skittle n.— «Our guys usually dump 200 rounds of “Skittles” onto the target. I did not know what Skittles were for a long time. Back in Hawaii, I came upon two crew chiefs arguing loudly. One of them was very upset about the...
truing n.— «A wheel, he explained, can develop flat spots, and the barn’s special “truing” machine can restore the wheel to working order. A big plastic tub with piles of metal shavings carries the sign “Wheel Truing Machine Chips Only.”...
grinder n.— «Some, like Chris Brittle, are called grinders—muscle machines who crank huge winches. Others are trimmers, fine-tuning the line of every sail. Each time we change course, everyone leaps to the nearest rope or winch handle and...
artificial sun n.— «A 1:8 miniature model of the world’s first Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) will be on display at the China Chongqing Investment and Global Sourcing Fair. Also known as an “artificial...
virtual orchestra machine n.— «In picketing and press releases, it refers to products like Notion and Sinfonia as “virtual orchestra machines”: a kind of alien in the pit.» —“Theater’s Alive With the Sound of...
bio-ink n.— «Here’s how it works: A customized milling machine prints a small sheet of bio-paper. This “paper” is a variable gel composed of modified gelatin and hyaluronan, a sugar-rich material. Bio-ink blots—each a little...