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What in the hell is this thing?
https://heinleinsociety.org/thsnexus/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1386		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  JamesGifford [ Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  What in the hell is this thing?
I found this very strange object in a university salvage yard, amid abandoned buildings, a couple of large aerial masts and what appeared to be a dismantled metal sculpture.

On one hand, it resembles some microwave-frequency ducting I've seen (at a certain frequency, you can't transmit signals over wire and have to do it via carefully sized and shaped "waveguide" tubes). OTOH, it looks as if it was built to handle pressure - or maybe it's made from a zillion pieces to allow very precise interior machining. In any case, it's the weirdest item I've seen in a while.

It probably cost a zillion dollars, and there it is, sitting outdoors in the snow, abandoned.

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Author:  PeterScott [ Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Paging Bill Higgins. It makes me think particle collision chamber. Looks built to handle vacuum.
Author:  JamesGifford [ Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Author:  beamjockey [ Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Author:  JamesGifford [ Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
I discovered that you can see the damned thing from space - on Google Earth, at least. It's in every shot back to mid-2009 and I think I can see it in a blurry 2006 shot. So it's been sitting there for 4-7 years at least; the lack of corrosion is impressive.

I agree that the extra ports weigh against it being a mold.
Author:  beamjockey [ Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Author:  JamesGifford [ Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Author:  PeterScott [ Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
That is way overengineered to be a mold for anything short of molten zinc. Hundred to one it's a pressure vessel.
Author:  beamjockey [ Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Author:  NickDoten [ Wed Jan 16, 2013 6:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
this out of a distillery ?
Author:  JamesGifford [ Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
I finally got back to get more photos and actually lay hands on the thing.

Very little question but that it's an art project. The tubes are all capped off in the same way you see and shots of the interior show both gaps between most of the segments and a variety of casting quality - some pieces are smoothly finished and square while others show rounding or bubbling.

It's cast aluminum, though. And looks cool.
Author:  NickDoten [ Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
i'm picturing this in a shopping cart heading for the recycler- KA-CHING :lol:
Author:  JamesGifford [ Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
It's in a salvage yard filled with many things that would have resale or scrap value, and it's been there for 3-6 years or more. Typical university - the whole campus is filled with abandoned buildings packed with things like old desks, no thought to just scrapping or dumping any of it. (Where the buildings are full, they have rows of decommissioned semi trailers being used as storage sheds.) Absolutely none of it ever seems to be destined for re-use; it seems to be at the intersection of "save it for someday, maybe" and "too much paperwork to get rid of."

I am opening negotiations to buy the thing, though. I want to put it in our woods as a weirdity.
Author:  sakeneko [ Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
Do that, Jim, and you just might have two unexpected visitors one of these days. (Me and my husband, so we're weird, but not dangerous. To you, anyway.) ;P
Author:  PeterScott [ Mon Jan 21, 2013 10:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
An art project? There must be some steampunk fans around there.
Author:  mostlyclassics [ Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: What in the hell is this thing?
I'm coming late to this discussion, but maybe it's the cooking vessel in which the Wormfaces prepared Tim and Jocko (?)

JamesGifford, if you get it for your back yard, you might want to have a mannequin arm thrusting through one of the holes.
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