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!
MAKE contributor Jeffrey McGrew, of the brilliant design duo (w/ Jillian Northrup) Because We Can, was involved in building part of Jon Sarriugarte/Kyrsten Mate’s serpent art cars for this year’s Burning Man. Jeffrey and Jillian built the amazing Viking ship-inspired tails.
This detailed post from modeling forum member Panzerpaul nicely shows off the skill and hard work that went into creating his radio-controlled replica of a WWII-era German tank destroyer commonly called a Hetzer. To house the R/C electronics and other guts, the hull has to be hollow.
Downriver Detroit native Anthony Reale shows us around the Downriver area, which is a major source of inspiration for his art and engineering projects. His most recent endeavor is an innovative hydrokinetic turbine system called Strait Power, which looks towards a brighter, and greener, future for Detroit.
These famous cereal premiums were tiny — but packed with mighty scientific principles!
1/87 is essentially HO scale, which is said to be the most popular scale for model rail stock in the world. For cars and even large trucks, as you can see, it’s pretty dang small. Which is what makes the level of detail achieved by renowned truck modeler Joe Enriquez on this, and his many other models in the same scale, so remarkable.
If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with aluminum anodizing but were put off by the conventional requirement for concentrated sulfuric acid, you will be very interested to read of Ken’s successes with an alternate process using the acidic sodium salt of sulfuric acid. This salt, sodium bisulfate (NaHSO4) is much safer to transport, handle, and dispose of than the strong acid, and appears to give anodizing results that are just as good or better.
Our own Andrew Salomone spotted this beautiful skull, one of eight in a limited edition called “Our Exquisite Corpse” sold through a trendy London boutique. Seed-beaded art objects like this are commonly identified with the Native American Huichol people of western central Mexico, though the style is dubiously “traditional.”
