Earth Science

Public Lab Puts Eco Justice in the Hands of Citizen Scientists

Public Lab Puts Eco Justice in the Hands of Citizen Scientists

A network of DIY environmentalists is helping monitor oil cleanups and busting polluters.

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Projects With Ryan Slaugh: DIY gas Leak Detector

Projects With Ryan Slaugh: DIY gas Leak Detector

The Atmospheric Gas Detector Kit, found in the Makershed, gives you the components needed to detect different kinds of gases. In this episode of “Projects with Ryan Slaugh”, we will go through the steps of setting up the base experiment from the book included with the kit.

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LED Atmospheric Analyzer Kit Now Available In The Maker Shed

LED Atmospheric Analyzer Kit Now Available In The Maker Shed

The Maker Shed LED Atmospheric Analyzer Kit is now available in the Maker Shed. Use it to create a photometer, a device that measures how much blue, green, and red light are penetrating the atmosphere.

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Earthquake-Actuated Artbot

Earthquake-Actuated Artbot

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/52059936] This bot visualizes earthquakes as splotches of paint, squirting paint color coded to the strength of each quake. Quakescape is a 3D fabricator that works by taking earthquake data from the site GeoNet (www.geonet.org.nz) and transferring it into the medium of art by using paint and Arduino technology. Quakescape creates a transformation of data […]

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December is Glass Month

December is Glass Month

With November behind us, we’re wrapping up our 2012 Year of Materials theme, this month, with a focus on glass. Glass, in the broadest sense of the term, does not imply any particular type of atomic or molecular composition, but rather a particular kind of ordering of atoms or molecules in space. Or rather, a lack thereof. In understanding this it is helpful to contrast glasses with crystals, in which atoms/molecules are arranged in repeating rows, columns, or other identifiable patterns, like cannonballs stacked on a courthouse lawn. Glasses, on the other hand, are more like dice poured haphazardly into a jar.

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Hacker Scouts at Ace Monster Toys

Hacker Scouts at Ace Monster Toys

Oakland’s AMT hackerspace spent last Sunday teaching kids about biospheres! Yesterday marked the inaugural Open Lab for our new adventure: Hacker Scouts. We had an amazing turnout with about 40 enthusiastic kids and their supportive parents! Our featured project was Biospheres, which half the kids decided to work on, while the other half chose activities […]

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