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!
Stamatios M. Krimigis of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is pictured with the Voyager spacecraft’s backup flight unit which was never used. (Jed Kirschbaum, Baltimore Sun/January 17, 2011) So cool. Thanks to Michael Doyle for posting this on Facebook. Last June, Krimigis’ team noticed that solar particles had stopped striking from behind, and […]
Scan a laser across a phosphorescent screen to create glowing, haunting images that slowly fade into blackness.
It would appear that Isaac Salazar’s remarkable “origami” book sculptures are made simply by folding each page to the right dimensions. Dog-ears of various sizes will achieve the outer profile of the shape, but I assume internal details require that the pages be cut. See more in Veronica Salazar’s Flickr stream. [via Recyclart]
The guys at Louisville, KY’s hackerspace LVL1 are trying to send a helium balloon across the Atlantic to Europe — autonomously. But to determine the helium’s lifting power, they first have to figure out how much helium their balloon holds. It’s a fascinating conundrum and the perfect sort of thing for a hackerspace’s hive mind […]
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics The rise of personal rapid prototyping machines, such as the Makerbot, RepRap, or Fab@Home, allows one to make a variety of geometric models. Polyhedral models, such as this 5 cm ABS dodecahedron, are fairly straightforward. Next is an 8cm model of a hyperboloid of one sheet, showing […]
“iHop” is a toy robot that can hop. It uses two independently actuated arms in order to simultaneously hop and balance in the lateral plane. The “sagittal” plane is stabilized by torque applied to the two drive wheels (note that the wheels are, for the most part, stationary due to the lack of disturbances about […]
I’m sure makers will appreciate these charming wall decals, which serve as a reminder that the electricity we use comes from somewhere. Made by Hu2 Design, these stylish and eco-friendly home accents will hopefully make their owners a little more conscientious when they flip a switch or plug in a wall wart. [via FFFFOUND]
