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!
By Mark Frauenfelder Rick Cavallaro demonstrates his treadmill wind cart. In February 2007, MAKE’s project editor, Paul Spinrad, emailed me a link to a YouTube video shot by a man named Jack Goodman. The video opens with a woman in a pink shirt and blue shorts standing in the middle of an asphalt road somewhere […]
Here’s one for the “limiting your options is the best way to stimulate creative thinking” file. Lego does not make many elements in its metallic silver color, so Flickr user Alex Schranz had very few pieces to work with when designing the fuselage and skin of his minifig-scale B-17 bomber model. I’d say he succeeded admirably.
Jeri’s at it again, this time, cracking open some 1N34 diodes to harvest the germanium to build a crude transistor. Before that, she does a really nice job sketching out the basic physics behind semi-conductor operation. And she does get her point-contact transistor to work. Crude, but it works! Kudos, as always, Jeri! Make a […]
Our post from three weeks back about Instructables user mikey77’s “Oogoo” formulation generated some really great discussions in the comments. Now, reader Iceman086 has reported some successful experiments combining caulk, cornstarch and a solvent to make homebrew silicone with a pourable consistency. Perhaps we can call it “Ooze-oo?”
Bread bag tabs art. Try saying that 10 times fast! I often feel a little bit of hollow sadness throwing away bread bag tabs. They come in interesting colors, and they would be so easy to save… but for what? Fine Diving arranged them on a piece of paper to resemble a hand, and I […]
Blackbird wind cart. Photo: Steve Morris Introduction By Mark Frauenfelder In 2007, MAKE projects editor Paul Spinrad sent me a link to a YouTube video of a wind-powered cart, made by a Floridian named Jack Goodman, that seemed to be able travel directly downwind faster than the wind. How could a wind-powered cart outrun a […]
Longtime CRAFT and MAKE contributor Annie Buckley has curated an online art exhibit on the venerable HuffPo. On Seeing is a great collection of emerging and established artists from around the globe, all using ordinary, every day items — Popsicle sticks, paper strips, soccer balls, patrol uniforms, grocery bags, vintage clothing, traffic lights — to […]
