Swing hard enough in the backyard, and eventually the effort will pay off with a complete loop over the top. That was the childhood dream, anyway, but British inventor Colin Furze has done it for real, reports
Mail Online
.
His towering homemade version carries him 30-odd feet above the ground at his home in Stamford, Lincolnshire -- and there's no harness or set of straps for safety.
RELATED: 5 Colin Furze Stunts More Outrageous Than Riding a Flamethrowing Scooter
Furze
explained in
his video
of the invention that he doesn't actually like heights or going upside-down. Plus he's susceptible to motion sickness. Yet a 360-degree swing just had to be done.
His contraption has a towering blue metal frame covered in lights that supports a 31-foot-long arm with a hub and axle system. One end of the steel arm has slots for his feet and handlebars for grip. The other end holds a 55-pound counterweight. Then, as he gains momentum, there's a point where his feet are directly above his head.
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"I can go alllllllll the way over," he exclaimed, while holding the swing tight and pinching his knees together. "Ahhhhh! Yeahhhhhhh!" An earlier version was taller and had a longer arm, only while Furze was swinging on it he noticed metal bending at the fulcrum. Gulp.
Given an opportunity to take this for a spin myself, I'm not sure I'd say yes. My hands got sweaty just watching Furze go in a dizzying loop, his tie flapping wildly. And that's before he showed a clip of the buckling metal on his earlier version. At the end of his video demo, he mentions adding propulsion. I hope he was joking.
RELATED: Awesome Dad Hacks Donkey Kong for Daughter
The
Mail Online reported
that Furze was doing all of this to impress his three-year-old son, Jake. You might remember that before Jake was born, Furze threw himself into
making a stroller
equipped with a motorcycle engine. When the kid is a bit older, all this school mates are definitely going to want to hang out at his house.
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Image: AZAdam/Creative Commons
Green, DIY Home Improvement Projects
Interested in saving the planet? Start at home. Going green means cutting back on resources and saving money. Win, win.
But if you think retrofitting a home is a laborious ordeal, think again. From updating clunky appliances to installing low-power lighting, we found eight simple fixes to make your home eco-friendly. They're perfect for a weekend project, so what are you waiting for? Get ready to save some dough — and the environment.
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Image: Verbatim
LEDs
By far, the easiest way to cut back on energy bills is to swap out those old incandescent bulbs for more energy efficient ones. CFLs are good, but let's do one better: LEDs. While far more cost effective than incandescents, compact-fluorescent lights have shorter lifespans and dimmer output. A traditional 100-watt incandescent light bulb is about 1800 lumens bright. To achieve the same brightness, CFLs use about 30 watts while LEDs use about 20.
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Image: Nest Labs
Thermostat
Next on the list: tackling heating and cooling costs. About half of energy costs can be attributed to heating and cooling. Programmable thermostats help households save about $180 a year. But instead of remembering to set the right temperatures, Nest Labs, founded by Tony Fadell, best known for designing the iPod, introduced a learning thermostat that adapts to households' behaviors, schedules and preferences, automatically turning down heating or cooling when nobody's home. In addition, the thermostat will suggest more energy-efficient temperatures to help homes further cut costs. Nest, which connects to homes' WiFi networks, can be adjusted remotely via laptop, smartphone or tablet.
$249
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Image: paul (dex)/Creative Commons
Insulation
With proper insulation, homes can efficiently stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Tearing down walls to add insulation might seem like a daunting task, but installing double-paned windows (two pieces of sealed glass separated by space) is a doable weekend project that can make a big dent on energy bills. Another bonus: Street sounds will be a lot more muted.
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Image: Alice Truong for Discovery Channel
Identify energy suckers
How do you identify other energy offenders? Belkin's Conserve Insight can help you find out how much energy appliances and gadgets consume. The reader connects to one device at a time and its screen shows the amount of carbon dioxide produced to generate the electricity consumed, the number of watts used and total cost of operation.
$29.99
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Image: Energy Star
Energy Star appliances
Armed with the knowledge of the Belkin Conserve Insight, you know which appliances are the biggest energy suckers. Now it's time to replace them. Whether you're shopping at Fry's or Amazon, look for the Energy Star label. The government-backed symbol for energy efficiency has helped Americans save 6 billion kilowatt hours and more than $800 million in energy costs to date. That translates to 10.4 billion pounds of greenhouse gases.
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Image: Amazon
Clean air filter
Energy Star recommends changing the HVAC air filter every month -- at the very least once every three months. Dirty filters slow down air flow, forcing heating systems to work harder than they have to. Furthermore, changing the filter will keep heating and cooling systems running cleaner and longer.
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Image: spine/Creative Commons
Washing in cold water
When you run the washing machine, 90 percent of the energy is spent heating the water. Sister site Treehugger crunched the numbers and found that washing a load in cold water has the same impact of driving 9 miles. Considering the average household washes 392 loads in a year, it becomes obvious cold-water washing is the way to go. While you're at it, if it's a nice day out, why don't you hang those sheets instead of putting them in the dryer? Your wallet will be glad you did.
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Image: normanack/Creative Commons
Compost
Instead of sending yard trimmings and leftovers to the landfill, compost the waste and feed it to your garden. Compost can help regenerate and clean up soils while helping prevent erosion and turf losses on fields and hills. Furthermore, the use of it can reduce fertilizer, pesticide and water use in the garden, according to the EPA.
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Credit: Discovery.com
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