The Test
We relied on it for heat, protection from predators, and help in making tools and weapons. You might call our fascination with fire primal. Today, however, we all can't just pile up wood in the yard, light it, and get in touch with the primitive comfort of fire. Many towns have ordinances about open fires. Aside from that, neighbors may view the smoke from one as a nuisance. And the romance of a cozy fire can go right out the window when a small breeze blows a faceful of eye-watering smoke your way.
Enter the modern smokeless fire pit. These appliances directly address some of the biggest issues with a backyard fire. Aside from having metal bodies to safely contain the fire, they employ a method of secondary combustion to burn hotter and more completely, and drastically reduce the amount of smoke created. We tested some popular models to see how they performed and how well they live up to the promise of "smokeless fire."
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SMOKELESS FIRE
While smokeless fire pits for your backyard are a relatively recent development, smokeless fires have been burning for years-centuries, even.
1600s
Dakota fire hole / As far back as the 1600s, Indigenous Peoples of the Americas employed the Dakota fire hole to create fires that would burn in windy conditions and not spread or endanger their environment. It consists of two holes in the ground connected by a tunnel. Building a fire in one hole causes the rising heat to draw cool air through the tunnel. This constant flow of oxygen creates a hot fire that burns close to 100 percent of the fuel (which was wood).
1780s
This story is from the July - August 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics US.
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This story is from the July - August 2022 edition of Popular Mechanics US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Henrietta Lacks - It's not surprising that Henrietta Lacks-whose
It's not surprising that Henrietta Lacks-whose "immortal" HeLa cells were pivotal in developing treatments for diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, and COVID19-is referred to as "the mother of modern medicine." But Lacks's legacy is complicated due to the ethical concerns surrounding the use of her special cells. Lacks, who died of cancer at age 31 in 1951, was never aware that her cells led to significant medical advancements or that they had been taken without her consent. And even now, her strange case raises questions about the morally dubious methods through which we achieved unquestionably positive breakthroughs in medicine.
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Dante Lauretta sat in the backseat of a helicopter hovering high above a remote patch of Utah desert, waiting for a small, twinkling speck in the sky to plunge toward earth.If you didn't know better, you might think what was beginning to burn through the skies above the American southwest in the early hours of September 24, 2023, was a shooting star. But it wasn't a shooting star. Or a meteor. It was a dishwasher-size capsule filled with bits of ancient asteroid-priceless matter from the dawn of the solar system. In other words, it was a treasure chest moving at 27,000 miles per hour and sizzling at a temperature half that of the sun's surface.
Whether We Live in a Simulation - scientist Melvin Vopson, PhD, studies this exact thing- the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile. And he claims to have evidence.
In the 1999 film the Matrix, Neo discovers A truth to end all truths-the universe is a simulation. While this premise provides fantastic sci-fi fodder, the idea isn't quite as relegated to the fiction section as one might expect. . In fact, University of Portsmouth scientist Melvin Vopson, PhD, studies this exact thing- the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile. And he claims to have evidence.
The Ancient Language of Easter Island - Today, humans inhabit- or have, at the very least, explored- pretty much every corner of the planet. But that immense proliferation of Homo sapiens across the globe was a slow process.
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Underwater UFOs - A retired U.S. Navy admiral believes that the government should look to the oceans to help solve a mystery in the skies.
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Synching Up Our Circadian Rhythms - If you've ever done any kind of long-distance travel, or just woken up feeling under-rested thanks to daylight saving time, you know how important your circadian clock is.
If you've ever done any kind of long-distance travel, or just woken up feeling under-rested thanks to daylight saving time, you know how important your circadian clock is. Like many things in your body, your circadian rhythm is more complicated than it might seem on the surface. Rather than being entirely brain-based, it's actually controlled by a collection of several circadian clocks (central and peripheral) that all work together to keep your gears turning like a well-oiled machine.
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Upgrade Your Living Room With This DIY - MID-CENTURY COFFEE TABLE
This project is easy to build and customize to fit your space.
INDISPENSABLE LESSONS FROM A POP MECH LEGEND
With people moving around so much these days, it's perfectly natural to wonder how an editor can just come along and stick like a barnacle to the hull of Popular Mechanics, lasting for 35 years.
SAVING THE SUGAR BUSH
A technological revolution has transformed the ancient tradition of sugar making-with big implications for local economies and ecosystems imperiled by climate change.
