Popular Mechanics USA_May_2020

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May/June 2020
// STA NDA R DS //

1 2 3 4

My Pop Life From the Editor Games & Toys Drinks
Tips, gear picks, and Our new master of riddles How a devious hack Can our taste buds tell if we’re
confessions from our staff. issues her first challenge. revived the NES. drinking AI-generated whiskey?

p.4 p.8 p.10 p.12

5 6 7 8

Deep Math Science Pro Challenge Home
Facebook’s neural network Using da Vinci’s lost The best builds Our 2020 Home Awards:
that can do calculus. plans to build a bridge from our reader 2x4 the best gear for every
that stands on its own. challenge. part of your house.
p.16
p.18 p.24 p.57

9 10 11 12

This Changed Tools Editors’ Choice How to Be Good
Everything Impact drivers tested for A multitool, sander, and at What You Do
This early 3D printer was speed, noise, comfort, growler that earn our Molten candy
a “glue gun on steroids.” value, and versatility. test team’s approval. molding skills.

p.72 p.74 p.80 p.92

// FE ATURES //

FROM LEF T: DAYMON GARDNER; GEORGE RETSTECK; JULIA RENDLEMAN The Miracles Master the The Town That
of the Bionic Bathroom Reno Banned WiFi
Olympics
The toughest room to DIY, Green Bank, West Virginia, has
The future is a powered solved. Your shag-carpet strict limitations on wireless
toilet-seat cover needs to internet. How do they keep up
exoskeleton race. p.30 go. p.38 with modern life? p.48

// O N T HE C OV ER // PHOTOGR APH BY JULIA RENDLEM A N May/June 2020 3

My Pop Life Alexander George

1 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

// EXPERT H ACKS, GE A R RECS & LIFE-TESTED W ISDOM FROM OUR STAFF // Matt Allyn Features Director;
Brian Dalek Director of Content
@tylerdaswick CURRENT Operations; Leah Flickinger
PASSION PROJECT Director of Content Creation; Lou
TYLER DASWICK Mazzante Test Director; Suzanne
I’m teaching myself to Perreault Editorial Operations
Associate Features cook, but I’d rather impro- Director; Jesse Southerland
Editor vise than follow a recipe. Creative Director
My strangest successes so
Once smuggled an DESIGN + PHOTO
entire rotisserie far: cayenne caramel Amy Wolff Photo Director; Colin
chicken into a popcorn, raspberry black- McSherry Senior Art Director; Alyse
movie theater. Markel Art Director; Eleni Dimou
bean chili, and Mortal Senior Designer; Kory Kennedy, Ash
Kombat Chicken. Bartholomew Digital Designers;
W Kristen Parker Photo Editor; John
Hamilton Associate Photo Editor
The Best Thing I Have on My Desk Mortal Kombat
A cactus. I grew up in Phoenix, a Chicken in 3 Steps EDITORIAL
world away from our offices in Molly Ritterbeck Health & Fitness
New York and PA, so this little guy 1 / Lay a whole chicken— Director; Bette Canter, Darren
reminds me of home. innards removed—on a cutting Orf Deputy Editors; Tyler Daswick,
board, breast-side down. Taylor Rojek Associate Features
PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW Editors; Andrew Daniels How-To
2 / Cut down both sides of the Editor; Courtney Linder Senior
1 2 backbone from neck to tail News Editor; Hailey Middlebrook,
to pull out the spine—finish Jordan Smith Editors; Danielle
Wüsthof 8-inch Lodge 10 1⁄4-inch him!—then flip the bird over Zickl Health & Fitness Editor;
Cook’s Knife Cast Iron Skillet and press down on the breast- Jennifer Leman News Editor;
bone until the ribcage breaks Daisy Hernandez, Paige Szmodis
Delicate enough It’s the only cooking and the bird lies flat—fatality! Associate News Editors; Katie Fogel
for dicing but vessel you need. Social Media Editor; Drew Dawson
I’ve used mine for 3 / Season it on all sides with Gear & News Editor; Jessica Coulon
strong enough to steak, fish, and salt and lay it in a cast-iron Assistant Editor; Leah Campano
pulverize spices giant pancakes. skillet, breast-side up. Cook on Editorial Planning Associate; Amber
and butcher meat. the top rack of a 425°F oven for Joglar Administrative Assistant
65 minutes, rotating the skil-
3 4 let halfway after 30 minutes. Kit Fox Special Projects Director; L AKOTA GAMBILL (PRODUCTS); TREVOR RA AB (DASWICK)
When the bird’s done, let it Caroline Dorey-Stein Assistant
The Flavor Bible Kuchenprofi rest (in peace) for 15 minutes Special Projects Editor
12-inch Tweezers before eating.
Instead of recipes, TEST TEAM
this provides an Don’t call these fussy The Best Money Will Egensteiner, Jennifer Sherry
index of flavor until you’ve used them I Ever Spent Associate Test Directors; Dan Roe
combinations. Test Manager; Jeff Dengate, Matt
It renders other to pinch eggshells My Epson Home Cinema 1060 Phillips Senior Test Editors; Roy
from a bowl. Tongs projector. It’s versatile, fun to Berendsohn, Adrienne Donica,
cookbooks obsolete. use, and more attractive than Brad Ford, Amanda Furrer, Bobby
are for apes. a gaudy big-screen TV. Lea, Riley Missel, Morgan Petruny
Test Editors; Lakota Gambill,
My Favorite App Trevor Raab Photographers; Joël
Nankman Logistician
The AMC Theatres
app. I see a movie every VIDEO
week, so the subscription Josh Wolff Director; Jimmy
plan saves me tons of Cavalieri Production Manager; Pat
money, and the rewards Heine, David Monk Producers
program gives me free
popcorn. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Joe Pappalardo, Kyle Mizokami,
Caroline Delbert, Daniel Dubno,
Wylie Dufresne, David Owen,
Richard Romanski, James
Schadewald, Joseph Truini,
Nicholas Wicks

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Bill Strickland

Popular Mechanics International
Kim St. Clair Bodden Russia, South
Africa • SVP/International Editorial
Director

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ISSUE 2, 2020

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

4 May/June 2020

CRAFTED FOR YEARS

TO BE SHARED FOR
YEARS TO COME

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My Pop Life Jack Essig

1 SVP, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

// EXPERT H ACKS, GE A R RECS & LIFE-TESTED W ISDOM FROM OUR STAFF // William Upton Associate Publisher;
Cameron Connors Executive
@wegensteiner Favorite Director, Head of Brand Strategy &
App Marketing; Samantha Irwin
WILL EGENSTEINER General Manager; Chris Peel
Pocket, which Executive Director, Men’s & Enthusiast
Associate Test Director curates stories from Group, Hearst Magazines
around the web. I'll Digital Media
Likes: gear, spread- crank through a few
sheets, and his Google ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES
Pixel 3. Dislikes: morn- articles as I try to NEW YORK: Caryn Kesler Executive
ings, slow Internet, and fall asleep, then go Director, Luxury Goods; John
mumbly podcast hosts. through the next day Wattiker Executive Director, Global
and reload my feed. Fashion & Retail; Doug Zimmerman
Senior Grooming Director; John
PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW Cipolla Integrated Account Director
Spirits, Entertainment & Travel;
Calling All Climbers 1 2 Kimberly Buonassisi Account
I’m into both rock and Director; Joe Pennacchio East
ice climbing, a byprod- Yeti Tocayo 26 Voormi River Coast Automotive Director; Jake
uct of my years spent out Backpack Run Hoodie Heffez, Samantha Wolf Integration
west. (Mom, if you’re Associates; Everette A. Hampton
reading this, know that This has become my This merino-wool hoodie Executive Assistant; DETROIT: Marisa
I don’t free solo.) I might everyday backpack. I is breathable for running, Stutz Group Advertising Director,
also be using this space stow a pair of shoes, but looks good enough Hearst Autos; Eric Drieselman Sales
as a not so thinly veiled workout clothes, and to wear for less-athletic Director, Hearst Autos; Toni Starrs
call for climbing part- Integration Associate; CHICAGO:
ners near eastern PA! my laptop. occasions. Justin Harris Midwest Sales Director;
Autumn Jenks Midwest Sales
CURRENT 3 Salsa Journeyman Director; Anne Merrill Sales Assistant; L AKOTA GAMBILL (PRODUCTS); TRAVOR RA AB (EGENSTEINER)
PASSION PROJECT Claris 700 LOS ANGELES: Stacey Lakind
Remington Beard Southwest Sales Director; Anne
Optimizing Google Boss Perfecter The wide tires soak Rethmeyer Group Sales Director,
Chrome with browser up bumps and the Hearst Autos; Olivia Zurawin Sales
extensions. OneTab Pro Stubble and Beard Kit smooth-shifting Assistant; SAN FRANCISCO: William
collates my open tabs drivetrain helps me G. Smith, Smith Media Sales, LLC;
into one handy page, and The turbo mode buzzes keep a good cadence. DALLAS: Patty Rudolph PR 4.0
Selection Context Search through my unkempt Media; HEARST DIRECT MEDIA: Brad
searches for selected text beard and has a variety Gettelfinger Sales Manager
on a number of databases of tools for shaping.
MARKETING SOLUTIONS
with just one click. Jason Graham Marketing Solutions:
Executive Director, Integrated
The Best Money Marketing; Jana Gale Executive
I Ever Spent Creative Director; Karen Mendolia
Executive Director, Events &
Lumber and tools for Promotions; Mike Sarpy Design
building a workbench. Director; Alesandra Ajlouni Senior
My dad and I spent a Manager, Integrated Marketing;
day constructing the Jaclyn D’Andrea, Caroline Hall
bench based on plans Marketing Coordinators; William
my grandfather drew up. Carter Executive Director,
It’s sitting in the garage, Consumer Marketing; Peter Davis
providing storage space Research Manager
and good memories.
ADMINISTRATION/PRODUCTION
6 May/June 2020 Aurelia Duke Finance Director;
Regina Wall Advertising Services
Director; Trevor Czak Business
Coordinator; David Brickey
Production Manager

PUBLISHED BY HEARST
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THE WAY BACK

High school basketball phenom, Jack Cunningham, suddenly
walked away from the game. Now, years later, he is drowning in
alcoholism and any hope. When asked to coach the basketball
team at his alma mater, he may have finally found a reason to
confront his demons, but will it be enough?

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© 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

From the
2 Editor

// ALE X A N DER GEORGE //

The Pop The Locker Prank
Mech
Riddle D I F F I C U LT Y Moderate by Laura Feiveson
That
Defeated There are 100 lockers that line by closing every other locker
Me the main hallway of Chelm High (starting at the second locker).
School. Every night, the school Student 3 then goes to every
IONLY MADE IT ABOUT HALFWAY principal makes sure all the lock- third locker (starting with the
through this riddle (right), the ers are closed so that there will third) and opens it if it’s closed,
first installment from contributor be an orderly start to the next and closes it if it’s open. Stu-
Laura Feiveson. There’s a reason day. One day, 100 mischievous dent 4 follows by opening every
hers are so challenging. She has a students decide that they will fourth locker if it’s closed and
Ph.D. in Economics from MIT. She play a prank. closing it if it’s open. This contin-
worked at the IMF. And now, on ues until Student 100 finally goes
days off from her job as an economist The students all meet before to the hundredth locker. When
at the Federal Reserve, she creates school starts, and line up. The the principal arrives later in the
math puzzles for Pop Mech. For the first student then walks down morning, which lockers does she
full explanation of the solution, go to the hallway and opens every find open?
popularmechanics.com/riddle. locker. The next student follows
Trying to solve these kinds of
puzzles brings back good memories ANSWER: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100 // Every locker will have its status changed L AKOTA GAMBILL
of computer science and geometry by a student with a number that is a factor of that locker number. (Locker 24 will be
classes. I liked using specific tools opened/closed by students 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24.) Lockers with an odd number of
and principles to reason toward the factors will ultimately remain open, and lockers with factors that are a pair (16, with 4
answer, all while building a trail and 4, for example) are the only ones with an odd number of factors. Those lockers are
of evidence. also perfect squares. Only locker numbers that are perfect squares are left open.
Getting beat by a “moderate” rid-
dle reminds me: Respect the heroes
who use math and logic to solve huge
problems. That includes economists
like Feiveson, and the epidemiol-
ogists and doctors who have been
asked to find new answers on very
short notice. Me? I’ll try one more,
then back to my Nintendo Switch.

8 May/June 2020

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Games
3 & Toys

// BY W ILLI A M HER K E W ITZ //

Cracking IN 19 85, A M E R I C A N V I D E O But that fall, an 8-bit phoenix
the Chip: games languished in a waste- rose from these cartridge ashes:
How Hacking land. The gaming giant Atari the Nintendo Entertainment
the NES had just folded in a wave System (or NES). Soon, the NES
Made It of terrible and unplayably would be in one of every three
Even Better buggy third-party games. In households in America.
its final throes, the company
A closer look physically dumped millions of In an effort to avoid Atari’s
at the 10NES cartridges in the Chihuahuan fate, the Nintendo corporation
chip, the Desert in New Mexico. After- kept a tight grip on what games
family-friendly ward, Atari was split up and sold you could play on their system,
gatekeeper off to competitors. so each console came with a top-
forthe NES. secret lockout chip, a first for
the gaming industry. Nintendo L AKOTA GAMBILL
called it the 10NES.

It worked like this: Every
NES cartridge needed a paired
chip that used an encrypted
code to communicate with the
10NES gatekeeper. Without
that paired chip, the console
would refuse to boot up your
game—and Nintendo had a
monopoly on manufacturing
and licensing these coveted
cartridges.

But Nintendo asked third-
party game developers for more
than just royalties to access the
lucrative cartridges. The com-
pany demanded games free of
vice and adult content. Nintendo
branded itself family-friendly,
and required that games on the
NES match these values. No
crude language, sexual content,
and booze- or drug-related imag-
ery were allowed.

Nintendo’s rules would cause
game designers to cover the top-
less statues in Castlevania III,
to rename Vodka Drunkenski in
Punch-Out!! to Soda Popinski,
and to change blood to sweat in
Mortal Kombat.

For three prudish years, game
developers tried to reverse engi-
neer and crack the 10NES’s
code. It never worked.

But in 1988, Tengen, a
defunct Atari offshoot com-

10 May/June 2020

COURTESY CALDWELL (HALLOWEEN); COURTESY ROLLIE; COURTESY MORPHCAT GAMES (MICRO); COURTESY ARTIX ENTERTAINMENT (DUNGEONS); COURTESY KHAN GAMES (NESCAPE!) pany, hatched a plan. First, it The rewired Rabbit chip and hardware from a company that
tricked the U.S. Patent Office jolting circuits ushered in a custom-designed its own version
into giving up the internal specs new wave of games that brought of Tengen’s Rabbit chip.
of the 10N ES chip (Tengen sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll back
falsely claimed these specs fell into American video games. “I personally like the story
under a copyright dispute) and Soon there were NES games of the voltage spike, brute-force
used the stolen plans to make with nudity (Peek-A-Boo Poker method,” Caldwell says. But the
their own chip copy called the and Hot Slots), alcohol (Mas- circuit-frying solution “isn’t
Rabbit. ter Chu and the Drunkard Hu), very elegant or practical today.”
and absolutely terrible game
Almost simultaneously, a mechanics, like the unfinished Thirty-five years after the
second gaming company—called Cheetahmen II and Little Red console’s launch, Caldwell’s
Color Dreams—discovered Hood. newest mystery/adventure NES
another way to work around game, Full Quiet, will arrive
the chip and installed its third- Today, retro-minded devel- later this year. And his studio
party games with a circuit that opers are still using these isn’t alone.
bypassed the 10NES with an workarounds to create new
armed robber’s approach. At the games for the NES. “Cracking the “The popularity of new NES
right moment, Color Dreams’s 10NES [paved the way] so folks games is actually increasing
chip would jolt the 10NES with like me could come along and again. There’s certainly a move-
a brief zap of electricity, sneak- start making new NES games ment of digging into this retro
ing past its fried defenses before again,” says Greg Caldwell, direc- hardware, and seeing what you
the chip could shut the bootleg tor of Retrotainment Games. can squeeze out of these old con-
game down. Caldwell says he buys cartridge soles,” Caldwell says. “These old
machines are the fossil record of
where we came from.”

FIVE NEW HAUNTED: ROLLIE (TBD) MICRO MAGES DUNGEONS & NESCAPE! (2019)
NES TITLES HALLOWEEN Rollie is a shot of (2019) Grab three DOOMKNIGHTS If you’re a fan of
FILLED ’86 (2016) “It’s a pure nostalgia. A friends and power (TBD) A little bit deviously hard
WITH 8-BIT beat-’em-up hybrid woodland-critter up your old NES The Legend of puzzles, here’s the
GAMING filled with kitschy Super Mario Bros. Four Score (the Zelda and a little retro game for
GREATNESS horror and a combat with a touch of console’s original bit Castlevania, you. NEScape! is
system like nothing Metroid movement. 4-player adaptor) this hack, slash, modeled after the
you’d have seen on That’s why you’re for this delightful and spellcasting ongoing modern
the NES,” says game dusting off your dungeon crawler. single-player game craze of escape
designer Caldwell. NES in the first It’s a modern spin on has plenty of puns rooms and uses
“We have the ben- place, right? the classic platform- and a giant axe. your old, retrofitted
efit of another 30+ er genre, filled with What more do you Super NES Mouse.
years of video game the classic baddies: need?
history.” goblins, skeletons,
traps, and snakes!

May/June 2020 11

Drinks

4

// BY SA R A H K LOEPPLE //

The World’s W E’VE SEEN AI and other out-of-the-ordinary PHOTO ILLUSTRATION CREATED BY ELENI DIMOU USING GET T Y IMAGES (HAND) AND L AKOTA GAMBILL (BEER)
Best New technology in their production.
Brewers artificial intel- Why involve machines in these
Just Happen ligence take venerated crafts? Both com-
to Be Robots over many tasks panies saw it as an exciting
in the everyday learning experiment, but more
12 May/June 2020 world—from importantly, they recognized
technology’s ability to develop
parking cars to flavor profiles at lightning speed
and standardize production.
stocking grocery store aisles.
Just outside Gävle, Sweden,
So it shouldn’t be a surprise Mackmyra Whisky partnered
with Microsoft and Finnish tech
that AI has found its way into company Fourkind to create the
world’s first AI-generated whis-
the creation of alcoholic bever- key. The distillery used machine
learning models on Microsoft’s
ages, which often involves a host Azure cloud platform and AI ▶

of different ingredients, flavor

notes, and precise recipes.

A Swedish distillery and a

Philadelphia brewery are among

the increasing number of manu-

facturers that have incorporated

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. BULLEIT DISTILLING CO, LOUISVILLE, KY.

Drinks

4

▶ cognitive services and fed them GPS-denied industrial envi- A Closer
Mackmyra’s existing recipes, ronments, such as mines—to Look
cask types, sales data, customer create Swarm Intelligence, a at Robot-
reviews, and tasting notes. pale ale that was released in Generated
late January. Dock Street says Beverages
The models could generate the new brew is the world’s first
more than 70 million high- drone-assisted beer. 1 DOCK STREET
quality recipes. Master blender BREWING CO. SWARM
Angela D’Orazio reviewed hun- “Since [the drones] are auton- INTELLIGENCE
dreds of them until she landed on omous, they can take on a variety
five to test in her laboratory. She of tasks, unlike a piece of brew- At 4.9 percent ABV, this
then chose the best of the batch, a ing equipment that was designed drone-assisted pale ale
blend now known as Intelligens, to do one thing, one way, and if was brewed with local
which was released in September it breaks, it breaks,” says Renata orange blossom that’s
2019 (though we’re still waiting Certo-Ware, head of events and been fermented out,
on the stateside launch). marketing for Dock Street. leaving behind floral, fruity
“Drones are more intuitive and notes and a taste of honey.
“What a program like this can able to be programmed and Ekuanot is the dominant
do is process a lot more [recipe] re-programmed in a way that is hop, but you can also taste
possibilities per second than much more amenable to trouble- Mosaic and Chinook.
a human brain can ever do,” shooting and being used for mul-
D’Orazio says. But human tiple tasks.” 2 MACKMYRA WHISKY
senses, especially taste and smell, 3 INTELLIGENS
remain irreplaceable. “Human Dock Street head brewer 4
context is needed,” she says. “I Mark Russell says the brewery This Swedish single-malt
was involved in every step—I and Exyn initially discussed whiskey, master blended
decided on the recipe, I chose the using drones to deliver beer, but by AI with supervision
casks.” Although Mackmyra is the autonomous aerial robots from D’Orazio, is described
the first to use a human-machine can only hold so much weight. as fruity, oaky, and slightly
collaboration in the distilling They chose instead to use a salty with a dryish end.
process, D’Orazio expects this drone to add hops into the brew- Mackmyra used smaller
partnership to proliferate in the ing kettles. casks to produce a
future. In fact, several breweries concentrated flavor.
have already done so. “On our scale, we’re ver y
much still hands-on,” Russell BULLEIT BETA TEST
Dock Street Brewing Co. in says. “This isn’t going to revolu- COCKTAIL
Philadelphia has used robots not tionize our brewing. It was more
to develop flavors but instead to just a fun thing for us to do. But With the help of Austrian
help in the brewing process. creating a consistent product is tech company Print A
The brewery partnered with its always the goal for brewers, and Drink, Bulleit Distilling Co.
neighbor Exyn Technologies— anytime you can remove human developed the Beta Test, a
which specializes in drones for error, that’s great.” light and fruity 3D-printed
cocktail. A robotic arm
THE DISTILLERY USED MACHINE injects suspended beads
LEARNING MODELS AND FED of colored lemon oil into
THEM EXISTING RECIPES, CASK a mix of Bulleit bourbon,
TYPES, SALES DATA, CUSTOMER peach and grape juices,
REVIEWS, AND TASTING NOTES. and green tea.

14 May 2020 CHAMPION BREWING
ML AI

A Charlottesville, Virginia,
brewery partnered with a
machine learning company
to create ML AI, an IPA
with 6 percent ABV. The
AI model used parameters
that included IPAs judged
at the Great American
Beer Festival, the 10 best-
selling IPAs in the country,
and the 10 worst-selling
IPAs at a local retailer.

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Deep Math

5

// BY COURTNE Y LIN DER //

Facebook “All the data used by comput- and teenagers with a “3.” The CREATED BY ELENI DIMOU USING SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - SCIEPRO/GET T Y IMAGES
Neural ers are numbers,” Lample and numerals present our symbolic
Nets Solve Charton say. “Most of the time, data—the age groups—in a lan-
Differential they represent quantities, such guage computers understand.
Equations as the intensity of a color in an
image, or the amount of sales of The neural net has made
I F COLLEGE STUDENTS a product. But sometimes the strides in solving differential
could obtain a copy of numbers are used as symbols to equations due to the pair’s wiz-
Facebook’s latest neura l represent objects or classes. For ardry with symbolic data. A
network—a series of algo- instance, an individual’s age refresher: Differential equations
rithms that resemble the group might be represented by are used to solve for one or more
human brain—they could a number.” derivatives of a given function.
cheat all the way through They can be used to calculate
Calculus 300. At the least, they Let’s say you are planning the rate of change within a pop-
could solve the following dif- a birthday party and you’d like ulation or wavering demand for
ferential equation in under to assign the kids’ seats by age. a particular product. An inte-
one second: There are three categories: kids gral, meanwhile, is known as
under 10, kids aged 10 to 13, and the anti-derivative since it’s
16x3-42x2+2x 13- to 18-year-olds. A computer the inverse process of differen-
y1= wouldn’t understand an input of tiation. Finding the integral of
“children, preteens, and teenag- a function with respect to “x”
(-16x8+112x7-204x6+28x5-x4+1) ers,” so you might use numbers means finding the area from the
to represent the groups. Any- x-axis to the curve.
It may not replace Wolfram one under 10 is represented
Alpha anytime soon, but Face- with a “1,” preteens with a “2,” The Facebook neural net
book’s neural net is the first to can solve these kinds of equa-
solve complex calculus prob-
lems. It’s a considerable leap
forward in computers’ abilities
to understand math logic.

Two Facebook researchers in
Paris, Guillaume Lample and
François Charton, described the
breakthrough in a recent paper,
“Deep Learning for Symbolic
Mathematics.” They noted that
while neural nets can perform
everyday calculations, like arith-
metic, they don’t exactly have
a whiz-kid reputation when it
comes to calculations with sym-
bolic data—basically information
you can’t add, multiply, or other-
wise use in operations.

16 May/June 2020

"

WHILE NEURAL NETS can’t understand that we mean
CAN PERFORM EVERYDAY “cubed” and not “3.” Lample
CALCULATIONS, LIKE and Charton’s network unpacks
ARITHMETIC, THEY DON’T equations into smaller parts
EXACTLY HAVE A WHIZ- through tree-like structures.
KID REPUTATION WHEN IT The trees’ leaves are numbers,
COMES TO CALCULATIONS constants, or variables,
WITH SYMBOLIC DATA — while the nodes are operator
BASICALLY INFORMATION symbols like addition, differenti-
THAT YOU CAN’T ADD, ation-with-respect-to, and so on.
MULTIPLY, OR OTHERWISE
USE IN OPERATIONS. For example, the expression 2
+ 3x (5+2) can be represented as
tions in about one second. It Similarly, neural nets rely + shown in figure 1.
can even outperform software on layers and layers of artifi- 2x
packages like MATLAB or Wol- cial “neurons” that resemble And the expression 3x2 +
fram Mathematica. The key to the ones in our brains—only 3+ cos (2x) - 1 is broken down as
its advantage? It resembles the they perform basic calculations. 52 shown in figure 2.
way neurons are organized in When they work together, the
the brain. neural net has the power to solve figure 1 Lample and Charton used
complex problems, even though a vast amount of data to estab-
We build connections between individual layers of the network + lish rich connections between
brain cells as we learn patterns, may only be equipped to complete x- the net’s “neurons.” These rela-
or associations. When you see a one operation. 3 pow cos 1 tionships, built correctly, allow
house cat, you notice it has fur x 2x it to “think” through a differen-
and whiskers and moves on all This makes neural nets fan- tial equation. The results were
fours. Your brain gathers this tastic at image recognition or 2x impressive.
information and helps deter- at helping autonomous vehicles
mine you’re looking at a cat, so identify road hazards. They’re figure 2 “On all tasks, we observe
you can see a leopard at the zoo less suited to solving mathe- that our model significantly
and recognize it as another cat matical equations because the outperforms Mathematica,”
despite differences in size. As you shorthand humans use to write write Lample and Charton in
experience the world, tiny brain expressions uses symbolic their paper. “On function inte-
cells called neurons fire electro- figures that computers find gration, our model obtains
chemical signals to one another, cumbersome. close to 100 percent accuracy,
reinforcing the connections so while Mathematica reaches
you can recognize patterns more For example, we write x3 to 85 percent.”
easily in the future. mean x multiplied by x mul-
tiplied by x, but a computer Finally, in case you want to
check your math, here is the
final answer you should have
gotten when solving for y in that
first example:

y = sin-1(4x4-14x3+x2)

Lample and Charton didn’t
give any hints as to what Face-
book plans to do with this neural
net, as it’s just a proof of con-
cept at the moment. If you ask
us, though, this is an innova-
tion worth sharing. We have a
couple projects in the back that
could benefit from a computer
like this.

May/June 2020 17

Science

6

// BY DAV ID GROSSM A N //

A 3D printer Splayed eager to win the contract. GRETCHEN ERTL/COURTESY MIT (BRIDGE); COURTESY MICHELLE XIE (RENDERING)
created 126 foundation He didn’t get the job, but more
gypsum powder absorbs lateral
blocks. movement of than 500 years later, a team of
strong winds. researchers at the Massachusetts
Building Institute of Technology suggests
da Vinci’s WH E N S U L T A N that maybe he should have. Karly
Forgotten Bayezid II of the Bast, who graduated from MIT in
Bridge Ottoman Empire 2019 and is now at Buro Happold
requested propos- Engineering, worked alongside
18 May/June 2020 als for a bridge structural engineer and MIT
connecting capital professor John Ochsendorf and
city Constantino- undergraduate Michelle Xie to
ple (now Istanbul, Turkey) with analyze Leonardo’s sketches and
the neighboring city, Galata letters (pulled from Manuscript
(Karaköy, Turkey) at the turn L, a small Codex stored in the
of the 16th centur y, famed Institut de France in Paris). They
inventor Leonardo da Vinci was also researched historically accu-
rate materials and construction
methods to prove that Leonar-
do’s unique bridge design would
have held up.

The team created a 1:500
scale model of the bridge (mak-
ing it about three feet long),
which the inventor described
in a letter to the Sultan as “a
masonry bridge as high as a
building, [so] even tall ships
will be able to sail under it.”
Leonardo’s concept was for a
flattened bridge with a long
arch—a radically different
style from anything that had
previously been constructed.
At the time, many bridges fea-
tured a semicircular arch, often
half as tall as the span of the
bridge, instead of a sweeping
parabolic arch.

Leonardo’s bridge would
have spanned roughly 918 feet
(280 meters)—neither measure-
ment had been invented yet, so
he used a unit of measurement
called braccia. It would have
been about 10 times longer than
typical bridges of that period in
order to span the river, Bast says.

Like the classic masonry
bridges of ancient Rome, with ▶

BE CORONAVIRUS SMART

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help your family stay safe.

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YOUR KIDS F R E Q U E N T LY HOME
Because, um, you
Your Children May Be Feeling It’s the Best Way to Stop Social and Physical touch it all day long.
Confused and Anxious. the Spread. Distancing Slows the Spread.
STAR IN
Answer questions and Thorough handwashing takes This can be especially
encourage them to share at least 20 seconds. hard for kids. Staying Your Own
their feelings. home protects your family Video.
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Science

6

A BRIEF HISTORY OF
BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

▶ which Leonardo would have “driven by geometry because 480 B.C. 1777 S C I EN C E & S O C I E T Y P I C T U R E L I B R A RY/G E T T Y I M AG E S (D I V I N G S U I T, PA R AC H U T E) ; P R I N T CO L L EC TO R /G E T T Y I M AG E S (A R M O R ED V EH I C L E) ; A L I N A R I A R C H I V E S/CO R B I S/G E T T Y I M AG E S (C R O S S B OW)
been familiar, his design relied the stone has an incredibly The Greek historian Construction on the
solely on the forces of physics high compressive strength,” Herodotus details
and gravity with no need for meaning all the pieces press world’s first cast-
fasteners or mortar. Critically, tightly against one another the construction iron bridge begins in
the design also included wing to keep the bridge standing, of Xerxes’ pontoon Coalbrookdale, England.
walls, or abutments that splayed Bast says. The team used a bridges, rope-tied Thomas Jefferson was so
out on either side, which would gypsum powder 3D printer to enthralled, he ordered an
have steadied the bridge against create each of the 126 blocks, floating barges engraving of the bridge.
high winds. which needed to be a uniform strung together
weight and create enough fric- during the Greek 1841
Strong winds have forced even tion to keep each stone locked and Persian War. Jacques Triger invents
relatively modern bridges from in place. It took the 3D printer the pneumatic caisson,
the 20th century—such as Gal- one hour to produce each piece. 1ST CENTURY A.D.
loping Gertie, the famed swaying The Romans finish allowing workers to
bridge in Washington State— The crucial moment came construction on the dig pier foundations by
into lateral oscillations, which when Bast dropped the final Pont du Gard bridge pumping compressed
cause the bridge to sway back and piece, called the keystone, in France. The solid,
forth and can lead to collapse. into place. “I had to really lock triple-decker stone air into a chamber.
it in,” Bast says. “That was the arches still stand
The inventor didn’t spec- best sign that it was being sup- today. 1874
ify what materials he would ported by the stones around The world’s first steel
use. So, based on the materi- it instead of relying on the 1464 truss bridge, the Eads
als and technology that would scaffolding.” Newer, stron- Tibetan engineer
have been available at the time, ger materials and updated Thangtong Gyalpo, Bridge in St. Louis,
Bast and her colleagues figured designs have made unrein- who built simple Missouri, is completed.
stone was the likeliest choice. forced masonry bridges all but suspension bridges
They calculated that wood, for obsolete. But one thing is cer- throughout Tibet and 1883
example, wouldn’t have been tain: Leonardo’s bridge likely Bhutan, dies. The last Emily Warren Roebling
strong enough to hold up a would have stood the test of his bridges washed
bridge of that length. Unrein- of time. unveils the Brooklyn
forced masonry structures are away in 2004. Bridge. Designed by
her father-in-law, John
A. Roebling, who died
before it was finished, the
bridge was the longest
suspension bridge at that
time, with a main span of

1,595.5 feet.

Da The Diving The Armored Crossbow / 1937
Vinci’s Suit / Parachute / Vehicles / In 1486, Construction wraps on
Tools Leonardo The inventor A far cry from Leonardo San Francisco’s iconic
of designed an drafted designs today’s war designed a
War early diving for an early machines, giant crossbow Golden Gate Bridge.
suit, which parachute Leonardo’s that would
he hoped the made of wood wooden tank employ a 2011
Romans could and linen. would have crank and The world’s longest
use to disable Skydiver Adrian been powered gear system bridge, the 102.4-mile
enemy ships. Nicholas put by two men to launch Danyang–Kunshan
the chute to the operating a projectiles. Grand Bridge in China,
test in 2000. crankshaft.
is completed.

20 May/June 2020

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