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!
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.
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.
This page at the University of Oregon bills itself as “the world’s largest collection of anatomically correct fabric brain art.” Shown here is Dr. Karen Norberg’s The Knitted Brain.
Zachary Rukstela of Kinetic Steamworks considers himself the steward of the pieces of vintage steam technology he owns. He operates a steam powered vehicle at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, and explains his background in steam, from growing up on a farm, to working on a WWII era steam powered destroyer.
Our own inimitable Laura Cochrane spotted this clever trick over at The Craft Patch. It may not be glamorous or sexy, but I love insanely simple stuff like this born of paying careful attention to what’s right there in front of you.
This is the “Hello World” of biotech. You will make cells that glow! Adding jellyfish genes to bacteria might sound like it’s complicated, but it’s easy!
Being someone who already suffers from a debilitating form of arthritis, and spends most days and nights tap dancing on a keyboard, I’m amazed that I haven’t developed some form of RSI (repetitive strain injury), the catch-all term for the cumulative chronic “micro-injuries” associated with repetitive movements and work fatigue. I don’t have chronic RSI, but I do get intense wrist pain sometimes, associated with my arthritis, and occasionally, little shooting nerve pains (which always make me wonder if RSI has finally befallen me). But for the last 14 years I’ve employed a faithful tool in helping me avoid aches and pains in my hands: Handeze Therapeutic Support Gloves.
