In the Makers Market: Pi Day accessories
Happy Pi Day from Makers Market! This sterling silver Pi Pendant and Pi Earrings from Oregon jewelers Nicholas and Felice would be a great gift for the mathematician, engineer, or scientist in your life.
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!
In the Makers Market: Mysterious mushroom puzzle
Xylocopa Design (of Build-Your-Own Ratmobile fame) just added this beautiful Mysterious Mushroom Puzzle to their Makers Market store: These gorgeous engraved wooden mushrooms fit together to make a 6″ square – but in only one configuration! Assembling them may not look so bad, but trust us, it’s no simple task. Each mushroom is based on […]
How-To: Collect whale snot using an RC helicopter
Lately we’ve had lots of folks writing in seeking practical advice on collecting tissue samples for use in studying diseases of whales. I had no idea there were so many amateur cetopathologists among our readers!
As you folks know–all too well, I’m sure–it is extremely difficult to collect blood from a wild whale without injuring or killing it in the process. However, as is common knowledge even among laypersons, the next best thing to live whale blood is live whale snot. Turns out it spews from their blowholes when they exhale, so the process is really very simple:
1. Find breaching whale.
2. Hold petri dish over blowhole to intercept spout.
3. Return to lab, enjoy sample.
Step 2 is actually the hard part. And although your first instinct may be to just jump in your rowboat, paddle out to a whale pod, lean way out over the side with your sample container, and wait, that’s actually not as safe as it might sound. Each year, untold millions die attempting this maneuver.
Enter Dr. Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, of the Zoological Society of London. Her recent paper in Animal Conservation (abstract), irresistibly entitled “A novel non-invasive tool for disease surveillance of free-ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs,” introduces the ground-breaking methodology of strapping a petri dish to a toy RC helicopter and flying it into the spout. This landmark paper stands not only to revolutionize our understanding of whaleborne disease, but to save countless lives, and establishes Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse as a serious contender for this year’s (Ig) Nobel Prize.
[via The Thoughtful Animal]
P.S. Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse, you are made of awesome. And although I have never met you and probably never will, I love you with all my heart.
Web cam view of a NASA clean room
If you’ve ever wished you could get an insider’s look at the daily activities of NASA Goddard’s largest clean room, you’re in luck. Web cams are now providing live coverage of work on the components of the upcoming James Web Space Telescope. The cameras snap and display one picture per minute from the pristine workspace […]
How-To: Buy sustainably-managed lumber
I haven’t verified that last bit for myself, but I did spend a long time googling around yesterday afternoon and satisfied myself that these FSC folks are on the level. That’s their “tree with a check mark” seal in the photo, above. Now I know what to look for. And so do you. [Thanks, Hank!]
Lovely camper
I’ve never seen a trailer like this – perhaps it wasn’t road safe or something, but it would be wonderful to (re)make – via LoL.
Plastic plywood substitute
I make a bunch of stuff out of plywood. A lot of it is utilitarian furniture–bookshelves, workbenches, occasional chairs and stools. I’ve been wishing for a long time that I could find a plastic substitute material, like the synthetic decking and lumber I see for sale in the hardware stores these days, to use instead, not only for the eco-friendly aspect, but because I’d like to have a material that was naturally water-resistant and did not require finishing.
That’s why I was excited to learn, a few months ago, about EcoSheet, which is a “plywood replacement” panel material manufactured by British firm Environmental Recycling Technologies. I hit them up for a sample and they sent me a 4″ x 4″ x 3/4″ piece of the stuff, which is pictured above. It does not weigh as much as plywood, but seems just as rigid, and drills and cuts easily. And although their initial market seems to be the construction industry, specifically temporary structures erected as barriers and pouring forms, I’m looking forward to experimenting with “off-label” uses when and if it becomes available in small quantities in the US.
EcoSheet is manufactured from 75% recycled material, mostly waste electrical and electronic equipment, and can itself be recycled at the end of its useful life.