Building a better wheelchair
Here’s a neat design for an improved wheelchair, by designer and wheelchair user Salim Nasser.
Science
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!
Modular origami nanotube model
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, this beautiful modular origami construction, Ã la Tomoko Fuse, from user fdecomite. Its formal title, Giant short nanotube, provides a rare opportunity to observe a double oxymoron in the wild.
MacDowall single-pin escapement in Lego Technic
Those interested in mechanisms and horology will probably enjoy watching the hypnotic action of this single-pin escapement executed in Lego by YouTuber horolophile. An “escapement,” FYI, is the mechanism in a timepiece that converts continuous rotational motion into oscillating “back and forth” motion and makes it go tick-tock.
Homemade Spacecraft
The latest high altitude weather balloon video making the rounds is from the father and son team of Luke and Max Geisshuhler of Brooklyn, NY. Their setup included a 19-inch helium balloon with a payload consisting of a camcorder, GPS enabled phone, and a couple of hand warmers inside a styrofoam container.
Math Monday: Geometric fruit carving
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics What could be a better centerpiece for your dessert table than a polyhedral cantaloupe? Try making this “Leonardo style” dodecahedron in which the edges are solid and the faces are open. To warm up for it, you might first want to make all five Platonic solids from […]
Detect greenhouse gasses on the cheap
Jeri explores several methods to detect greenhouse gasses including mass spectrum and mid-IR absorption.
DIYbio NYC on the BioBus
This past weekend, the World Maker Faire in NYC had a wide range of makers showcasing a variety of projects and skills. Front and center was the New York chapter of DIYbio, a scientific outreach group of local citizen scientists, and the BioBus, a mobile microscopy lab built on a 1972 transit bus. For the […]
