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!
Like making circuit boards, but don’t like all of the toxic chemicals that you have to use to do it? You might want to take a look at Stephen Hobley’s directions, then. He’s claiming to be able to etch boards using only diluted hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and a bit of table salt. He’s got an […]
Most of our readers will know that one of the most common types of residential smoke detectors actually contains radioactive material—specifically, an isotope of americium—which is used to ionize air molecules in the detector itself. In this video, the always-engaging Bill Hammack, aka Engineer Guy, explains both the operation of the ionizing detector and, most interestingly for me, also the circuit in which it operates, and the MOSFET which is the other critical component in that circuit (and is, incidentally, the namesake of Phil Torrone’s cat). Characteristic Bill quote: “To me, this is engineering at its best: Simple, reliable, and inexpensive. And saving countless lives.” Thanks, Bill, as always!
Great looking results from the very accessible process of toner transfer galvanic etching, by Rab. [via Hacked Gadgets]
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics An interesting design exercise is to cut and fold furniture from one sheet of plywood. Peter Meijer has explored families of elliptical tables that are folded from exactly one rectangular sheet, with no unused remainder. In one family of experiments, he systematically varies the possible leg parameters, […]
My friend and fellow DC Dork, Jon Singer, does a lot of laser research and experimentation at the Joss Research Institute. This week, he sent me a link to a new article he’d posted, a report of his findings on lasing various fountain inks, invisible ink, “optical whitener,” and other readily-available materials, for creating DIY […]
This 1950s newsreel shows a car that was modded by its owner to deploy its spare tire as a tight-spot parking assist. (Thanks, Lew!)
Cheap DIY GFP and DsRED Detection
Nope, it wasn’t a creepy-crawly fetish that got me reading The Worm Breeder’s Gazette. Rather, it was talking to Kathryn Hedges–a smart, passionate, and well-credentialed scientist and artist–about The Gazette’s tips to make a GFP illuminator on the cheap, that made me sure I had to check it out.
