# Twtxt is an open, distributed microblogging platform that # uses human-readable text files, common transport protocols, # and free software. # # Learn more about twtxt at https://github.com/buckket/twtxt # # This is an automated Yarn.social feed running feeds v0.1.0@72e53a9 # Learn more about Yarn.social at https://yarn.social # # nick = low-tech-magazine # url = https://feeds.twtxt.net/low-tech-magazine/twtxt.txt # type = rss # source = https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/feeds/all-en.atom.xml # avatar = # description = # updated_at = 2023-02-28T12:32:49Z # 2021-10-04T22:00:00Z **How to Build a Low-tech Solar Panel?**
George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. If proven to work, his design could lead to less complex and more sustainable solar panels. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/10/how-to-build-a-low-tech-solar-panel.html) 2021-05-10T22:00:00Z **How to design a sailing ship for the 21st century?**
It is surprisingly difficult to build a carbon neutral sailing ship. This is even more the case today, because our standards for safety, health, hygiene, comfort, and convenience have changed profoundly since the Age of Sail. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/05/how-to-design-a-sailing-ship-for-the-21st-century.html) 2021-03-27T23:00:00Z **Urban Fish Ponds: Low-tech Sewage Treatment for Towns and Cities**
In the mid 20th century, whole cities’ sewage systems safely and successfully used fish to treat and purify their water. Waste-fed fish ponds are a low-tech, cheap, and sustainable alternative to deal with our own shit — and to obtain high protein food in the process. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/03/urban-fish-ponds-low-tech-sewage-treatment-for-towns-and-cities.html) 2021-11-01T23:00:00Z **Fascine Mattresses: Basketry Gone Wild**
Around the 17th century, the Dutch started reinforcing their dykes and harbours with sturdy mats the size of football pitches – hand-woven from thousands of twigs grown on nearby coppice plantations. These reinforcement structures were weighted with rocks and sunk into canals, estuaries, and rivers. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/11/fascine-mattresses-basketry-gone-wild.html) 2021-12-01T23:00:00Z **The Printed Website: Volume III & The Comments**
The printed archives of Low-tech Magazine now amount to four volumes with a total of 2,398 pages and 709 images. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/12/printed-website-third-volume.html) 2022-01-19T23:00:00Z **The Revenge of the Hot Water Bottle**
Imagine a personal heating system that works indoors as well as outdoors, can be taken anywhere, requires little energy, and is independent of any infrastructure. It exists – and is hundreds of years old. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/01/the-revenge-of-the-hot-water-bottle.html) 2022-03-05T23:00:00Z **How to Build a Bike Generator with Control Panel**
We built a pedal-powered generator and controller, which is practical to use as an energy source and exercise machine in a household — and which you can integrate into a solar PV system. We provide detailed plans to build your own, using basic skills and common hand tools. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/03/how-to-build-bike-generator.html) 2022-11-22T23:00:00Z **What if We Replace Guns and Bullets with Bows and Arrows?**
The bicycle and the bow are both highly efficient, human-powered technologies that could substitute for two very harmful alternatives: the car and the firearm. Why do we promote one but not the other? ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/11/what-if-we-replace-guns-and-bullets-with-bows-and-arrows.html) 2022-11-21T23:00:00Z **When Lethal Weapons Grew on Trees**
While manufacturing modern firearms and bullets depends on a global supply chain and fossil fuels, bows and arrows can be made anywhere out of anything, using only human power and simple hand tools. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/11/when-lethal-weapons-grew-on-trees.html) 2023-02-27T23:00:00Z **Can We Make Bicycles Sustainable Again?**
Cycling is the most sustainable form of transportation, but the bicycle is becoming increasingly damaging to the environment. The energy and material used for its production go up while its life expectancy decreases. ⌘ [Read more](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/02/can-we-make-bicycles-sustainable-again.html)