Human creativity, it seems, knows no bounds when it comes to inventing new ways to build a petroleum-based fire inside an enclosed metal space and then convert the resulting energy pulse into forward motion.
Outside, Ms. Reid designed a galvanized steel-and-mahogany arbor covered with wisteria over a large outdoor dining table next to the studio, to give domesticity to the metal work space and connect it to the house.
He told me of a box on his route that has a steel I-beam for a post and, riding astride it, a regular mailbox set inside a much bigger metal box, the space between the two filled entirely with concrete.
It involves creating a lattice made out of tiny polystyrene spheres and then filling the space in and around the structure with metal.
The two times humans have reached the deepest part of the ocean, it required a foot-thick flawless metal sphere with barely enough internal space to sit down.
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For would-be smokers who don't have the space, finances or inclination to invest in a big metal smoker, there's the Smoking Gun from PolyScience, the Niles, Ill.
The twisted metal part, jammed in a sliver of open space between the buildings, has cables and levers on it and is about 3 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep.
Most of the greatest glass boxes were designed by Mies, who realized the potential of suspending a "glass curtain" on a steel frame as early as 1928 with his Barcelona Pavilion: Since all the support needed was provided by the metal, the architect could use walls to sculpt space, as Mies did brilliantly with a delicate balance of transparent and reflective surfaces.
The suspension gives space for air to circulate around the hard drive, and the metal material increases the temperature conduction.
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The set, by the team of the front-row guest Rem Koolhaas, gave the first clue: a space like an industrial street, with the effect of oil spills, heavy metal pillars and abstract cars in pastel pink colors.
In 1960 a metal-coated plastic balloon 100ft across sent up by America's space agency was used by Bell to bounce telephone calls to distant destinations in the United States.
Executives said Tuesday they're also developing a foundry designed to produce metal parts from nickel, an element abundant in asteroids, and operate in space, and a class of "Harvestor" craft to extract valuable material from the asteroids.
Down below, the workmen had prepared a metal net, which was fixed to the ground with long nails, all around the space where the crane was slowly lowering its load.
Metal-rubber mirrors would be light and rugged, and would be ideal for use in cameras, space probes or satellites.
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