Crocheting Hyperbolic Space
Dr. Daina Taimina, a Cornell University mathematician, creates intricate crochet pieces in order to better illustrate the physical model of hyperbolic space. “The beauty of Taimina’s method is that many of the intrinsic properties of hyperbolic space now become visible to the eye and can be directly experienced by playing with the models.” Dr. Taimina’s crochet models are on display at the Smithsonian’s collection of American Mathematical Models. The Institute for Figuring has collected a great deal of information about her work in online and real-world exhibitions. Thanks Jeff! Link
Brian writes “Although we all know that DMX was totally cool in 1999, his light up dance-floor in the music video Whats My Name was out of this world. The circular dance-floor was comprised of concentric rings that lit up in a chasing pattern. Although the solution was a drastic improvement on the classic Saturday Night Fever dance-floor, it still had room for improvement. To Improve on the DMX floor, and to make it transportable and reconfigurable, it needed to be modular.” Yes folks, the age of DIY home discos…is here. 
Chris writes “In a 7 page article Leah Buechley will show you from a-z how she put together a wearable led display perfect for club hopping! (Or maybe NOT!) The purpose of the whole display is to show off the “Game of life” which is a mathematical simulation of life. The project contains a lot of good close ups on her work in progress, and even a short movie where you can see the simulation running.” 
The Blake Laser is a computer controlled C02 laser for cutting and engraving, it looks like it’s all homemade too – while there isn’t a HOW TO, it appears, in operation, to be cutting some 3mm thick red perspex. Thanks Chris! 
Creating PCB’s at home has always been a hassle. The basic methods available include manually laying out the traces with trace transfers (not recommended), photoreproduction (specialized, and expensive), or the use of a laser printer using the toner transfer method. This latter has been somewhat hit or miss for me, with variable results, until I did a bit of internet research and discovered an absolutely dynamite paper. 
Colin has a great collection of electronics projects for musicians over on Experimentalists Anonymous, he writes – “I’ve been building and modifying effects and other audio devices for quite some time now, anything from a simple circuit bend to a ground-up-my-own-design box. I’m ready to do just about anything analog within reason, from an expression pedal jack to a completely made up custom box.” Thanks Jason! 
This is a fantastic little kit that will let you design and construct your very own Automata. You get to explore the world of cams, shafts, and other simple mechanical linkages – something that hackers and builders today could very well benefit from! [