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The circuit breaker from the restoring power scene is real too: https://www.google.com/search?q=westinghouse+spb-100&udm=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=westi

The circuit breaker from the restoring power scene is real too: https://www.google.com/search?q=westinghouse+spb-100&udm=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=westinghouse+spb-100&udm=2

crims0n 8mo ago
When I was a kid I always wondered why Dr. Sattler had to manually prime/charge the breaker before enabling it. Apparently it is because that model (and others like it) use a spring to quickly close the circuit. When she is priming it puts tension into the spring, and when she presses the button it quickly releases and completes the circuit. This is done to prevent arc flashes due to the high voltage and amperage, since the coiled spring snapping into place can complete the circuit much faster than any human pulling a lever could.
- sandyarmstrong 8mo ago
  > it puts tension into the spring Well it certainly put tension into the scene! Thanks.
- ErroneousBosh 8mo ago
  We have ones like that at work for doing generator switchover - talking about Aggreko 20-foot shipping container generators providing hundreds of kW to power a pair of UPSes the size of a full-size Ford Transit, not your cute little 130-from-Hofer-pull-the-string-puttputtputt genny ;-) You pump up the handle to charge a pneumatic cylinder and when you cut over it throws a set of three contacts about the size of a first-gen Kindle from one side to the other, switching from incoming mains to genny power in about 1/100th of a second. It goes with a hell of a bang.
echelon 8mo ago
As is the supercomputer. It's the Thinking Machine Connection Machine CM-5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine https://www.jurassic-pedia.com/cm-5-thinking-machine/ https://www.jurassic-pedia.com/cm-5-thinking-machine/ The LED panel is gorgeous: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ko4qBkEcBM https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ko4qBkEcBM A lot of people have replicated or restored these: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qm6w57ZcJZQ https://youtube.com/watch?v=qm6w57ZcJZQ https://www.housedillon.com/posts/resurrected-led-panels/ https://www.housedillon.com/posts/resurrected-led-panels/ --- I've always hoped the film series would be rebooted back to the original novel. The first film was a masterpiece, and everything that's followed has been increasingly awful. Dinosaurs and cloning are way too cool for that amount of disrespect. I'd kill for an R-rated horror film (think Alien) based on the book, especially if it were set in 1980 and deeply scientific like the original. That was the only film in the series with believably smart characters, each pursuing complex motivations, with fulfilling character arcs. The plot focused on the people, and dinosaurs were the dressing.
- linsomniac 8mo ago
  The National Cryptologic Museum outside Fort Meade has one or a few Connection Machines, a Cray, and all sorts of other computing and other gear. It's quite a worthwhile tour, IMHO. https://www.nsa.gov/museum/ https://www.nsa.gov/museum/
  - dmd 8mo ago
    My former employer, Ab Initio, has a Connection Machine in the basement. (Ab Initio was founded by the same person as Thinking Machines, and many/most of the early employees were from there.)
jasongill 8mo ago
I have a collection of pop culture prop items and this is definitely going on my ebay alerts list, would be cool to have on the wall of the garage... thank you for posting!

The circuit breaker from the restoring power scene is real too: https://www.google.com/search?q=westinghouse+spb-100&udm=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=westinghouse+spb-100&udm=2

crims0n 8mo ago

When I was a kid I always wondered why Dr. Sattler had to manually prime/charge the breaker before enabling it. Apparently it is because that model (and others like it) use a spring to quickly close the circuit. When she is priming it puts tension into the spring, and when she presses the button it quickly releases and completes the circuit. This is done to prevent arc flashes due to the high voltage and amperage, since the coiled spring snapping into place can complete the circuit much faster than any human pulling a lever could.

sandyarmstrong 8mo ago
> it puts tension into the spring Well it certainly put tension into the scene! Thanks.
ErroneousBosh 8mo ago
We have ones like that at work for doing generator switchover - talking about Aggreko 20-foot shipping container generators providing hundreds of kW to power a pair of UPSes the size of a full-size Ford Transit, not your cute little 130-from-Hofer-pull-the-string-puttputtputt genny ;-) You pump up the handle to charge a pneumatic cylinder and when you cut over it throws a set of three contacts about the size of a first-gen Kindle from one side to the other, switching from incoming mains to genny power in about 1/100th of a second. It goes with a hell of a bang.

echelon 8mo ago

As is the supercomputer. It's the Thinking Machine Connection Machine CM-5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine https://www.jurassic-pedia.com/cm-5-thinking-machine/ https://www.jurassic-pedia.com/cm-5-thinking-machine/ The LED panel is gorgeous: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ko4qBkEcBM https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ko4qBkEcBM A lot of people have replicated or restored these: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qm6w57ZcJZQ https://youtube.com/watch?v=qm6w57ZcJZQ https://www.housedillon.com/posts/resurrected-led-panels/ https://www.housedillon.com/posts/resurrected-led-panels/ --- I've always hoped the film series would be rebooted back to the original novel. The first film was a masterpiece, and everything that's followed has been increasingly awful. Dinosaurs and cloning are way too cool for that amount of disrespect. I'd kill for an R-rated horror film (think Alien) based on the book, especially if it were set in 1980 and deeply scientific like the original. That was the only film in the series with believably smart characters, each pursuing complex motivations, with fulfilling character arcs. The plot focused on the people, and dinosaurs were the dressing.

linsomniac 8mo ago
The National Cryptologic Museum outside Fort Meade has one or a few Connection Machines, a Cray, and all sorts of other computing and other gear. It's quite a worthwhile tour, IMHO. https://www.nsa.gov/museum/ https://www.nsa.gov/museum/
- dmd 8mo ago
  My former employer, Ab Initio, has a Connection Machine in the basement. (Ab Initio was founded by the same person as Thinking Machines, and many/most of the early employees were from there.)

jasongill 8mo ago

I have a collection of pop culture prop items and this is definitely going on my ebay alerts list, would be cool to have on the wall of the garage... thank you for posting!