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!
Researchers at the NanoRobotics Laboratory of the รโฐcole Polytechnique de Montrรยฉal, 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 […]
Delightfully clever marketing gimmick from designer Matt Braun, who’s made a beer label printed with a scale showing the relationship between the level of liquid in the bottle and the note that it makes when you blow across the top. Apparently Matt actually brewed a small batch of “Tuned Pale Ale,” and, thanks to the massively positive response his clever label is getting, has plans to brew some more. You can sign up at his website to be notified when it’s available for purchase, or you could try tuning some bottles of your own. Once you’ve figured out the levels for the notes, why not etch the scale into the glass?
Citizen Scientists: Show us your Erlenmeyer flasks, your test tubes, your centrifuges, your stereomicroscopes, your mutant science experiments, yearning to be free. It’s Citizen Science month here on MAKE, an opportunity for us to feature a lot of the science content from the magazine and here online, a chance for us to collaborate with people […]
Adam Richard Cooper built this hand-cranked model of a classic mechanical governor–which, as MachinistBlog succinctly put it “regulates the speed of steam engines by acting as a negative feedback system”–and made the dimensional drawings and build notes freely available for download at his site. I like the idea of a hand-cranked governor model, particularly, because it provides tactile feedback of the device’s purpose: You crank it faster, it gets harder to crank.
Opening at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago on Friday: STREET ANATOMY – a group exhibition focusing on representations of human anatomy in contemporary art and pop culture On view will be works that incorporate anatomical imagery in a variety of mediums, including painted skateboards, street art, and cast dark chocolate, by artists […]
While in town for the Kansas City Mini Maker Faire, we had the chance to visit the HMS Beagle, which is a gem of a science store located in Parkville, Missouri.
Well, OK, it’s actually a prosthesis. And I stole the Terminator joke from Minnesotastan over at Neatorama. This object is one of literally thousands of remarkable items in the online Brought to Life exhibit at the UK’s Science Museum, where it is labeled, apparently incorrectly, as a “right” arm. What is it with surgeons confusing left and right appendages?
