MAKE 31: Punk Science

The maker movement is making science exciting again. Forget the lame baking soda "volcanoes" and the zillion-dollar supercolliders -- just as punk rock took music back from the supergroups and big studios, "punk scientists" are making inexpensive new tools to conduct real experiments in garages, schools, and hackerspaces. In MAKE Volume 31, you'll learn how to make DIY laboratory equipment (even a scanning electron microscope!), create high-voltage sparks from falling water, control a cockroach electronically, get started in biotech, and see how individuals and schools are networking their data for real scientific discoveries. Plus: Get started with multicopters or servo controllers, and build an automatic dog ball launcher, great-sounding speakers with flashing LEDs, a classic folding-wing Rocket Glider (a new MAKE kit), an iPad music desk, a levitating solar Mendocino Motor, and much more.

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Take a tour of Volume 31 with the editors of MAKE.

Table of Contents

blue pdf icon = PDF OF ARTICLE     red content icon = DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES     orange content icon = SLIDESHOWS AND EXTRAS

Made on Earth

» Queen of Caulk by Goli Mohammadi

California artist Tramaine de Senna spent three full months (about 800 hours) working on her “I Love Caulk Frosting” series. Page 18

» Motor Mashup Master by William Abernathy

Randy Grubb has one sweet job: working from his Grants Pass, Ore., garage, he builds hot rods from supersized truck, jet, and tank parts. Page 18

» Achieving Balance by Laura Kiniry



Tired of walking to the supermarket from his dorm, 21-year-old MIT computer science and electrical engineering student Stephan Boyer decided he needed a quicker way to travel. Page 21

» Slow Art Pottery by Joe Sandor

The Saint John's Pottery Studio, run by master potter Richard Bresnahan, is like the art world's version of the slow food movement. Page 22

» Maestro of the Wii by Laura Cochrane

Several years ago, Ken Moore built a theramin, the instrument that gave mid-20th century sci-fi movies their eerie soundtracks, out of a Wii controller. Page 23

» Made in Sector Zero-Zero-One by Sean Michael Ragan

Barry Shields' Starship Enterprise coffee table was built over a month of nights and weekends and garnered praise from Star Trek luminaries Rod Roddenberry and George Takai. Page 24

» Real Cars, 8-Bit Frogs by Matt Richardson

In honor of Frogger's 30th birthday, Tyler DeAngelo put a new spin on the classic video game using data on actual street traffic. Page 25

1+2+3

» World's Cheapest Monopod by Gus Dassios

Most people are familiar with tripods. They have three legs and are great for setting up at a location and taking photos from that one spot. Monopods, on the other hand, have only one leg, so they can be quickly moved from place to place. Page 111

» Trash Can Composter by Thomas Arey

I like to pick things out of trash cans and reuse castaway items. Here, I repurpose the trash can itself to facilitate recycling organic waste into beneficial compost. Page 155

Maker

» Tinkering With the Music of the Spheres by Mark Karpel

On his farm in Mass., Dan Krause explores what mathematicians and astronomers once called "the music of the spheres," a sacred geometry of harmonic proportions discoverable through mathematics. Page 30

» Blissful Bedrooms by Jon Kalish

For the last three years, a group of New York City DIYers have been doing weekend bedroom makeovers for young people in wheel- chairs. Page 35

SPECIAL SECTION: Punk Science

» 3 Rules for Successful Citizen Science by Ariel Levi Simons

Make it measurable. Make it cheap. Make it open. Page 38

» Unblenders, Dremelfuges, and Optical Tweezers by Lina Nilsson

Making research-grade equipment from repurposed parts. Page 42

» Lord Kelvin's Thunderstorm by Matthew Gryczan

Create high-voltage sparks using nothing more than falling water as the source of energy. Page 45

» Building Living Machines by James Peyer

The birth of a kitchen-table biotech company. Page 50

» Drive-By Science by Sean Bonner

The evolution of Safecast’s bGeigie radiation logger. Page 52

» My Scanning Electron Microscope by Ben Krasnow

I decided to design and build a scanning electron microscope in my home workshop to see if it was even possible. Spoiler alert: it is. Page 56

» Robo Roach by Gregory Gage, Timothy Marzullo

Building your very own cockroach cyborgs. Page 61

» Mendocino Motor by Chris Connors

See photons turned into motion with this solar- powered, magnetically levitating electric motor. Page 64

» 26 Hacks in 48 Hours by Ariel Waldman

The creative explosion of Science Hack Day. Page 70

» Renegade Research

A roundup of punk science projects and ideas.

Building Blocks of Life
Check Your Head
Biopunks Unite!
Hack the Future
Appetite For Information
Quantum Physics Fam
Geomagnetic Genius
Try This at Home
Dremelfuge
Hot Idea
Big Problem, Nano-Solution
Data Overflow
Page 74

Projects

» Sound-O-Light Speakers by William Gurstelle

Surprisingly simple PVC pipe speakers are clear shining performers. Page 80

» Rocket Glider by Rick Schertle

The classic toy, remade. This folding wing glider rockets up ... then glides back down! Page 88

» Fetch-O-Matic by Dean Segovis

Build your own automatic tennis ball launcher for dogs. Page 98

Welcome

» Three Test Tubes and the Truth by Gareth Branwyn

Peer under rocks, into microscopes, and up into the heavens. Extract your own DNA. Play with your food. Page 11

Maker's Calendar

» Maker's Calendar by William Gurstelle

Our favorite events from around the world. Page 15

Making Makers

» Not Failure by AnnMarie Thomas

Think “daring young engineers on the flying trapeze.” Page 17

Making Trouble

» The Year of Cheap Robots That Make Cheap Robots by Saul Griffith

A country full of end-market consumers isn't sustainable. We need machine makers. Page 27

Skill Builder

» Servo Controllers by Robert H. Walker

Small, dedicated boards drive servomotors without (or with) programming. Page 112

DIY: Music

» iPad Music Desk by Reed Ghazala

Turn an iPad into a studio-worthy, deep-end experimental musical instrument. Page 118

DIY: Imaging

» Monkeysailor's Photo Lab by Andrew Lewis

Make your own Arduino-controlled color film processor. Page 123

DIY: R/C

» Getting Started with Multicopters by Frits Lyneborg

Tips on how to build, fly, and spy with multirotor R/C helicopters. Page 128

DIY: Science

» Flip Your Face by Charles Platt

See yourself as others see you with a true mirror. Page 134

» Auditory Ilusions by Michael Mauser

Explore your sense of hearing by creating weird sound tricks and effects. Page 137

Build Notes

» Rocket-Ship Treehouse by Jeremy Elson, Jon Howell

Within its steel frame and aluminum skin, our 15-foot bakyard rocket encompasses microcontrollers and LEDs, pneumatics, vibration and sound effects, and the joy of making. Page 144

Country Scientist

» Transform Things into Sounds with the Punkpac by Forrest Mims III

Since Punk Science is the theme of this issue of MAKE, let's explore a new twist on electronic tone generators like the popular Atari Punk Console (APC). Why not hack the APC so that its tones can be controlled by light? Page 152

Howtoons

Icon for PDF of Article » Small Step for Man by Saul Griffith

Make a gas powered rocket out of a film canister, toilet paper, Alka-Seltzer, and water that demonstrates Newton's third law. Page 156

Electronics: Fun and Fundamentals

» The Ching Thing by Charles Platt

You needn't believe in divination to enjoy making this fortune-teller. Page 158

Toolbox

» Toolbox

Pilot an R/C quad copter that flies like plane, rock out with a synthesizer kit, cut down on waste with a silicone glue brush, and learn to tune your steel pan drum. Page 162

Eureka!

Icon for PDF of Article » Escape! by Roy Doty

Page 164

Remaking History

» Otto Von Guericke and the Magdeburg Hemispheres by William Gurstelle

Make an impressively effective low-tech vacuum pump. Page 170

Toy Inventor's Notebook

» Breadboard Bots by Bob Knetzger

Sugru is an amazing material that is great for making posable electronic robots. Page 172

Homebrew

» My 50-Acre Wi-Fi Network by Kris Kortright

There are many aspects of life on a farm that can benefit from technology. Page 176