Have you heard of the Sprengel pump? It’s how they drew hard vacuum back before mechanical pumps were perfected — the first light bulbs had their vacuums drawn with Sprengel …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/oil-based-sprengel-pump-really-sucks/)

Naturally Radioactive Food and Safe Food Radiation Levels
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/naturally-radioactive-food-and-safe-food-radiation-levels/

There was a recent recall of so-called ‘radioactive shrimp’ that were potentially contaminated with cesium-137 (Cs-137). But contamination isn’t an all-or-nothing affair, so you might wonder exactly how hot the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/naturally-radioactive-food-and-safe-food-radiation-levels/)

American Science and Surplus Ends Online Sales
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/american-science-and-surplus-ends-online-sales/

For nearly 90 years, American Science and Surplus has been shipping out weird and wonderful stuff to customers far and wide. In the pre-Internet days, getting their latest catalog in …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/american-science-and-surplus-ends-online-sales/)

Forgotten Internet: The Story of Email
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/forgotten-internet-the-story-of-email/

It is a common occurrence in old movies: Our hero checks in at a hotel in some exotic locale, and the desk clerk says, “Ah, Mr. Barker, there’s a letter …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/forgotten-internet-the-story-of-email/)

FLOSS Weekly Episode 847: This is Networking
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/floss-weekly-episode-847-this-is-networking/

This week Jonathan and Rob chat with Tom Herbert about XDP2! It’s the brand new framework for making networking really fast, making parsers really simple, and making hardware network acceleration …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/floss-weekly-episode-847-this-is-networking/)

Smooth! Non-Planar 3D Ironing
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/smooth-non-planar-3d-ironing/

Is 2025 finally the year of non-planar 3D printing? Maybe it won’t have to be if [Ten Tech] gets his way! Ironing is the act of going over the top …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/smooth-non-planar-3d-ironing/)

It’s A Variable Capacitor, But Not As We Know It
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/its-a-variable-capacitor-but-not-as-we-know-it/

Radio experimenters often need a variable capacitor to tune their circuits, as the saying goes, for maximum smoke. In decades past these were readily available from almost any scrap radio, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/its-a-variable-capacitor-but-not-as-we-know-it/)

Getting the Most out of ISM Transceivers Using Math
https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/getting-the-most-out-of-ism-transceivers-using-math/