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!
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.
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.
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 […]
Jeri explores several methods to detect greenhouse gasses including mass spectrum and mid-IR absorption.
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 […]
Possibly the creepiest thing we’ve seen all season, here’s mercury(II) thiocyanate’s decomposition initiated by heating. The terrarium adds a nice effect, like we’re watching some kind of sand monster out of Star Trek. Video queued to 1:20, when the action starts. One Facebook commenter noted, “I guess when you burn mercury thiocyanate, it opens up […]
China launches Moon mission… A Chinese rocket carrying a probe destined for the Moon has blasted into space. A Long March 3C rocket with the Chang’e-2 probe took off from Xichang launch centre at about 1100 GMT. The rocket will shoot the craft into the trans-lunar orbit, after which the satellite is expected to reach […]
