#pneumatics

Hero of Alexandria – Scientist of the Day

Hero of Alexandria, an ancient Greek engineer, lived in Alexandria in Roman Egypt, perhaps in the first century BCE, more likely in the first or second centuries CE.

an atmospheric something pneumatic  

the different forms of the febrile state, the work of the book an atmospheric “something” which, independent of local conditions, affects all classes   ₁                                                 that slimy, slippery clay that made steering a pneumatic something on the order of trick riding. Wheeling through Europe is not all poetry.   ₂                                                   scarcely more than guess work. For instance, the then ubiquitous malarial fever was due to a miasm; that is, an atmospheric something arising from marshy land   ₃   an atmospheric something foster[ing] vague speculation and hypotheses   ₄ an atmospheric something that creates ideas here, as it does in Paris.   ₅   An atmospheric something is lost in transplanting.   ₆ But I’m glad you did. There’s an atmospheric something there that is worth preserving.   ₇   an atmospheric something an experiment in a weird book   ₈ so in the end will it be with human speech —   there will no longer be someone speaking but an objective reflection, an atmospheric something, an abstract sound that will render human speech redundant, just   ₉   a pneumatic something confirmed the place was open   ₁₀

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Good greetings, one and all! After 6 years and almost a dozen weekly updates for my patrons to keep me going, my newest masterpiece is finally complete!

So, there's quite the story behind this class. When I first got into this whole homebrewing thing, I was pretty new to 5th edition, maybe only a couple one-shots under my belt. But when a buddy of mine asked me to join a campaign he was gonna start, I thought it would be just the best idea to homebrew a class to play for my first major character. 

The class in question was a tinker, and inventor of things and wielder of all kinds of steampunk-y gadgets. I came to the table with a basic overview and the first few levels written out, and things were going great. I was having fun with it as I tinkered with the class and developed it further as we played, a bit like a certain claymation dog and a model train set. That was April of 2016.

But then things started to go wrong. As someone with ADHD, a wild imagination, and, at the time, boundless creative energy, I was making massive sweeping changes every couple months because I was constantly changing my mind as to what I wanted the class to be, always coming up with new ideas I wanted to experiment with instead of sticking with what I had. Months turned to years, and I soon realized that my beloved Tinker was stuck in the dreaded Development Hell.

BUT NO MORE! Thanks to a new regiment of making weekly updates for my patrons to keep me making consistent progress, I've finally finished this damnable project. I can't even begin to describe how pleased I am with the final result, and it's so surreal to finally see what was basically my first ever 5e homebrew completed after all these years. And I have you all to thank for it. Were it not for the Foundry and you all who have supported me through all it's ups and downs, I honestly don't thing I ever would have finished it. So thank you, stay safe, and don't forget to love each other.

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In “Hydrophytes,” industrial designer Nicole Hone imagines a future in which we’ve designed aquatic plants to counter some of the effects of climate change. To create her plants, Hone designed them with digital tools, then printed them with multi-material 3D printers. Their movements are brought to life with pneumatic pumps that fill and collapse them in response to external interactions. The motion and character of these imagined plants is astounding; they truly seem to be alive. It’s an incredible intersection of science, art, and technology. Check out the full film below. (Image and video credit: N. Hone; via Colossal)