for solu- came to be a lone turret protruding
tions and read up on a company called from the deep. The trough looked as
the International Chimney Corpora- if it had been cut by water – 60 metres
tion, which had moved numerous light- long, the width of a four-car garage, By the end of the month, the small, historic lighthouse
houses, including the famous one at with a wall at the cliff-side end like the seemed a hulking monolith, brick on granite foundation
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In scarp cut into shore by the farthest on a railroad of steel beams on top of hard earth. Its
2012, two years after finding the fence, reaches of high tide. structure had been fortified: doorways and open windows
Richard stood before the town’s board By the second week of May, steel bricked up with concrete masonry units. A compression
of selectmen and told them that the beams had arrived in Aquinnah. Jerry’s collar wrapped its upper reaches like a weight lifter’s belt.
lighthouse had to be moved in 2015 to team from Expert House Movers began Two massive beams through the bottom supported the cent-
stay ahead of the erosion, that Interna- tunnelling through the clay pedestal er column that hangs the light’s spiral staircase.
tional Chimney was the outfit to do and threading beams through it. The The tourists and the reporters and the locals watched
it, and that it was going to cost clay supporting the lighthouse was as Jerry finished up in the dozer. When he came over to
$3 million (about R43 million). slowly exchanged for a lattice of steel, talk, they shouted out questions.
Erosion is one of nature’s slowest 12 metre-long beams running across “When will it start rolling?”
phenomena and its slow pace makes the width of the trough, supported on “Shortly,” said Jerry.
it hard to comprehend even when its 10 metre-long bright-yellow beams in In the background, off to the side of the lighthouse, was
effects are obvious, because it is only the direction of its length. Box cribs a bright-yellow truck crawling with tendrils of black hose.
obvious if you didn’t see it happening. – like little log cabins made of one Its back was a grid of gauges, valve handles and levers.
Even if you sat watching a beach for metre railroad ties – were erected “Is there any chance you guys are going to press those
thirty years, during which 20 metres under the beams. Soon, the lighthouse levers today?” someone asked.
of it eroded into the sea, you probably seemed to float above the ground, the “It’ll be soon,” said Jerry.
wouldn’t notice the difference. Erosion giant granite blocks of its foundation “Like while we’re standing here?”
takes forever and yet we humans are high enough for a man to walk under- Jerry looked up and said, “How long are you gonna
constantly scrambling to combat its neath, head high. stand there?”
effects, the same way we don’t believe At the same time, a new
our own bodies will age until after the concrete foundation was “A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW,
wrinkles and aches set in. poured at the inland end of
Workers prowled the upper edges the trough. Its top was pre- MAYBE MOVING A LIGHTHOUSE IS NO
of a large trough that now surrounded cisely level with the light’s BIG DEAL. PUT IT THROUGH A
the lighthouse like a moat of air. They old foundation. A railway
examined the steel skids on which was constructed between
MATRIX, VROOP! WE TRANSPORT IT.”
the lighthouse would travel the them: a pair of 20-metre
nearly 40 metres to its new home, beams were laid under the light-
adding shims and checking levels. house, directly below the yellow THE LIGHTHOUSE was
Jerry Matyiko, whose family owns main carrying beams, pointing supposed to be moved by
Expert House Movers – a structural towards the new foundation. 30 May 2015, to be open for the northern summer tourist
relocation company brought in by Another pair was bolted to their season. But in February, as a monstrous New England winter
International Chimney – climbed ends, creating 40 metres of track. ren-dered the ground too hard to start digging, in lieu of
into a Case 1155E bulldozer, its front Hilman rollers – tank-like sets of the excavation a series of wooden stakes surrounded the
end modified for hoisting. Jerry is a rolling steel cylinders – would be lighthouse, marking the perimeter of the trough they would
former Navy man, near 70 now. He’s fixed to the underside of the yellow eventually dig. From up in the light, you could see the out-
grown into a paunch and full beard, beams, providing wheels for what, it line, the stakes forming a rectangle with rounded corners.
but still has Popeye forearms. He was becoming clear, was a kind of Four men stood in the lantern room, thawing in the heat
wears a bandanna and clenches a flatbed rail wagon. of the double-barrel revolving light that cast the lighthouse’s
Not the physical skills – though they
have those, too – but skills of a more
valuable kind: reading the weather,
knowing the neighbours, memorising
the best ways on and off the island at
any given time of year. They’ve ingest-
ed the Vineyard’s history and geology
and can spit it out as if they’ve lived
there their entire lives. Listen to them
long enough and they tack hard into
a long-running conversation about
it. A routine.
Len: “I moved here when I was 21,
and I’m 66 now.”
Richard: “Shit.”
Len: “I’ve lived with that light 45
years. I’ve gone to bed every night
seeing it sweep through my bedroom
window.”
Richard: “If it’s a cloudy night, it
Clockwise from left: Push jacks, or rams, telescope out, pushing the just lights up the sky in a cylindrical
beams on which the lighthouse sits; Gay Head has shrunk by 80 metres 15-second thing.”
since 1870; a worker looks up at the raised foundation, mid-move. Len: “The arc of it washes the whole
town.”
Aquinnah, at the western extreme
of the Vineyard, is what the locals
call up-island. Historically, it’s been
rural and undeveloped; a previous
lighthouse keeper lost five kids in
11 years, in part because the light-
house was a day’s ride from the
nearest doctor. But Gay Head was
the site of the first lighthouse on
the island because of an underwater
rock formation called Devil’s Bridge,
just offshore, that scuttled ships tra-
versing Vineyard Sound, between
the island and the curling bicep of
Cape Cod. It was a key shipping route
at a time when towns from that part
of Massachusetts accounted for near-
ly half the world’s whaling and more
than half the value of the American
catch.
The first lighthouse at Gay Head, a
squat wooden octagon, sprouted in
characteristic white-red, white-red, white-red. and listen as Richard Skidmore 1799, built with funds procured by
“See where you can see the mainland, between those and Len Butler steer the conversation. Alexander Hamilton himself. It was
islands? That’s New Bedford. At one time the richest city It’s hard not to. Richard is the veter- 15 metres tall and glowed with sperm
in the country.” an keeper, and Len is the guy who whale oil. A contractor moved it 30
“You know, back before they built the Cape Cod Canal, took charge of Aquinnah’s Relocation metres in 1844, to the present light-
90 000 ships a year passed through the Vineyard Sound.” Committee. As a general contractor, house location. (The current one was
“That’s up 10 000 from the last time I heard you talk he had the expertise and interest to completed in 1856.) Today the light
about it.” shepherd the move. They look like a is still an active navigational beacon.
“You know they used to call this the women’s light? comedy team at sunset, Richard and So though it will move, it has to stay
Can you guess why?” Len. Both in their sixties, Richard is near the edge. It must sit at the same
“Why?” tall and angular, Len short and height. Mariners will update their
“Well, the light pattern used to be white-white-white- weathered like the islander he has charts and it will be 8,4 seconds east
ILLUSTRATION BY T M DETWILER
red. Think about the calendar.” come to be. They’re both Martha’s and 0,4 seconds south of its previous
“Ah.” Vineyard polymaths, guys who have location.
“Weeks of the month.” mastered the various skills required Richard: “Even for landlubbers, Len,
“Heh heh.” to live on an island full time (an when he comes, and if I come home
“Sailors weren’t so politically correct.” island with a year-round population at night, at some point, I’m going to
Adam Wilson, Aquinnah town administrator, and George of 17 000 and six towns and where see the flash of that light and think,
Sourati, a civil engineer on the island who helped plan the the Obamas and the Clintons vaca- yeah –”
move, seem the likely authorities. But they mostly sit back tion, but an island nonetheless). Len: “I’m home.”
what the situation is. Water wins.” Looking at the bluffs from offshore, the most extensive
ALTHOUGH CRISES OCCUR Byron Stone is a geologist for the point of land is a red-clay promontory, with white sandy
only when we have built something US Geological Survey and his job is to receding faces on both sides. A geotechnical consultant took
that can be threatened, the problem know the Massachusetts coast blind. core samples of the soil all over Gay Head. Stone helped
of erosion dates back to before the He’s well aware of lighthouse moves review them. The vein of clay, which continues inland, proved
creation of the island itself: 144 000 in his backyard. The two companies to be steadfast against water. In a hundred years, perhaps
years ago the Illinoian glaciation push- that moved Highland Light – Inter- it will be a red buttress between brick, candle and sea.
ed ice down North America. And national Chimney and Expert House “That’s three mortgages,” said Stone.
120 000 years later, the Wisconsinan Movers – moved the Southeast Light- “A hundred years gets it safely out of our purview,”
glaciation did the same. The weight house on Block Island in 1993. And said Richard.
and motion of ice from the glaciers the Nauset Lighthouse in Eastham, “A hundred years from now, maybe moving a lighthouse
ploughed up an edge of land called a also on the Outer Cape, in 1996. And is no big deal,” said Len. “You just put it through a matrix,
moraine and topped it with till. That the Sankaty Head Lighthouse in Nan- vroop! We transport it.”
is Martha’s Vineyard: the island is a tucket in 2007. “There’s no cement
pile of rocks. Gay Head is so named between the grains,” says Stone of the ON THE morning the
because of the unending sculpting of land beneath most of these places. “It’s lighthouse was scheduled
the loose and colourful alliance of loose sand. You could stick your finger to move, Richard and Len entertained a group of second-
white Cretaceous and green Miocene in. You could stick your little finger and third-graders from Chilmark, the next town. They
sands, light-brown Quaternary sedi- in. You could stick your tongue in it.” came armed with questions.
ments, and red Cret-aceous clay that Stone helped choose the new loca- “How tall is the lighthouse?”
make up the bluffs. The string of tion for the Gay Head Light. The goal “Twenty metres”
landmarks from Martha’s Vineyard was to deposit it someplace where it “How much does it weigh?”
down to Montauk, on Long Island, is would be safe for at least a hundred “Four hundred tons.”
pocked with proud maritime villages years, when perhaps other men will “How far is it moving?”
but also severe coastal erosion, because stand in its shadow and try to figure “Fifty metres.”
the moraine, essentially, is the crusty out how to move it. Sea levels rise, Then a little squirt in Red Sox gear asked, “In the future,
lip of snow, dirt and garbage raised climates change, erosion, accretion do you think you’ll, like, have to move the lighthouse again?”
at the edge of a road by a snow-plough. – these forces move so slowly as to Len smiled. “Very good question. Very good question.”
And the Atlantic won’t stop. “When seem unmoving to time-bound “You know, when you say ‘the future’, that’s a very big
you’re dealing with the sea – the sea humans, until the moment that one word,” Richard said.
wins,” says Joe Jakubik, head of is engulfed in a hurricane or drought, A few hours later, Jerry had everything perfect, beams
International Chimney’s historic or one finds a lighthouse on the edge in place, rails level, lighthouse secure. He climbed into the
preservation division. “Doesn’t matter of a cliff. cab of the yellow truck. He looked like every driver of every
2 4
T HE MECH A N I C S OF T HE MO V E
1 2 3 4 5
STRUCTURAL SUPPORT MOVING EQUIPMENT MOVING PROCESS NEW FOUNDATION
PREPARATION Excavation of the base of Two pairs of 15-metre-long A push jack – a hydraulic Jacks hold the lighthouse
To make the lighthouse the lighthouse allows work- beams are bolted together device that extends from a over a new concrete foun-
stout enough to move, weak ers to pass steel beams to create 30 metres of track. resting position to a length dation. Workers build a
ILLUSTRATION BY T.M. DETWILER
mortar joints are cut out and underneath, in layers. One (Because the move is 39 of 1,5 metres – is bolted to masonry structure between
replaced with new mortar. layer supports the founda- metres, halfway through the each rail. The other end is the concrete and the bottom
A compression cuff of ply- tion. Below that, 12-metre- move the first pair is re- coupled to a wheeled beam. of the light, working around
wood bracing and tensioned long beams perpendicular moved and reattached at Using power generated by the steel beams. Then, with
cables is installed, and to the move path rest on the front to finish the job.) a unified jacking machine, the light resting on the
doors and windows are oak cribbing while jacks Between the track and the the push jacks slowly move masonry, the beams are
removed and the openings are being prepared, and main beams, lengths of the lighthouse along the removed and the gaps are
filled with brick so they can’t on moving equipment while steel bolted to Hilman tracks, which have been filled with brick, completing
weaken the structure. the light is in motion. rollers act as wheels. greased with soap. the new foundation.

Left: Richard Skidmore (far left) and Len
Butler (centre, with bottle) celebrate the
lighthouse’s safe arrival. Above: The
light’s spiral staircase, seen from below.
box truck ever. But when he turned the key, something Suddenly, Len came back. He had would be reversed: steel removed.
different happened. Fuel. Air. Spark. The percussion of surveying equipment with him, and Foundation reconstructed. Trough
internal combustion. Hydraulic fluid began coursing through he worked with the movers to shoot refilled.
the tendrils of hose, and somebody yelled, “It’s moving!” each rail. When the kids from Chilmark were
Jerry had 16 jacks rigged up under the light, in a tri- What happened? visiting, Len told them about the be-
angle: groups of five on the left and right and a group of “As the weight was coming over ginning and the ending of the move
six in the front. When the lighthouse was being lifted on the beam, it was dropping on one process. “The first thing we did is we
to jack support, all 16 were linked in a system called unified side, so we were starting to notice a took all the grass and all the little
jacking, forcing them to rise together, at the same rate – list to the structure.” shrubs, all the trees and everything,
slowly. During the move, Jerry would decouple the three How’d he notice? and we plucked them out of the
zones. They defined the plane the lighthouse sat on. Any “I have kind of a trained eye for ground,” he said. “And we put them
point of the triangle could be adjusted to keep it level. when things are out of plumb, and across the street to save them, so that
“It’s like a Greek vase sitting on a plate,” said Richard. even though it’s tapered, I mean, it’s after we move them we can put every-
“It’s like sex,” said Jerry. “If it doesn’t stay up, you’re a little bit of an optical illusion – but thing back, so that when you come
in trouble.” I could sense it. Actually, as I was driv- back up here after it’s all moved, it’ll
Behind the lighthouse were a pair of push jacks, long ing down the road, I looked back and I look just like it always did.”
extending arms, one cylinder that slides out of the other said, ‘Wait a second. That doesn’t So it will. On 30 May this year – one
like the actuator on a storm door. Hydraulic pistons pushed look right.’ ” Memorial Day late, thanks to that
the bright-yellow beams the lighthouse rested on, and it In his rearview mirror? And he rough winter – the lighthouse will
slid along the rails, which had been greased with nothing was right? open to the public for the summer
more than Ivory soap. “We were about a half-inch low on season. The vegetation will be pristine
This push moved so slowly that Len decided to try to one side.” but familiar, as Len promised. And
give the spectators a visual reference. He grabbed an orange Len sounded like he was talking there will be grace notes: a ring of
cone and put it on the rail. The lighthouse moved forward, about changing a tyre on the side of granite from the old keeper’s house
pushing it – and the cone slid, barely, still too slow to see. the road. But then someone came over will mark the lighthouse’s old foun-
Len had another idea. He wedged the cone against the light- to hand him something. He looked dation. But one day those markers
house platform. He found a scrap of wood and balanced down. “Oh! Hey! All right!” A flat will fall into the sea. The island will
it against the tip of the cone. The rail, the cone, and the shiny oval. age. The schoolchildren from Chilmark
wood made a delicate triangle. As the lighthouse moved “Penny on the rail!” will get older, take Len and Richard’s
forward, it pushed on one corner, the cone pushed the place. The people who moved the light
wood – and the wood fell, with a minor clack. Len set it TWO DAYS later the will be long gone, and those who re-
again. A hundred and sixty years of history had led to lighthouse reached the member seeing it happen – their mem-
this: clack. Len gave up. end of its railway. The work wasn’t ories will fade. It will be hard to discern
The jacks pushed, telescoping until they’d extended over, but the sexy part was done. that the lighthouse moved at all. The
165 centimetres, as far as they go. When they got there, With the light suspended over the structure will be what it has always
Jerry turned off the truck, and his team reset: tucked concrete pad, International Chimney been: a red-brick, candle-topped chim-
the extending cylinders back inside the push jacks. Moved built up masonry supports, flush ney in a field of green, sentinel over
them up the rails. Bolted them into new positions. against its granite underside. The jacks cliffs, white-red beacon washing over
The unified jacking machine was restarted and the push- were released, and the lighthouse’s the people of this island, who never
ing continued. It was slow going, mundane, even – and weight shifted on to this new founda- really see their home getting smaller
entirely necessary. tion. From there, the move process every year. PM

The
infinitely
scalable
dog
kennel
Sometimes the simple approach
is best to shield your pooch from
the elements. By LINDSEY SCHUTTERS

I don’t think my father-in-law believes that I did woodwork at high school. I don’t blame him either, because I’ve shown
little aptitude for carpentry in our 11-year association. He also owns a construction company and holds a qualification in
carpentry. We don’t see eye to eye on many things and didn’t agree on which breed of dog to get when we needed a new
puppy to help guard our smallholding, so I acquired an Australian cattle dog in December. And now winter is setting in.
Although I do possess the skills to build a doghouse and my father-in-law has a mighty collection of reclaimed wood, I’m
more comfortable supporting the local economy and purchasing a ready-made solution. The old man is old school and took
matters into his own hands during one of his low periods. What follows is the impressive fruit of his labour. What’s nice is
that it can be scaled up or down to suit any size outdoor* dog.
STEP 1 - MEASURING form the front and rear ends. for the front, but place two *Disclaimer: The sideboards
This doghouse is designed to For the entrance opening he centre posts – one on each aren’t actually bevelled and
fit a medium-sized animal and mock-assembled the front end, side of the opening. Glue/nail there are gaps where the boards
uses the wood from 10 pallets marked out the opening and to the sidewalls and floor. overlap. You can cheat like
with minimal wastage. First cut the boards accordingly. The this if you know your dog can
measure the dog, or find the floor is a close boarded pallet. STEP 4 – ROOFING tolerate the slight draught. The
breed standards if your pet is Before you put the roof on the cheat is recommended for
thoroughbred. In this case an STEP 3 – ASSEMBLING doghouse, it’s a good idea to dogs with double coats that
adult male Australian cattle dog Set the floor on the blocks check you haven’t got any sharp are used to sleeping outside.
stands 51 cm at the withers, and treat the wood (we used nail points inside. If there are
so we made the opening 55 cm Woodoc 50 Exterior Sealer any sharp nails, then take the
high. The floor is around 120 Marine). Separately assemble time now to cut them off and
x 100 cm, with blocks from a the side panels by screwing the file flat. You don’t want to cause
block pallet used as stilts in bevelled edges to a timber frame any injury to your best friend.
each corner. Floor dimensions (we used 25 x 38 mm roof Then all that’s left to do is
are only limited to the largest- battens cut and set to 100 x attach the roof to the dog
size pallets you can source. 120 cm rectangle frame and a house. This can be done with
centre post). When the floor the lengths of timber and
STEP 2 – CUTTING is dry, set the sides and glue/ nails. We chose an A-frame
I wasn’t around for most of this nail in place to the floor and because my father-in-law is
part, but my father-in-law bev- to a pallet board (which then skilled enough to pull it off,
elled* one edge of the 120 cm forms the bottom of the wall). but I would’ve gone for a flat
pallet boards at 35˚ for the Repeat the framing for the roof had I been left to my
sides and roof shingles. He also rear panel (100 x 100 cm bat- own devices. We added a rub-
sourced 100 cm pallet boards ten frame and centre post) and ber mat over the apex for
and bevelled that at 35˚ to mirror the perimeter framing extra weatherproofing.

SHOP NOTES E ASY WAYS TO DO HARD THINGS
A CLEVER
EMAIL HACK
Gmail ignores text
after a + in an email
address, but can
still search and filter The whetstone that
on it. For example, whets your appetite
you can use this to A dull kitchen knife can be sharp-
manage a guest list
by directing RSVPs
ened on the unglazed ring on the
to your email+party@ underside of a ceramic dish. Angle
gmail.com, then the knife about 20 degrees from
filtering all emails the plate and run the blade along
to the +party the ring from heel to tip, alternat-
address into a ing sides until sharp.
folder. Great for
bills and spam.
CHEAP
TOOL OF THE MONTH
ORGANISER
FOR FOOD-
THE ELECTRICIAN’S AWL
The electrician’s awl is a sturdy
STORAGE tool with a misleadingly specific
MATERIALS name. You should consider
Instead of filling a keeping one in your general
Open a bottle of wine

kitchen drawer with tool kit for help with any of
cartons of aluminium the following tasks:
with a shoe foil and parchment

paper, save space
PUNCHING HOLES
It will easily punch holes in thin
If you find yourself with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew, and by keeping them on
aluminium, but, even better, it
the pantry shelf,
you are the type of person who wears shoes, you are wearing a upright in the card-
punches holes in drywall without
solution to your problem. Remove one shoe and place the bot- board carrier from a
creating dust – and with the taper,
tle of wine inside, so its bottom rests where your heel would it’s easy to make a hole sized
six-pack of beer.
perfectly for wall anchors.
go. Find a sturdy wall that will not scuff (brick is best). Holding
the shoe and bottle so the bottle is parallel to the ground, PULLING STAPLES
repeatedly bang the flat of the heel against the wall. The cork The spike is long and sturdy enough
to apply significant leverage, and
will begin to work its way out of the bottle. When enough has
the point is fine enough to slip under
protruded to grab it with your hand, remove it manually. staples, whether in wood, uphol-
Return your shoe to your foot. This may not work if the cork is stery, or the latest TPS report.
synthetic. It is not recommended for sparkling wines.
MARKING METAL
Pens and pencils won’t always cut it
for marking smooth metal surfaces,
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ICE but an awl will, even through rust or
other coatings.
Ice cube trays can be filled with more than just water, and
the frozen prisms you crack free from them can do more Reader note!
than chill and water down your drinks. A BETTER
WAY TO CUT
TUBING
It’s hard to cut
cleanly through thin, F R O M—
Small —T H E V E S
flexible tubing. I
nail ARCH !)
Reader Ted Pasche 1
( 7
1 9
of Argyle, Texas, has
Storage Non-dilutive cooling Subtle flavouring an easy solution.
Garden-fresh herbs Make cubes of an Frozen food or aro- Clamp a dowel in a
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KAGAN McLEOD
can be stored for intensely flavoured matics can add vice. Slip the tubing
later use by packing drink, like coffee, hints of flavour to a Tack keeps drawer
over the dowel.
them into ice cube so you can drink it beverage. Try ice Make the cut while
pull tight
trays and filling the ice-cold without cubes with mint in rolling the tubing If the wooden knob on a drawer
trays with olive oil, diluting its flavour. bourbon-based around it. Works keeps twisting loose, drive a small
then sticking them cocktails and frozen best when the nail or tack into it from inside the
in the freezer. pureed berries in dowel and the tub- drawer, parallel to the screw hold-
summer lemonade. ing have similar ing it in place. The nail prevents it
diameters.
from rotating.

GETTING
STARTED HOME VIDEO EDITING
IN . . . How to take those videos building up on your phone and turn them into something that
your followers, family and friends will actually want to watch.
BY ALEXANDER GEORGE
Software
Once you record your video,
you’ll need to edit it, either on
your computer or your phone.
ON YOUR COMPUTER
iMovie (free) All Macs come with
iMovie, which offers limited options
for transitions and titles, but lets you
upload raw video, cut and export with
a relatively intuitive drag-and-drop
interface. When you’re ready to share,
you can upload directly to YouTube.
YouTube Video Editor (free)
Extremely basic. The few functions it
does have – automatic stabilisation,
brightness and contrast correction –
work well, but simple edits such as
extracting a middle section of a scene
are difficult. Because it’s browser-
only, a slow connection can make
the process take forever.
Windows Movie Maker (free)
For PC users, this is about your only
free desktop option. Movie Maker is
limited in options, but it will let you
practise the fundamentals.
Final Cut Pro X (from R4 000)
A professional program that lets you
add sound effects, titles and transi-
tions. Once you get the hang of it,
the multi-window interface makes
reordering footage and working with
multiple sources feel easy.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
(monthly subscription) Premiere
has superseded Final Cut as the
choice of professionals. You get more
tools (after-effects like rotoscoping
and greater latitude in changing frame
Editing video is one of the most demanding tasks rate), which can be a little overwhelm-
T I P ! you can ask of a computer. The big, dense files
PHOTOGRAPHS BY HENRY HUNG
ing. But only at first. Plus, Premiere

will punish slow hardware. If you plan on editing allows greater integration across
movies with some regularity, an external hard drive and computer and mobile platforms and
a fast laptop (the MacBook Pro and the Dell XPS 15 are
has seamless compatibility with other
great for this) are essential.
Adobe programs like Photoshop. If
you’re going to commit to learning
video editing on one application,
this is it.

Getting Started In VIDEO EDITING
ON YOUR PHONE
A
Even on a big, fast phone or tablet
like a Samsung Galaxy S7 or an
iPad Pro, editing without a mouse
and keyboard or the ability to pull
up several windows makes the pro-
cess glacially slow. Use phones
only for very, very short videos or
for practising.
Splice (free) Slightly more intuitive than

the iMovie app, which saves screen
space (and adds confusion) by hiding
tools and menus. It also provides a built-
in library of free-use music, which can be
unexpectedly difficult to find.
B
Adobe Premiere Clip (free) This
program offers more options than Splice
or iMovie, including quick-access func-
tions like slow-motion, but it can take
multiple steps to do something that
takes one click in the desktop version.
Get the right accessories

Shaking ruins nearly any video. You can get a GripTight Gorillapod
The easiest – and shortest – Stand A , a miniature tripod with articulating legs to handle most sur-
T I P ! movie to make is a GIF, a brief
faces. (YouTube megastar Casey Neistat uses his as a selfie stick,
looping video. GifBrewery ($5)
and Giphy’s Gif Maker (free) offer if you’re into such things.) In terms of lenses, your phone’s camera
simple ways to pull short segments is fine, but it could be better. The Moment Wide lens B uses an adhesive mount to sit
of video from YouTube, Vimeo, or over your phone’s lens, doubling the viewing angle. Moment also offers the Tele
most other online sources.
lens to add 2x optical zoom.
IMMEDIATE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR VIDEOS BETTER A WORD ON TIME COMMITMENT
TURN YOUR EDIT THROW IN SOME Cutting down two hours of vacation footage into
PHONE SIDEWAYS MORE B-ROLL a watchable three-minute highlight reel takes
some time. For one thing, you have to skim
Unless you’re in Attention spans are A little B-roll of city through the original footage to find the good
Snapchat, where short. So when traffic or a time-lapse parts. It also takes trial and error as you shift the
horizontal is annoy- you’re cutting a sunrise (both of specific placement of each clip. Moving things by
ing, videos are bet- video, start a scene which can be found one or two seconds or cutting too quickly into the
ter in landscape the second the for free online) works next scene can change a moving moment into an
mode. No one wants action begins or with well at the beginning unintentionally funny one. A two-minute video
to see those black the first syllable spo- of nearly any video. might take hours for a beginner to produce.
bars. You should ken. Great videos Try it. You’ll get more efficient, but it takes time.
know this by now. are concise.

Sharing
Now that you’ve made your video,
you’ll want to show it off. If it’s small
enough (under 25 MB, generally less
than 90 seconds), you can email or
sometimes even text it. Any larger, or
for a broader audience, and you’ll
need one of these services:
Instagram
Music Videos can be between three and 15 sec-
onds. Longer videos can be easily trimmed
Adding music to a video is a challenge, unless you like the idea of a within the app.
melodramatic birthday montage. But it can also be important, as long
as it’s self-aware. If you’re concerned about being sued for using music YouTube
you don’t have the rights to, you can search for royalty-free or for-com- If you have a Gmail address, you already
mercial-use songs from SoundCloud or sift through Creative Commons. have an account. Otherwise you’ll need to make
This is a time-consuming process, but it can be worth it – if your video one. YouTube offers both private and public ways
is one of the few that goes viral. If it’s just going to your college of sharing. Private videos require an invitation.
buddy, you’re pretty safe to use that excerpt from “Bohemian Public videos can be found by anyone. If you make
Rhapsody.” No one will ever know. your videos public, you might want to turn off
comments, just to be safe. Commenters don’t
always understand auteurs.
DOES MY VIDEO Is a child singing? NO Is there a section of fast-
NEED MUSIC? Singing terribly? STILL NO paced travel clips that convey Vimeo
Is there dialogue? THEN NO Is the scene sped up for a great passing of time in a
A smaller audience than YouTube, but this
Is there crowd noise? NO comic effect? YES short period? YES
site attracts a higher concentration of profession-
als. Think: fewer cat videos, more Vice-caliber
THE CLASSIC MUSIC CHEAT SHEET Web shorts – and even polite commenters! A
YOUR VIDEO IS TRY couple thousand rand gets you a year of Pro
membership, which means 1 040 GB of video
Funny “Yakety Sax,” by Ronnie Aldrich and His Orchestra
storage, bandwidth priority for high-resolution
Nostalgic “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” by Green Day playback of your videos and no ads. All users,
Sad “Landslide,” by Fleetwood Mac Pro or not, can password protect their videos
to limit access.
Snapchat
There’s no upload function. You shoot vid-
Transitions, slow- TRANSITION
OPTIONS IN
eos in increments of ten seconds or less, typi-
cally in portrait mode. After that you can apply
motion and filters DECREASING
ORDER OF
WHIMSY
filters, illustrations or change the speed of the
video. But you can’t make cuts. The only real edit-
The rules are pretty simple, but you have to ing is deciding what to shoot and for how long.
know them.
Venetian blinds Google Photos and Dropbox
TRANSITIONS TITLES SLOW- FILTERS Google lets you save an unlimited
Fade to black. Instead of lay- MOTION Instagram lets amount of 1080p videos, which is good enough
Nothing else. ering the titles Only if some- you apply the Radial wipe resolution for most users. Dropbox gives you 2 GB
(See right.) over an image, one falls down same filters on for free, or you can get 1 TB for a small fee. With
give them their (and is even- video as you can either, you can send out a unique link via text
own frame, on tually found to for photos. or email to allow others to watch, even if they
Light flash
a black back- be unhurt). Unless you’re don’t have an account with the service. The big
ground, at the putting together
drawback with Google Photos is that uploading
very start of the final project
Linear wipe files waives your copyright. That’s not a good thing
the video. for your drama
if you’re an aspiring professional or someone
class, use them
sparingly.
who doesn’t like even the remote possibility of
Fade his family vacation showing up in a Google ad.

ASK ROY
Popular Mechanics’ senior home editor solves your
most pressing problems. BY R OY B ER EN D S O H N
A section of new vinyl siding on Is it worth trying to fix a broken Is there a nicer way to keep a
our holiday cottage has buck- doorbell myself? sandbox dry than just covering
led. Can it be repaired, or should it It can be a lot of work. The button it with a tarpaulin and a few pieces
be replaced? or the chime is usually the culprit, of firewood?
Once buckled, vinyl siding is done. since those are the only components with As likely as I am to reach for a DIY
Fortunately, buckling is a relatively moving parts. After that, it gets tough. alternative, it’s pretty hard to beat
rare problem. To properly diagnose a non-working shop-bought sandbox covers. With their
You want to figure out why it buckled doorbell, you’ll need a digital multimeter elastic drawstrings, they can be removed
to avoid having it happen again. to check each part of the doorbell’s system: and replaced in seconds. But they’re not
Leaving out an obvious cause, like heat the power to the transformer; the trans- inexpensive.
from a grill that’s too close, there are three former and its output; the continuous wir- If you’d rather make something your-
things that cause vinyl siding to buckle. ing between the doorbell, the transformer, self, consider specialist manufacturers
Usually, the siding was nailed too tightly. and the chime; and the chime itself. and suppliers such as SA Canvas. You
Vinyl siding expands significantly as it’s Mice have been known to chew through could sew in a couple of sleeves around
heated. That’s why it has oval-shaped doorbell wiring, or wires work loose from the edges of your canvas sheet, or simply
nailing slots that allow it to slide back vibration and can come out from under a hold the sleeves together with exterior-
and forth under the nailhead. Nail it too terminal screw, or greasy dust can build up grade duct tape. Slip in a few segments
tightly and you prevent this movement inside the chime, rendering it inoperative. of sand-filled 20-mm pipe to weigh the
– and cause buckling. So consider all that. Also consider that tarpaulin down, and you’re in business.
The problem can also come from reflect- you can buy an inexpensive doorbell builder A hardier alternative is to build a lift-
ed glare from insulated windows with an kit. Installation takes about half an hour, off cover out of 6-mm marine-grade or
optical coating. These windows can focus depending on how accessible the chime pressure-treated plywood, with 30 mm
a beam of sunlight much in the same way and the transformer are. Or skip that and pressure-treated timber for the sides.
a magnifying glass does. If the reflected update your system to one of the many Avoid hinged or sliding-cover designs
beam lands on vinyl siding, that siding wireless products. It’s even possible to have that could create a pinch point. And if
is toast. such a device powered by a rechargeable you build a wood cover, don’t remove it
Finally, ordinary, sunlight-induced heat battery and to allow you to answer your and lean it against a tree, where the wind
can soften siding to the point that it starts door with your phone. The outside unit could tip it over and hurt somebody. Lay
to sag. Chemists and engineers say that, consists of a button, a two-way speaker, it flat on the ground, where it will be safe
for this to happen, the siding has to be and a wide-angle, high-definition camera. and can also provide a play surface, maybe
heated above the point at which it’s capable All of this is remarkably unobtrusive and even a chalkboard. PM
of maintaining a rigid structure – and mounts where you would normally find
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLINT FORD
resisting the shape-shifting stresses lurk- the doorbell. When a visitor rings the
ing inside it. Those stresses are introduced bell, the device alerts your phone. Using
in the manufacturing stage, but lie dor- an app, you can see the person at the
mant as long as the siding is strong door and speak with him or her from
enough to resist them. Once the siding anywhere.
is heat softened, it no longer resists
those stresses and warps.

l READER COMPETITION l READER COMPETITION l READER COMPETITION l READER COMPETITION l READER COMPETITION l
WIN 1 of 2 LG G5 SMARTPHONES
worth R11 799 each!
LG has pioneered like never before with its tion puts the G5 in prime position compared with
new flagship, the G5. Designed to deliver new other Android devices.
and differentiated user experiences through an Why choose the LG G5?
innovative modular concept, the LG G5 offers  The full metal body redefines class in the
the benefit of both a premium metal unibody and premium smartphone segment.
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introduces clear differentiation against competitors  Designed to supercharge every experience you
in a segment that has, until now, offered little in love on your smartphone, from photos to
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Now, those who want to customise or enhance  Unique modular design enables battery
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ergonomics, thanks to the ability to mix and Go on an exhilarating journey with the G5 and its
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Log on to www.popularmechanics.co.za and

To stand a chance of winning an LG complete the online entry form. Competition closes
G5 smartphone, simply answer the 30 June 2016, and the winners will be drawn on
following question: 05 July 2016. Competition rules online.
HOW MANY REAR-FACING CAMERAS
IS THE LG G5 EQUIPPED WITH?
“LIFE’S GOOD WHEN YOU PLAY MORE”
Reader comp LG half page.indd 1 5/4/16 4:35 PM

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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DO IT YOUR WAY / USEFUL, CLEVER TIPS FOR YOUR HOME
WIN
WINNING TIP SEND US YOUR

LEVEL BEST HINT – AND SCORE!
Due to water scarcity, many people are
Send us your best home, garage work-
installing drinking water and rainwater
shop and general DIY hints – and win!
tanks. The problem with these is that the
This month’s winning tip will receive a
only way to check how much water the
Masterlock small fireproof chest worth
tank is holding at any one time involves
R1 400!
climbing up and lifting the lid.
The Master Lock small fireproof
I have a very simple but effective
chest is compact and versatile and
solution. Go to your local yachting shop
protects your family’s most important
and get a pulley with mountings. Secure
paper documents, media and valua-
the pulley to the top of the tank and drill
bles from fire damage. The integrated
a 2 mm hole in the top of tank. Using
handle makes the chest easy to carry.
nylon cord, punch a hole into the lid of a
The fire-resistant construction and
plastic bottle (honey size), tie a big knot
UL/ ETL verification ensures 30 minutes
inside the lid and half-fill the bottle with
fire protection for documents, official
water. On the outside, secure the cord
papers, as well as digital items (CDs,
to a sinker, making sure the sinker is not
USB sticks) up to 843 degrees.
too heavy for the float. This way, one
The built in privacy key lock with two
can tell the level of the water at a glance.
keys, keeps documents and valuables
As the water level recedes, the sinker
away from prying eyes and prevents the
rises up to the top of the tank. (A toilet
lid from opening in the event of a fire.
cistern can also be used as the float,
The Master Lock safe range carries
with some ballast inside.)
a full after-fire replacement guarantee.
MARTIN LOEWENSTEIN For more information on Master
DURBAN Lock, view www.mackiediy.co.za or
call 021 508 1250.
Send your tips to:

PM Do It Your Way, Box 180, Howard
GRATE IDEA Simply remove the sandpaper and place Place 7450, or e-mail popularmechanics
My home fire’s grate has seen better days, the sander’s foam rubber pad directly on @ramsaymedia.co.za. Please include
with the bars across the base taking a ham- your skin, pushing down firmly, and run your name, address and contact number.
mering over the years. The trouble is, a new the sander. It works as well as any electric Regrettably, only South African residents
grate can hammer the wallet, so I decided massager – at half the price. are eligible for the prize. Prizes not
to make the grate last a bit longer. CLEM ECCLES claimed within 60 days will be forfeited.
I bought a 3 m length of mild steel bar – LITTLE BRAK RIVER
5 x 20 mm – and twenty 15 mm gutter
bolts (6 mm diameter). I then measured
off the width and breadth of the bottom of FLUSHED
the grate and cut two longitudinal pieces When our siphon-type toilet failed a few
each 380 mm long and ten crossbars each years ago, I replaced the flushing mecha-
210 mm long. Next, I drilled the necessary nism with a length of 50 mm plastic pipe,
6 mm holes, aligning the pieces to match which extended about 12 cm into the cistern
the existing spacing as closely as possible, outlet, to just above the full-water line. I
and assembled the grid. drilled several large holes around the lower
It won’t win any beauty contests, but it end and attached a fairly strong rubber
works like a charm and in all cost about collar just above that. A section of galva-
R80 rather than the couple of hundred or nised pipe added weight. The short inside
more a new grate would cost. lifting arm was replaced by a longer one
ROD BAKER and its end was connected to the top of
FISH HOEK the plastic pipe by means of a strong released. Just the right amount, every
nylon cord. flush! In addition, the pipe serves as an
Pressure on the handle lifts the rubber overflow and any failure of the ball valve
SOOTHING SANDER collar off its seat and water rushes freely is noticed immediately.
If you have an orbital sander, did you know down the cistern outlet pipe to “sink the ANDY KILIAN
you also have a great massager? Bismarcks”, at which time the handle is BULWER PM
RESERVATION OF COPYRIGHT
The publishers of Popular Mechanics reserve all rights of reproduction or broadcasting of feature articles and factual data appearing in this journal under Section 12 (7) of the Copyright Act,
1978. Such reproduction or broadcasting may be authorised only by the publishers of Popular Mechanics. Published by RamsayMedia Pty Ltd for the Proprietors, Popular Mechanics (SA) Pty
Ltd, 36 Old Mill Rd, Ndabeni, Western Cape. Distributed by RNA, 12 Nobel St, Industria West, Johannesburg, and printed by CTP Web, 12-14 Boompies Street, Parow, Cape Town. Apple
Mac support: Digicape tel 021 674-5000.

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MEDICINE’S NEW FRONTIER: Search-and-kill immune cells, constructed in the lab

TECH » SCIENCE » WHEELS » HOME » OUTSIDE www.popularmechanics.co.za > LG G5 MODULAR

the world  GET STARTED IN

a safer  THE INFINITELY

Longer than an Airbus A380,

Yet, it’s also easy to become jaded about

HOW YOUR WORLD WORKS TESTED

TECH » SCIENCE » WHEELS » HOME » OUTSIDE www.popularmechanics.co.za > LG G5 MODULAR

Making SKILLS STAND TO WIN ONE OF 4 MASTER LOCK SAFES

the world  GET STARTED IN

Security Digital Combination Safe

valued at R13 500

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2 www.popularmechanics.co.za _ JUNE 2016

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EDITOR: Anthony Doman GROUP PUBLISHER: Neil Piper

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BIOFUEL VS BIRTH CONTROL

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issue of Popular Mechanics,

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Growing biofuel reduces the amount

– in which biomimicry was the

oxygen all year round, but when biofuel is

Robert le Ricolais. He said,

smartphone has a camera in it.

Unless we can control our population

to put the holes.” H

explosion within the next century, human-

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MELKBOS them: they are full of holes. These

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