Good topic, something to learn instead of endless rehashing the same pics and questions. Bearings for cars were soft babbitt poured in place and lapped and honed I believe. The underlying cast iron makes a superior bearing material so why did they take this route? Embedding particles isn't it, embedded particles are worse. That's how diamond bonded tools are made. It may have to do with being able to absorb flexing forces in the long bending crankshaft. Looking at a 3450 rpm electric motor running, imagine a crankshaft spinning like that and with pistons attached, amazing it doesn't just blow up. As for media, for an oil filter forum no one talks much about the media and how it's made. Seems like would be a difficult task to make evenly and the right pores.