Year: 2010

Exploding piano alarm clock

Exploding piano alarm clock

Here’s a video of a nifty Exploding Piano Alarm Clock that was recently made in a graduate product design class at MIT. One of MAKE’s former interns, Jake McKenzie, was part of the team who created it. They based their project on the traditional piano drop held every spring off the MIT Baker House. The […]

How-to Garden Projects Roundup

Terrie Miller of Permie.net has put together a wonderful roundup of DIY garden projects using upcycled materials. Learn how to build a seedhouse using a window or glass door, make a garden work table from old pallets, grow 100lbs of potatoes in 4 square feet, and construct a raised garden bed from cut branches. Terrie […]

Bobbing naval generator runs “eternally” on ocean’s heat

Bobbing naval generator runs “eternally” on ocean’s heat

SOLO-TREC is outfitted with a series of tubes full of waxy phase-change materials. As the float encounters warm temperatures near the ocean’s surface, the materials expand; when it dives and the waters grow cooler, the materials contract. The expansion and contraction pressurizes oil, which drives a hydraulic motor. The motor generates electricity and recharges the batteries, which power a pump. The pump can change the float’s buoyancy, allowing it to move up and down the water column.