Rubberized Origami
Neat off-the-wall idea from Instructables user blightdesign, who’s been experimenting with preserving folded paper by rubberizing it with Plasti-Dip. More pics in B. Light Design’s Flickr set.
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!
Science for Sun Worshippers: Solar TV Remote
Here’s another super-simple mod from Weekend Projects, our beginner-friendly electronics series where we introduce you to projects you can make in a weekend. Actually, the Solar TV Remote should only take you a couple of hours once you’ve gathered all your parts.
Analog Tide Computers and the D-Day Invasion
Bruce Parker, former Chief Scientist and eleven-year veteran of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, wrote this fascinating article in the September issue of Physics Today. It covers the technical history
of the science of tide prediction leading up to the beautiful mechanical computers developed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to quickly extrapolate recorded tide patterns into useful predictions, and goes on to explain how those computers were critical in planning the Normandy landings.
Centaur Skeleton
Reportedly a custom job by osteological specimen-house Skulls Unlimited, though I can find no mention of it on their site.
Vi Hart on “What is Up with Noises?”
The amazing Vi Hart (daughter of our Math Monday columnist George Hart) has blown our minds again with this over 12 minute video explaining the math, science, and art behind sound. In many of Vi’s videos, she talks really fast, and it’s a style that works for her, but for something this info-dense, with lots of visual aids, it’s worth going through a few times to absorb everything.
Tyto Alba: Brother John and Sister Sharon (video)
Tyto Alba is an art car made from the remnants of 25 bicycles, along with an owl figurehead fashioned from leather feathers. Brother John and Sister Sharon combine their skills of mechanical engineering and leather shoemaking to showcase their creation at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011.
Math Monday: Make a Mathematical Haircut
A mathematical haircut makes an unambiguous statement to the world that you love math. Here, Nick Sayers is sporting a rhombic coiffure with interesting geometric properties.