Join Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they talk about their favorite hacks and stories from the previous week. They’ll start things off with a small Supercon update, and go right into fusion reactors, AI surgeons, planned obsolescence, and robotic cats and dogs. They’ll also go over several entries from the ongoing 2025 One Hertz Challenge, an ambitious flight simulator restoration project, old school lightning detectors, and how Blu-ray won the battle against HD DVD but lost the war against streaming. Stick around to the end to hear an incredible story about a clandestine machine shop in a WWII prisoner of war camp, and the valiant fight to restore communications with the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft.

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Episode 329 Show Notes:

News:

• Wendelstein 7-X Sets New Record For The Nuclear Fusion Triple Product

What’s that Sound?

• Think you know that sound? Fill out the form for a chance to win a Hackaday Podcast T-Shirt!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• Do You Trust This AI For Your Surgery?
• Will HP Create A Carfax System For PCs?
• A Budget Quasi-Direct-Drive Motor Inspired By MIT’s Mini Cheetah
• Robotic Cheetah Teaches A Motors Class
• From Leash To Locomotion: CARA The Robotic Dog
• What Will It Take To Restore A Serious Flight Simulator?
• 2025 One Hertz Challenge: An Ancient Transistor Counts The Seconds
  
  • Michael Covington’s Daily Notebook
  • 2025 One Hertz Challenge: Ham Radio Foxhunt Transmitter
  • 2025 One Hertz Challenge: Valvano Clock Makes The Seconds Count
  • 2025 One Hertz Challenge: Metronalmost Is Gunning For Last Place

  
  

• Jcorp Nomad: ESP32-S3 Offline Media Server In A Thumbdrive

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks:
  
  • Introducing PooLA Filament: Grass Fiber-Reinforced PLA
  • A Collection Of Lightning Detectors
  • USB-C Rainbow Ranger: Sensing Volts With Style
  • Coroutines In C

  
  

• Tom’s Picks:
  
  • Smart Coffee Table To Guide Your Commute
  • Blu-ray Won, But At What Cost?
  • This Homebrew CPU Got Its Start In The 1990s

  
  

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• Hacking When It Counts: DIY Prosthetics And The Prison Camp Lathe
• The Fight To Save Lunar Trailblazer

hackaday.com/2025/07/18/hackad…