Theme

Warfare

What if We Replace Guns and Bullets with Bows and Arrows?

The bicycle and the bow are both highly efficient, human-powered technologies that could substitute for two very harmful alternatives: the car and the firearm. Why do we promote one but not the other?

November 23, 2022

When Lethal Weapons Grew on Trees

While manufacturing modern firearms and bullets depends on a global supply chain and fossil fuels, bows and arrows can be made anywhere out of anything, using only human power and simple hand tools.

November 22, 2022

How to Downsize a Transport Network: The Chinese Wheelbarrow

For being such a seemingly ordinary vehicle, the wheelbarrow has a surprisingly exciting history.

December 29, 2011

A Steam Powered Submarine: The Ictíneo

Narcís Monturiol successfully resolved the two basic obstacles presented to submarine inventors: air supply and mechanical power.

August 24, 2008