Welcome
Gareth Branwyn
Three test tubes and the truth. By Gareth BranwynPage 11
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.
Table of Contents
Columns
Reader Input
Automation UPStart, bacteria battery, stone grinding.Page 12
Maker’s Calendar
William Gurstelle
Events from around the world.Page 15
Making Makers
AnnMarie Thomas
Failure only happens when you give up. Page 17
Making Trouble
Saul Griffith
The year of cheap robots. Page 27
What’s Cool in Arduino
Marc de Vinck
Meet the Arduino Leonardo.Page 29
Special Section
Anarchy in the Laboratory
Real science happens everywhere.Page 36
Rules for Successful Citizen Science
Ariel Levi SimonsPage 38
Unblenders, Dremelfuges, and Optical Tweezers
Lina Nilsson
Making research-grade equipment from repurposed parts. Page 42
Lord Kelvin’s Thunderstorm
Create high-voltage sparks from falling water.Page 45
Building Living Machines
A kitchen-table biotech company is born.Page 50
Drive-By Science
Sean Bonner
The evolution of Safecast’s bGeigie radiation logger. Page 52
My Scanning Electron Microscope
Ben Krasnow
Built for under $2,000. Page 56
RoboRoach
Timothy Marzullo and Gregory Gage
Creating your very own cockroach cyborgs.Page 61
Mendocino Motor
Make a solar-powered, magnetically levitating electric motor that turns photons into motion.Page 64
26 Hacks in 48 Hours
Ariel Waldman
The creative explosion of Science Hack Day.Page 70
Renegade Researchers
Lego bone-tissue maker, Chinese meat monitors, and more.Page 74
Projects
Sound-O-Light Speakers
William Gurstelle
Surprisingly simple, these clear PVC pipe speakers are shining performers.Page 80
Rocket Glider
Rick Schertle
The classic toy, remade. It rockets up, then glides back down!Page 88
Fetch-O-Matic
Dean Segovis
Build your own automatic tennis ball launcher for dogs.Page 98
SERVO CONTROLLERS
Page 112
Music
iPad music dock.Page 118
Imaging
Arduino film processor.Page 123
R/C
Multicopters explained.Page 128
Science
True mirror; auditory illusions.Page 134
Maker
Made on Earth
Snapshots from the world of backyard technology.Page 18
Tinkering with the Music of the Spheres
Mark Karpel
Dan Krause’s home science museum.Page 30
Blissful Bedrooms
Jon Kalish
DIYers team up to create cool rooms for disabled kids. Page 34
1+2+3: World’s Cheapest Monopod
Gus Dassios
Page 111
Build Notes: Rocketship Treehouse
Jon Howell and Jeremy Elson
Learn about the joy of making with this 15-foot backyard rocket.Page 144
Country Scientist
Forrest M. Mims III
Transform objects into sounds with the optical PunkPAC.Page 152
1+2+3: Trash Can Composter
Thomas J. Arey
I like to pick things out of trash cans and reuse castaway items. Here, I repurpose the trash can itself...Page 155
Howtoons: Small Step for Man
Saul Griffith and Nick Dragotta
Page 156
Electronics: Fun and Fundamentals
Charles Platt
Ching Thing.Page 158
Toolbox
A classic drill, the latest in nail guns, a mom-and-pop shop, and the synthesizer experience.Page 162
Remaking History
William Gurstelle
Otto von Guericke and the Magdeburg hemispheres.Page 170
Toy Inventor’s Notebook
Bob Knetzger
Breadboard bots.Page 172
Homebrew: My 50-Acre Wi-Fi Network
Kris Kortright
Page 176
