James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

My favorite shelf in the home library is where Raymond Roussel, the Comte de Lautréamont, E.T. A. Hoffmann, Leonora Carrington and other writers form a brilliant phalanx of eccentricity and marvel. I ...

Perhaps the most persistent nonsense in physics: the perpetual motion machine. Bad ideas come and go in physics. But there’s one bit of nonsense that is perhaps more persistent than all others: the ...

On Sept. 20, 1913, rumors were running rampant around North Dakota that J. W. Kennedy, of Mandan, North Dakota, had invented just such a machine. A news clipping about J.W. Kennedy and his perpetual ...

Why AI is taking on impossible challenges. How a perpetual motion machine can power an AI. Why we have to put an explicit explanation about an April 1st article so that the search engines don’t ding ...

The idea of building a machine from isolated parts, each with its own setup and software, no longer fits how modern automation works.

Customization of rotary and linear motion systems improves performance, reduces costs and simplifies complex applications in manufacturing and medical devices. Advances in smart, compact and ...

There are many technical and commercial factors that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must evaluate when designing motion control solutions for industrial machinery. Many types of industrial ...

Over-engineered automation systems create hidden costs and delays. Right-sizing, openness and resilience offer a smarter path to faster development and better performance. 80% of applications use only ...

Beckhoff’s AL8000 linear motors can now deliver greater accuracy and synchronization with the company’s new TwinCAT Cogging Compensation software. According to Beckhoff, this software enables linear ...