What has 8 ARM cores, 8 GB of RAM, fits in a pocket, and runs NixOS? It’s no pi-clone SBC, but [MWLabs]’s smartphone– a OnePlus 6, to be precise.

The video embedded below, and the git link above, are [MWLabs]’s walk-through for loading the mobile version of Nix onto the cell phone, turning it into a tiny-screened Linux computer. He’s using the same flake on the phone as on his desktop, which means he gets all the same applications set up in the same way– talk about convergence. That’s an advantage to Nix in this application, compared to the usual Alpine-based PostMarketOS.

Of course some of the phone-like features of this pocket-computer are lacking: the SIM is detected, and he can text, but 4G is nonfunctional. The rear camera is also not there yet, but given that Mobile-NixOS builds on the work done by well-established PostMarketOS, and PostMarketOS’ testing version can run the camera, it’s only a matter of time before support comes downstream. Depending what you need a tiny Linux device for, the camera functionality may or may not be of particular interest. If you’re like us, the idea of a mobile device running Nix might just intrigue you,

Smartphones can be powerful SBC alternatives, after all. You can even turn them into SBCs. As long as you don’t need a lot of GPIO, like for a server,a phone in hand might be worth two birds in the raspberry bush.

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hackaday.com/2025/07/17/8-core…

In today’s high-speed information overload environment, we often find ourselves with too much data to take in at once, causing us to occasionally miss out on opportunities otherwise drowned out in noise. None of this is more evident in the realm of high-speed trading, whether it’s for stocks, commodities, or even crypto. Most of us won’t be able to build dedicated high speed connections directly to stock exchanges for that extra bit of edge over the other traders, but what we can do is build a system that keys us in to our cryptocurrency price of choice so we know exactly when to pull the trigger on a purchase or sale.

[rishab]’s project for doing this is based on an ESP32 paired with a 10″ touchscreen display. It gathers live data from Binance, a large cryptocurrency exchange that maintains various pieces of information about many digital currencies. [rishab]’s tool offers a quick, in-depth look at a custom array of coins, with data such as percentage change over a certain time and high and low values for that coin as well. The chart updates in real time, and [rishab] also built a feature in which scales coins up if they have been seeing large movements in price over short timeframes.

Although it’s not a direct fiber link into an exchange, it certainly has its advantages over keeping this information in a browser window on a computer where it could get missed, and since it’s dedicated hardware running custom firmware it can show you exactly what you need to see if you’re day trading crypto. Certainly projects like this are in the DIY spirit that crypto enthusiasts tout as ideals of the currency, and as people move away from mining and more into speculative trading we’d expect to see more projects like this.

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hackaday.com/2025/07/17/esp32-…

Over on his YouTube channel [Tom Stanton] shows us how to build a Stirling Engine for a bike.

A Stirling Engine is a heat engine, powered by the expansion and contraction of a working fluid (such as air) which is heated and cooled in a cycle. In the video [Tom] begins by demonstrating the Stirling Engine with some model engines and explains the role of the displacer piston. His target power output for his bike engine is 150 watts (about 0.2 horsepower) which is enough power to cycle at about 15 mph (about 24 km/h). After considering a CPU heatsink as the cooling system he decided on water cooling instead.

[Tom] goes on to 3D print and machine various parts for his bike engine. He uses myriad materials including aluminum and Teflon. He isn’t yet comfortable machining steel, so he had the steel part he needed for handling the hot end of the engine manufactured by a third party.

[Tom] explains that when he started the project he had intended to make a steam engine. But after some preliminary research he discovered that a Stirling Engine was a better choice, particularly they are quieter, more efficient, and safer. After a number of false starts and various adjustments he manages to get his engine to run, which is pretty awesome. Standby for part two to see the bike in action!

We have covered the Stirling Engine here on Hackaday many times before. You might like to read about how to create one with minimal parts or how to make one from expedient materials.

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Do you feel nostalgia for a childhood novelty toy that had potential but ultimately fell short of its promise? Do you now have the skills to go make a better version of that toy to satisfy your long-held craving? [ExpensivePlasticCrap] does and has set off on a mission to make a better jumping bean.

Jumping beans, the phenomenon on which the novelty of [ExpensivePlasticCrap]’s childhood is based, are technically not beans, and their movement is arguably not a jump — a small hop at best. The trick is that the each not-a-bean has become the home to moth larvae that twitches and rolls on the ground as the larvae thrash about, trying to move their protective shells out of the hot sun.

The novelty bean was a small plastic pill-like capsule with a ball bearing inside what would cause the “bean” to move in unexpected ways as it rolled around. [ExpensivePlasticCrap]’s goal is to make a jumping bean that lives up to its name.

Various solenoids and motors were considered for the motion component of this new and improved bean. Ultimately, it was a small sealed vibrating motor that would be selected to move the bean without getting tangled in what was to become a compact bundle of components.

An ATtiny microcontroller won out over discrete components for the job of switching the motor on and off (once per second), for ease of implementation. Add this along with a MOSFET, battery and charging board for power into a plastic capsule, and the 1 Hz jumping bean was complete.

[ExpensivePlasticCrap] offers some thoughts on how to get more jump out of the design by reducing the weight of the build and giving it a more powerful source of motion.

If insect-inspired motion gets you jumping, check out this jumping robot roach and these tiny RoboBees.

hackaday.com/2025/07/17/2025-o…

On this date in 1975, a Soviet and an American shook hands. Even for the time period, this wouldn’t have been a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact that it happened approximately 220 kilometers (136 miles) over the surface of the Earth.
Crew of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
Although their spacecraft actually launched a few days earlier on the 15th, today marks 50 years since American astronauts Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton docked their Apollo spacecraft to a specifically modified Soyuz crewed by Cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov. The two craft were connected for nearly two days, during which time the combined crew was able to freely move between them. The conducted scientific experiments, exchanged flags, and ate shared meals together.

Politically, this very public display of goodwill between the Soviet Union and the United States helped ease geopolitical tensions. On a technical level, it not only demonstrated a number of firsts, but marked a new era of international cooperation in space. While the Space Race saw the two counties approach spaceflight as a competition, from this point on, it would largely be treated as a collaborative endeavour.

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project lead directly to the Shuttle–Mir missions of the 1990s, which in turn was a stepping stone towards the International Space Station. Not just because that handshake back in 1975 helped establish a spirit of cooperation between the two space-fairing nations, but because it introduced a piece of equipment that’s still being used five decades later — the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS) docking system.

Meeting in the Middle

While the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project was the first time spacecraft from two different countries linked up, it was far from the first docking in space. The Apollo program relied heavily on the concept, as the Command Module and Lunar Module would dock and undock multiple times on each lunar mission. For their part, the Soviets had also docked a pair of Soyuz capsules together as early as 1967. By the early 1970s, both nations had also docked spacecraft to their respective space stations.

The problem was, the docking systems used by both countries weren’t compatible with each other. In fact, things were changing so fast that even vehicles from the same country couldn’t necessarily dock with each other. For example, an American Gemini capsule wouldn’t be able to dock with Skylab. Of course, this isn’t terribly surprising. At this point, most of the hardware was mission-specific, and only flew once.

What was the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project needed was a standardized docking interface that took into account the lessons learned by both countries so far. By 1970, Soviet and US engineers had started meeting and exchanging information to decide what such a docking standard would look like. It was decided early on that this new docking standard should be androgynous — rather than having distinct “male” and “female” variants as was the norm with earlier docking ports. In this way, the same docking port could be used to support two spacecraft docking together as was planned for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, while at the same time allowing a vehicle to dock to a space station.

This capability was so key to the design that the docking standard ultimately came to be known as the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System. While the US and Soviet versions did differ slightly, they were mechanically compatible with each other. Some elements of the design were the result of a compromise, such as the overall diameter of the port being limited to the size of the existing Apollo and Soyuz capsules, but otherwise it was hoped the concept would prove useful for future missions and spacecraft from both nations.

Built to Last

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project was the only time an Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft docked in space. In fact, it was the last time an Apollo spacecraft flew — after the conclusion of this mission, there wouldn’t be anther crewed American mission until the Space Shuttle came online nearly six years later.

But once the Americans started flying the Shuttle, and the Soviets had established their Mir space station, it wasn’t long before the two would meet. The Soviets had already designed a modified version of APAS that they called APAS-89, which was intended to allow the Buran spacecraft to dock with Mir. Buran never made it past the testing phase, but the work on the docking port ended up being adapted once more for the Shuttle. This final version of the standard became known as APAS-95, and was used until the final Shuttle-Mir mission in June of 1998.
The International Space Station
APAS-95 performed so well during the Mir missions that it was decided the Shuttle would continue to use it for the International Space Station. In addition, APAS-95 (as well as a modified “hybrid” version) would also be used to hold together the core US and Russian modules of the Station.

It was the defacto docking standard used until the introduction of the International Docking Adapter in 2015, which converted the exposed APAS-95 ports used for visiting American spacecraft to a newer design to be used by modern vehicles such as the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner.

While it has now been retired for the International Docking System Standard (IDSS), the ISS is still being held together by APAS-95, and will remain that way until the space laboratory is eventually de-orbited. Not a bad legacy for a technology initially developed for a simple handshake.

hackaday.com/2025/07/17/the-ap…

Hanno cominciato ad ammazzare cattolici, stai a vedere che adesso comincia a importarcene qualcosa...

La presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni ha condannato l’attacco contro la chiesa e in generale contro la popolazione civile con toni particolarmente duri: in un comunicato ha detto che «sono inaccettabili gli attacchi contro la popolazione civile che Israele sta dimostrando da mesi. Nessuna azione militare può giustificarla.

ilpost.it/2025/07/17/chiesa-sa…

Israele ha attaccato l’unica chiesa cattolica nella Striscia di Gaza

Quella della Sacra Famiglia: tre persone sono state uccise e nove ferite, fra cui il parroco

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