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!
ITP students Michell Cardona and Nelson Ramon Ramirez created several different oscillating wind generators before settling on something that works the best. Similar to the Humdinger in function, their Linear Wind Electricity Catcher works by fluttering a magnet in close proximity to a transformer, which translates kinetic energy to electrical energy after being rectified.
In September of last year, Matt Mets blogged about Visual 6502, an in-browser simulation of the landmark MOS 6502 microprocessor, produced by San Francisco hacker Greg James and Montreal brothers Barry and Bryan Silverman. Recently, the July/August issue of the American Institute for Archaeology’s “Archaeology” featured an interesting article about the story behind Visual 6502…
Kim Pimmel of San Francisco, CA, created this “experimental art video of ferrofluid and bubbles.” I combined everyday soap bubbles with exotic ferrofluid liquid to create an eerie tale, using macro lenses and time lapse techniques. Black ferrofluid and dye race through bubble structures, drawn through by the invisible forces of capillary action and magnetism.
Eli Sohl created a blog called Math Candy, which shows mathematical ideas in the form of candy. Here’s an illustration of how to approximate the area under a sine curve with a sequence of rectangles. This is what mathematicians call a Riemann sum approximation to an integral.
Philadelphia area maker Jenn Hall improved the visual quality of her motorcycle helmet by turning it into a R2D2 helmet. The process included scuffing up the existing paint job and adding consecutive coats of spray paint and laboriously cut masking tape. The whole thing is finished off with some PVC tubing, some blinking lights, and plenty of clear coat. What a great way to liven up an otherwise mundane safety apparatus.
Starting in 1995, Frank Kovac took ten years constructing amechanical globe planetarium of his own design despite having no prior engineering experience. The Kovac Planetarium in Monico Wisconsin is only the fourth of its kind ever built as well as being the largest in history at 4000 pounds and 22 feet in diameter.
Kevin Roof of Joliet, IL, figured out how to add A2DP Bluetooth to his car’s tape deck. I’ve always wanted to be able to turn my car on, pull out my cell phone, and just play my music library from there. One device, zero wires, infinite satisfaction. After going through countless tape adapters, I got […]
