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Open Source Waterwheel

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

A series of trapezoidal steel "buckets" attached together to form a metal water wheel. They are arranged around a square center frame that attaches to a hub for the wheel to spin about. The wheel is next to a stream and four people of various ages appear to be talking around it. A cinder block building with a metal roof is in the left background, and an older, yellow stone building is far off in the distance on the right of the image. The landscape is lush, green, and mountainous.

Here in the West, power going out is an unusual event. But in more remote regions like the Himalayas, reliable electricity isn’t a given. A group of local craftspeople, researchers, …read more Continue reading Open Source Waterwheel→

How to Download Videos to Watch Offline (2023): Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and More

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Simon Hill

Losing your internet for a few hours? Here’s how to keep watching media from the likes of YouTube, Netflix, and Prime to pass the time. Continue reading How to Download Videos to Watch Offline (2023): Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and More→

Living off the Grid, on Water Power

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Elliot Williams

When you think of living off the grid, you often think of solar power. But if you’ve got a good head, and enough flow, water power can provide a much more consistent flow of electrons. All it requires is a little bit of engineering, epic amounts of manual labor, and some tricks of the trade, and you’ll have your own miniature hydroelectric power plant.

[Homo Ludens], the playful ape, has what looks like a fantastic self-sufficient home/cabin in a beautiful part of Chile. His webpages are a tremendous diary of DIY, but the microhydro plant stands out.

You might expect …read more

Continue reading Living off the Grid, on Water Power→