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!
While there are LED alternatives on the market for MR16 bulbs, the technology is still prohibitively expensive. I pulled one of the halogens and found the socket was simply two pieces of 19 gauge wire. I decided to free-form some circuits made of different colored LEDs around the thicker terminals.
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics We looked at playing card constructions before in this column, but this one by Nick Sayers is impressively intricate. The 270 playing cards each have four slits, and lock together like the classic IQ Lamp. Each card is forced into a curved form because it locks with […]
“Ken,” the author of this interesting tutorial on tinting hot-melt adhesive sticks by adding crayons, appears to know his chemistry, but is otherwise fairly anonymous. He claims that “[y]ou can also add up to 10% by weight of paraffin wax to reduce the viscosity without…”
Interesting item from John Rogers and co-workers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as reported in AAAS ScienceNow: “The new technology is the product of advances in several areas. One is in the active circuit components…”
Kris Kimmel of Kentucky Space is organizing the first hackerSPACE Workshop, which provides an opportunity for makers learn about building spacecraft from space professionals and engineers. The focus of the workshop is on the CubeSat satellite platform. The workshop is November 11-12 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Our own Mark Frauenfelder discovered the work of Boulder, Colorado interventions-in-nature artist Mike Grab in the best possible way: He happened upon one of Mike’s sculptures, in the wild, soon after its completion. Simply put, Mike Grab balances rocks, one on top of another, in flowing water, with no glue or other means of support apart from gravity itself.
Was Googling for interesting stuff made with PVC pipe today and happened upon this impressive theme cake from Craig T. Fifer of Alexandria, Virginia: “The Orbiter is made from brownie covered in fondant; the orange External Tank is made from PVC pipe and holds ice cream; the white Solid Rocket Boosters
