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!
If you’d told me yesterday that it was possible to make a solar system mobile from nothing but yarn and styrofoam craft balls that I’d be proud to hang in my living room, let alone give to a child, I would not have believed you. You win this round, Instructables user yosyam!
Here’s a great starting project for the rugged, outdoorsy, he-man type who is secretly candle-curious. The fact that it’s made with shotgun shells makes up for any girliness that might otherwise accrue to candle-crafting. Even if you use strawberry-scented wax. If you’re still feeling emasculated, try casting some beer bottle caps into the wax and/or mounting the finished candles on empty cans of SKOAL. From Instructables user Sunbanks.
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics As part of the the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC, October 23-24, I will be leading a mathematical “sculpture barn raising.” The sculpture is made from hundreds of laser-cut metal triangles, assembled in a novel manner to form a gyroid surface. Anyone can come […]
Rob Cockerham–who has previously brought us spring shoes, a sweet Doc Ock costume, and How Much is Inside?, among other delights–wanted to serve a six-pack out of a solid block of ice. The block had to be cast with openings that would hold the bottles tightly but still let them slip loose when somebody wanted one. It took a bit of trial and error, but he eventually got the process figured out. The whole story is here. Rob hasn’t tried it yet, but he thinks, as I do, that one of these will probably float in a swimming pool fully loaded. Nice work, Rob! [via Boing Boing]
Alan Argondizza of Ithaca, NY, wrote in to share the super cool skateboards that he builds from scratch using sheets of birch plywood cut with a jigsaw and hand-held router, then decorated by hand with paint pens, spray paint, and sharpies. Interested in making your own? Alan’s provides an excellent how-to on his site.
Spotted on the MAKE Flickr pool, this funky-fine Morse code straight key made with a Two Pence piece. 2p Straight Key More: Sew a cute Morse code key leg strap
Researchers at the NanoRobotics Laboratory of the École Polytechnique de Montréal, under Professor Sylvain Martel, produced this remarkable video showing a swarm of about 5,000 flagellated bacteria–of a type which are subject to manipulation by magnetic fields–being directed to assemble six 100 μm epoxy bricks into the shape of a tiny step pyramid. IEEE Spectrum […]
