Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. In response to the item immediately below, which kicked off this Thread, ...

Name a type of terrain, and someone, somewhere, will figure out a way to race on it. From wood-track ovals and countryside rallies to the pure chaos of the Gumball 3000, humans love to pit themselves ...

How hard could it to be to build a two-stroke internal combustion engine (ICE) from scratch? This is a challenge that [Camden Bowen] gladly set for himself, while foregoing such obvious wastes of time ...