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!
Our favorite pyromaniac, Bill Gurstelle, is back, and just in time for the 4th of July. He’s also here to talk about/excerpt from his latest book, The Practical Pyromaniac. We’re always excited to have Bill onboard, not only ’cause he’s a great guy, an epic maker, and a good writer, but being the pyro that he is, you just never know what he’s fixin’ to immolate. Keeps a person on their toes.
A sphericon is a shape that you get by: (1) rotating a symmetric polygon about a mirror axis to get a solid of revolution, (2) cutting the solid into two equal pieces, and (3) putting the pieces back together differently. With a lathe or a 3D printing machine, it is easy to make many kinds of sphericons, with different starting polygons. Here is one based on a star.
I’m absolutely amazed by Markus Kayser’s Solar Sinter Project, a 3D printer that uses the sun for power and sand as its raw material: In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance. In this […]
If you’re looking for a bare-bones hovercraft build, this one from ENGINEERING.com’s Some Assembly Required is about as minimal as it gets: A leaf blower, a couple circles of plywood, a lawn chair, and a shower curtain for the skirt. [Thanks, Dad!]
This video is short, and really pretty boring if you don’t know what’s going on. Shown is a chunk of new alloy that undergoes a phase change, at about 125C, from a nonmagnetic material to one that is strongly magnetic. If you bias the system with an additional, permanent magnet, heating the system past the transition temperature produces an electric current in a nearby coil, thereby converting heat to electricity.
Garden_Pallet-Completed-430×300 How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden
Robert Bruce Thompson, author of Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments, has assembled a chemistry set to sell to amateur chemistry buffs and homeschoolers. Because chemistry is widely considered to be the most difficult lab course to do well—particularly on a tight budget—we offer the CK01 Standard/Honors Home School Chemistry Laboratory Kit. It provides a […]
