👋 A quick message—we’re trying something new and keeping it light for Saturday mornings. You’ll find a fun video, a quick chart, and an event worth checking out. Hope you enjoy the casual read, and let us know what you think!
Interesting Chart: Ionizing Radiation Dosages ☢️
An observation: The annual EPA release target for a nuclear power plant (30 μSv) is lower than the dose from a single flight from New York to LA (40 μSv), due to increased cosmic radiation exposure at high altitudes.
For context, a fatal dose ranges from 2-8 Sv, while just 10 minutes near the exposed Chernobyl core after the meltdown delivered a staggering 50 Sv.
Interesting Video: All About USB ➰
A one-page summary on USB by David Malawey 💈
Construction:
- A well-constructed USB-A cable uses foil shielding to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI), cotton filler to prevent stretching, and tin-clad copper for stable grounding.
- Printer USB cables will include ferrite beads (looks like a small round cylinder on cable exterior) in addition to foil shielding, to suppress EMI & improve signal integrity.
- USB cables typically have four wires - red and black for power, green and white for signal.
- VCC (+5V): Red
- Ground (GND): Black
- Data Positive (D+): Green, + Differential Signal
- Data Negative (D-): White, - Differential Signal
Cheap Cables:
- Low-cost cables often include only VCC and GND wires, allowing them to charge but not handle data communication.
Practical Advice:
- USB hubs that lack a dedicated power input are more susceptible to voltage drops under load, which can lead to communication failures.
- Tip: use hubs with independent power supplies to maintain stable voltage and reduce risk of brownout.
Event: Teardown Library in San Francisco, CA 🗓️
On October 16th, the Teardown Library is opening up the internals of the Beosound Emerge speaker by Bang & Olufsen. This wireless home speaker, designed to resemble a book on your bookshelf, is certified with the company's Cradle to Cradle Certification— a sustainability standard for product lifecycles. It’s stated that the design of the speaker allows users to replace the battery, speaker cover, and even the internal streaming module.
Startup Highlight: Drafter, Copilot for 2D Drawings ✏️
Recent investment in AI copilots is starting to expand beyond software, and move into hardware engineering applications.
Drafter, which recently launched out of stealth, is one example—their tool generates 2D part drawings from a STEP file in minutes, using software trained to produce ASME Y14.5-2018 compliant drawings after assigning critical features to the part.