Hackaday Podcast Ep 360: Cool Rubber Bands, Science-y Stuff, and the Whys of Office Supplies
Mar 6, 2026
They announce a green-powered contest and banter about heating mishaps. There are tech teardowns of a vulnerable Wi‑Fi extender and a coin‑op pay TV. Physics and cooling tricks appear in talks about elastocaloric nitinol stages and rubber‑band refrigerators. DIY highlights include PWM paint mixing, a permanent pen clip redesign, and running video through guitar pedals. Space and attention economy topics round out the talk.
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Restoring A Coin Operated MiniTV
- Mark from SpacetimeJunction restored a MiniTVUSA VendoVision coin‑operated TV and adapted it to play modern video via an AV modulator.
- The unit used a slider for 10–20 minutes per quarter and had unshielded twin‑lead RF internals.
Elastocaloric Cooling Works Without Compressors
- Elastocaloric cooling uses stress/relax cycles in shape‑memory alloys or rubber to pump heat without compressors.
- Multi‑stage nitinol bending and CaCl2 heat exchange reached −12°C in 15 minutes in the paper demo.
Ben Krasnow's Rubber Band Refrigerator Demo
- Ben Krasnow built a rubber‑band refrigerator demo with an eccentric wheel stretching bands and fans for hot/cold sides.
- The prototype showed the effect but suffered wood cracking and rubber fatigue, making it a demo only.