DIY science is the perfect way to use your creative skills and learn something new. With the right supplies, some determination, and a curious mind, you can create amazing experiments that open up a whole world of possibilities. At home-made laboratories or tech workshops, makers from all backgrounds can explore new ideas by finding ways to study their environment in novel ways – allowing them to make breathtaking discoveries!
Did you know you can generate electricity from the “metal-breathing” anaerobic bacteria found in ordinary mud? Having no oxygen to breathe, these bacteria produce energy for their growth by transferring electrons to clumps of rust and other metal oxides, in a process called dissimilatory metal reduction. Dr. Ashley Franks, director of K–12 outreach at the […]
NASA JPL researchers present a 250-mm diameter omni-directional anchor that uses an array of claws with suspension flexures, called microspines, designed to grip rocks on the surfaces of asteroids and comets and to grip the cliff faces and lava tubes of Mars. [via Techland; thanks Bigpaws!]
Craig Venter’s Bugs Might Save the World – NYTimes.com: In the menagerie of Craig Venter’s imagination, tiny bugs will save the world. They will be custom bugs, designer bugs — bugs that only Venter can create. He will mix them up in his private laboratory from bits and pieces of DNA, and then he will […]
The WW2 US Medical Research Centre has an extensive catalog of images and descriptions of World War II medical kits, vehicles, clothing, veterinary equipment, bags, field manuals, and more. There are also historical photos from the war sprinkled throughout.
As much as I love Engineer Guy videos, I am especially partial to Series #4, because it is themed around the chemical elements—each installment features a different element and a remarkable bit of engineering based upon it. And this week my two personal favorite elements are in the spotlight. Though it is utterly common, today, […]
Here, with great fanfare, is the second installment of Engineer Guy Series #4: theMEMSaccelerometer. With typical flair, Bill and his production team take us from the basic concept of an accelerometer (using the familiar ball-on-a-spring model), through the analogous silicon device that lets your smartphone tell up from down, all the way to the anisotropic etching techniques used to It’s wonders all the way down, with Bill, as usual.
In July 2004, Astronaut Mike Fincke melted some solder aboard the International Space Station. The behavior of the solder in zero gravity is fascinating to watch.
