Math Monday: String Hyperboloid
A string hyperboloid can be made by running strings between two circles and rotating one relative to the other. Here’s one large enough to stand inside of—it is fourteen feet high—between four-foot diameter circles.
Science
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!
Robotic Fish Uses only One Servo
At the Center for Biorobotics in Estonia, Eszter Ozsvald built a mechanical fish named A.riel that can model the movements of actual fish surprisingly well, and using only one servo inside a carefully made silicon-based mold. It took many iterations before the final product, but found that in the end she could develop the same vortex patterns as actual fish. Her site has extensive documentation on the build process and is definitely worth a look for the mold-making processes alone.
Tesla Special Event Ham Radio Stations, November 5th
November 5, 2011 is the 66th anniversary of the first FM transmission in 1935 from Yonkers, NY, by Carmen “Randy” Runyon W2XAG. On Saturday, a network of Tesla special event ham radio stations will be on the air helping to raise awareness of the effort to purchase the Wardencyffe laboratory and restore it into a science museum.
DDWFTTW: Rick Cavallaro
Rick Cavallaro and his team at DDWFTTW succeeded in making a wind powered vehicle that travels downwind at a speed faster than the wind itself. The vehicle is at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, having newly accomplished a feat that was considered impossible by many. The vehicle is made from a combination of steel, carbon […]
Study Tests Best Writing Instruments for Lab Data
Following an accident that damaged some of his written lab notes, biologist and photographer Colin Purrington undertook to choose his next laboratory writing instrument more scientifically. The test set included 20 pens and 1 pencil. As a brand, the Japanese-made Sakura Gelly Roll pens, like those shown here, stand out for fade- and bleed-resistance under the tested conditions.
Man Flies in Electric Multi-copter
It’s being widely reported as the first time an electric multi-copter has carried a human being aloft. Germans Thomas Senkel, Stephan Wolf, and Alexander Zosel are the brains behind e-volo, a 16-copter with four groups of four blades, each of which is driven by a separate motor. The first human-carrying flight is reported to have lasted one minute and thirty seconds.
How-To: Homemade Memristor
Fascinating video from Nyle Steiner, who reports on his experiments with simple homemade memristors made from what are, probably, Al-CuS-Cu and Al-PbS-Pb junctions. He describes the observations that led him to experiment with these systems and the results of his experiments, and then wraps up by drawing out a simple memristor demonstration circuit and demonstrating its operation on-camera.
