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Snow plow truck becomes fully engulfed in flames in Woodstock Firefighters arrived and found a fully involved pickup truck fire in the southbound lanes of Route 14. The fire is believed to have begun in the engine compartment of the vehicle and was mechanical in nature

I'm trying to replace a broken shaft in my sheet metal extrusion machine, but I've run into some machine screws that just will not budge. They're 3/16th, Allen type, steel screws, mounted in an aluminum block. They have a patina of rust on them, and I already broke a new bit trying to bust the first one loose. I sprayed them all with WD-40, and gave it an hour or two to soak in, but still no go. Anyone know of a better lubricating product, or some trick I can use to get these suckers to turn?

I just bought a new keyboard for my Windows computer.  I'm delighted with it enough to write a short review of it here.  And hopefully through your comments maybe we'll learn how FReepers are using keyboards. Now to begin, I should explain that I'm rather fussy about my keyboards: Consistency is Crucial -- Since I write for a living, I want to use the exact same keyboard model so my muscle memory is not surprised by a new keyboard layout.  So I settled on the Microsoft Media Pro format. And when some of the key faces get worn so I...

A man fitted with a mechanical arm goes about demonstrating how it works--with mixed (and hilarious) results.

AMHERST, Mass. - One gray squirrel, its bushy tail twitching, barked a warning as another scrounged for food nearby. It was an ordinary spring day at Hampshire College, except that the rodent issuing the warning was powered by amps, not acorns.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2007 – A Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter that went down in Iraq’s Anbar province Feb. 7 most likely experienced a mechanical failure, the director of operations for the Joint Staff told Pentagon reporters today. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said early indications show the crash, which killed seven crewmembers and passengers, resulted from a mechanical malfunction. Lute said eyewitness accounts factored with considerations about the type of aircraft, its flight pattern and other early indicators, led to that conclusion. “So the response of the aircraft leads the people on the ground to believe, early...

This is true Professor Wichman E-mail Claim: A Michigan professor sent an e-mail telling Muslim students to leave the country Status: True. Professor Wichman E-mail Hooray for Michigan State University (The Spartans) and Professor Wichman! Well, what do we have here. Looks like a small case of some people being able to dish it out, but not take it. Let's start at the top. The story begins at Michigan State University with a mechanical engineering professor named Indrek Wichman. Wichman sent an e-mail to the Muslim Student's Association. The e-mail was in response to the students' protest of the Danish...

Thought you might enjoy this. Engineers - Take One: To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Engineers - Take Two: A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!" The pastor said, "Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let's have...

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators believe icing may be a cause of the plane crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven others after determining the engines and propellers were working properly. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a progress report Tuesday as part of its investigation into why the chartered King Air A100 plane crashed and burned about 2 miles from the Eveleth-Virginaids and human error, fatigue or disorientation. Wellstone, D-Minn., was headed to the funeral of a state representative's father when the plane crashed in freezing rain and light snow. Wellstone's wife, Sheila; their 33-year-old daughter, Marcia Wellstone Markuson;...

Aug. 9, 2002, 10:45AM BONING UP ON HISTORY Skeletal remains may be 11,000 years old By TERRY KLIEWER Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle LAKE JACKSON -- The gummy clay of coastal Texas holds plenty of secrets, but it may have given up one of its oldest when routine excavation near here uncovered prehistoric human bones. alt="remains" vspace="2"> John Everett / Chronicle Archaeologist Robert d'Aigle unearthed bones three years ago in the San Bernard River National Wildlife Refuge in south Brazoria County. He may have found only the third human skeleton in North America that dates back at least 10,000 years. The...

Living Dolls: A Magical History Of The Quest For Mechanical Life by Gaby WoodThe 18th-century mechanician, Jacques de Vaucanson, made 'robots' that were capable of playing musical instruments as melodiously as human beings - but it was his incontinent duck that has fascinated down the ages Gaby Wood Saturday February 16, 2002The GuardianThe 18th century was the golden age of the philosophical toy, and its reigning genius was Jacques de Vaucanson. His magnificent creations were admired by audiences all over Europe; they were praised by kings and applauded by scientists. Voltaire labelled him a "new Prometheus". Like the Greek Titan,...