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!
Here is the latest in our Make: Shorts video series, covering “Maker Pioneers,” inventors, entrepreneurs, makers, who are dreaming up clever solutions to today’s energy and environmental problems. In this episode, we climb aboard the BioBus, with its creator, Ben Dubin-Thaler. The “Cell Motion BioBus” is a self-powered mobile microscopy lab that brings hands-on science […]
That phrase could be Bill Hammack’s tagline. This week, it’s the piezoelectric crystal oscillator in a $9.99 digital watch from Target, a device so ubiquitous that it has become “ephemeralized,” as Bucky Fuller put it: Almost any device that runs on electricity is expected to include one. I knew how they worked, in a general way, before watching this video. But here’s one of the many things I did not know: The quartz crystal in the oscillator is only 3mm long and less than 1mm across, yet each one is individually tuned at the factory. Wanna know how they do it? Click away. [Thanks, Bill!]
Matt Melis and Kevin Burke of Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center narrate this remarkable 45-minute video highlights compilation of some 30 high-speed clips recorded by the 125 cameras–most of them film-based—that documented each space shuttle launch. Most of this footage was recorded for engineering purposes and, as part of an ongoing effort to commemorate the shuttle program, is now being re-cut for public appreciation. Space, engineering, and photography enthusiasts will completely geek out over this video, and anyone with a pair of eyes is certain to at least enjoy it. If you can, you should watch the whole thing. If you don’t have time, you should at least scan forward to 21:00 to watch the super-slow-motion close-range shot, taken from the support structure, of the entire vehicle as it passes by. Also, I’d personally recommend the wide-angle footage at 31:10 for absolute aesthetic beauty, as well as the booster plumes passing in front of the sun at 34:50. [Thanks, Rachel!]
Way back in 2006, Natalie Zee Drieu wrote about the Crochet Hyperbolic Coral Reef. The project has continued, it now tours, and it has spawned nearly two dozen “satellite reefs.” The second image above is of the New York Reef. There’s even a how-to book. The reef is a project of The Institute for Figuring. […]
From the US Navy’s YouTube channel:
The Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, fired a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot, breaking the previous record established Jan. 31, 2008.
Target effects footage, almost certain to be classified, is conspicuously absent.
Video of the previous record-holding shot, which was reportedly “over 10” MJ is here. Per Popular Mechanics, the Navy is reportedly working towards a 64 MJ device for deployment. [via Neatorama]
The laser microscope builds keep rolling in! This one from reader Steve Davee may not look like much, but it gets the job done with stuff you’ve probably got in your desk right now. The binder clip serves triple-duty by propping the laser pointer up at an angle, holding the button down, and supporting the bent paper clip that holds the sample drop out front in a loop. There are more pictures in Steve’s Flickr set. [Thanks, Steve!]
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Save your egg cartons and see what recycled art you can make with them! You can cut the bottoms of egg cartons into strips of six “waffle holes” which then interlock, without glue, into interesting structures. The basic joint of four spiraling strips is seen below. The […]
