Knife Throwing, Futuristic Aircraft, and the Coral Greenhouse

Quotes from recent reads: three for everyone and another three for paid AG supporters.

Constructed with corrosion-resistant stainless steel and pH-neutral substances, the biomorphic frame is modeled after nature’s patterns. The materials help inspire coral growth and are designed to be absorbed into the oceanic environment as the colonies sprawl across it. Workbenches line its sides and are adorned with simple patterns that create small enclaves for ocean life to hide from predators or rest. To keep divers away from the fragile ecosystems, Taylor tends to install his marine projects in less vulnerable areas.

If you were to spot Andy Campbell’s ride on the road, you might not think too much about it.

Maybe you’d think it’s a bit dated — a throwback to an earlier time when cassette tapes were all the rage and backup cameras were just a glimmer in a car designer’s eye.

But if you took a closer look, you’d see that there’s something special about Campbell’s 1985 Toyota Tercel.

It’s not just that it runs perfectly, or that it’s practically in mint condition.

The only thing wrong with this Tercel is that the odometer doesn’t go up high enough.

It reads 253,070. But it’s missing a one. As in, one million.

This car has 1,253,070 kilometres on it — and counting.

For much of the month of June 2023, David and Daniel Hulett sat in their parents’ basement in Virginia throwing five-cent coins in the air. First David would flip his nickel. Then Daniel would flip his nickel. They were trying to get the coins to land on their edge, an occurrence they knew was vanishingly improbable, but not impossible. This was their work.

After three or four days, doubts began to set in. “When you’ve been doing it for so long, you’re like: the next one has to be it!” says Daniel, 26, the elder and generally chirpier of the two. “You get really optimistic. And then it doesn’t happen and you feel like the world is ending. It’s almost physically painful. You get messed up.”

The pair altered their grip. They tried different spins. They concluded perhaps a table tennis table wasn’t the best landing surface – too bouncy – so they tried wood, a bathroom tile, two types of granite. For David, 24, the repeated failures hit particularly hard. “I couldn’t sleep,” he says. “I would have dreams about flipping the nickel. You end up feeling like you’re in a simulation. Like, what is real any more? What even am I?”