[Adrian II]

i love tech and warfare has always driven tech advances since at least the bronze age.

Improved machinery for accurately boring cannon barrels also allowed the production of better quality cylinders for early steam engines. Not everything from the military-industrial complex is for destruction and bloody piles of corpses, we get some essential things and fun stuff too.

i wonder if it's nature or nurture that makes some of us vicious brutes?

I suggest it's a bit of both.

A.

[zimmemr]

Improved machinery for accurately boring cannon barrels also allowed the production of better quality cylinders for early steam engines. Not everything from the military-industrial complex is for destruction and bloody piles of corpses, we get some essential things and fun stuff too.

I suggest it's a bit of both.

A.

Good point, very many significant improvements to the IC engine were driven first by military necessity, think innovations in WWI and WWII aircraft engines, before making their way into general use. Of course, so was Tang, but that's another issue.

[Racer57]

Good point, very many significant improvements to the IC engine were driven first by military necessity, think innovations in WWI and WWII aircraft engines, before making their way into general use. Of course, so was Tang, but that's another issue.

While the military did contribute to primarily large engine development, automobiles including race cars saw the majority of engine development. Superchargers, 4 valve heads, overhead cams and dual spark plugs were first introduced in automotive applications prior to WW1.

[AzCal Retred]

Aluminium! 4000% production increase 1900 - 1954. Now THAT's an increase in production! Once again warfare drives technology...stick...rock...stick with heavy/sharp rock attached(club)...stick throwing another stick (atlatl dart)...atlatl dart guided by bird plumage...stick and string throwing another plumage guided stick (bow)...and now energy weapons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aluminium
Aluminium was difficult to refine and thus uncommon in actual use. Soon after its discovery, the price of aluminium exceeded that of gold. It was reduced only after the initiation of the first industrial production by French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville in 1856. Aluminium became much more available to the public with the Hall–Héroult process developed independently by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall in 1886, and the Bayer process developed by Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Bayer in 1889. These processes have been used for aluminium production up to the present.

The introduction of these methods for the mass production of aluminium led to extensive use of the light, corrosion-resistant metal in industry and everyday life. Aluminium began to be used in engineering and construction. In World Wars I and II, aluminium was a crucial strategic resource for aviation. World production of the metal grew from 6,800 metric tons in 1900 to 2,810,000 metric tons in 1954, when aluminium became the most produced non-ferrous metal, surpassing copper.

[AzCal Retred]

@ # 227: Auto racing the 1930's was used by Germany and others to develop & showcase their aviation engines. Insanely powerful engines were used to race on tires little better than pencil erasers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zji_woRTls

https://automobilist.com/en-us/blogs/stories/1930s-supercharged-for-the-future

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_rearmament

[zimmemr]

While the military did contribute to primarily large engine development, automobiles including race cars saw the majority of engine development. Superchargers, 4 valve heads, overhead cams and dual spark plugs were first introduced in automotive applications prior to WW1.

Absolutely true, "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." At the bottom, in my opinion most of the significant improvements in engine development have been enthusiast driven.

FWIW I'm a member of the Connecticut Antique Machinery Club, some members have IC engine powered equipment dating back to the 1890's, I'm always amazed at the technology that was employed in some of those early efforts. Unfortunately, it was often sidelined due to cost or manufacturing issues only to be "reinvented" once those issues were resolved.

[him a layin]

"necessity is a mother"

[GlennF]

Racing and war are similar in that in both cases you are pushing the limits of contemporary engineering.

[AzCal Retred]

The GOPPPW suffers a setback...

War in Ukraine: US to send new aid this week, Biden says ; 24 April 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68885868

US President Joe Biden says his country will start sending fresh weapons and equipment to Ukraine within days.
Late on Tuesday, the US Senate approved a $95bn (£76bn) foreign aid package that includes military support for Israel and Taiwan as well as Ukraine.
Mr Biden vowed to sign it off "as soon as it reaches my desk" on Wednesday, so that aid can be sent "this week".
Ukraine has recently stepped up its calls for Western assistance as Russia makes steady gains in its invasion.
Included in the package is $61bn in military aid for Ukraine. It passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote of 79-18.
Tuesday evening's approval came after the measure passed the US House of Representatives on Saturday.
Mr Biden hailed its passage in a statement, calling it "critical legislation [that] will make our nation and world more secure as we support our friends who are defending themselves against terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin".
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: "After more than six months of hard work and many twists and turns in the road, America sends a message to the entire world: we will not turn our back on you."
Reacting to the vote, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it "reinforces America's role as a beacon of democracy and leader of the free world".
The Senate passed a similar aid package in February, but a group of conservatives who oppose new Ukraine support had prevented it from coming to a vote in the House of Representatives.

[Richard230]

Putin and his cronies are not happy.