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!
รย รย รย รย รย รย Incredible personal video tour of the International Space Station with Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke (January 2009). If you can’t view the OGG file, it’s on YouTube as well… More: See the Space station! Origami spaceplane to launch from space station
Bill Hammack is one part Mr. Wizard and one part James Burke. He’s a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his alter ego Engineer Guy has made over 300 public radio spots emphasizing the creative aspects of science and engineering. In this three minute video, Bill tears apart a photocopier and explains, with great wit and wisdom, how it works. Ten more videos are available at his site. I especially like the one about tantalum. [via Boing Boing]
So this is my question: based on experience, rather than theory, can anyone definitively say if duct tape wrapped around a PVC air chamber improves the safety of these devices? Please let us know in the comments. And if you shoot some video of your experiment, that would be totally sweet!
More beautiful CC-licensed element photography from Wikipedia user alchemist-hp. Since I last wrote about his work, alchemist-hp has updated his (German) Wikipedia page with a clickable periodic table chronicling his ongoing quest to photograph each of the 94 naturally-occurring chemical elements. Right now he’s at 36.
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Paper is a versatile medium for experimentation and construction. Krystyna Burczyk has made beautiful sculptures by rolling paper squares to produce spiral corners that clasp together. They lock together without glue to create a kind of floral construction like modular origami but with spiral connections. This one […]
This clever hack from Nederlander Ruud Setteur is only available in Dutch, but the pictures are worth many thousands of words.
Dr Qui on Instructables shows us how to convert loose sawdust (surplus from woodworking) into compressed fuel briquettes for your wood stove (or wood burning hot tub).
