Spokeless bicycle
Nine enterprising seniors in Yale’s Mechanical Engineering program built this rad spokeless bicycle for their mechanical design class.
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!
Waterless sterilizer “washes” hands with room temperature plasma
Before you protest, as I initially did, that some things are so simple and fundamental that they don’t really need high-tech “improvements,” realize that this device is being developed for and targeted at medical professionals, who, per this New York Times article covering the developing technology, “often have to wash their hands dozens of times a day — and may need a minute or more to do the process right, by scrubbing with soap and water.”
Triceracopter
That’s “triceratops + helicopter” for the portmanteau-averse. This sculpture, subtitled “Hope for the Obsolescence of War,” was completed in 1977 by the late American sculptor Patricia A. Renick. There’s more pictures over on Gizmodo. [via Geekologie]
Curtain made from film slides
Becky spotted this “kodachrome curtain” from Flickr user yarnzombie in her weekly CRAFT Flickr pool round-up post. Besides the coolness of the idea itself, this is a great example of the power of a good photograph to sell your project. Gorgeous shot!
Happy Birthdays: Galileo Galilei — Father of modern science
Happy Birthday Gallileo Galilei! Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism.
Atomic emission spectrum scarf
ur very own inimitable Becky Stern makes and sells these beautiful custom scarves featuring the atomic emission spectrum of your favorite element. Shown above is the “silicon” version (as modeled by AdaFruit’s likewise inimitable Limor Fried) but you can choose whichever element/spectrum you like. And here’s a handy-dandy Java applet from The University of Oregon that makes it easy to browse for your selection. Minimalists may prefer hydrogen or helium, but for my money it’s hard to pass up the rainbow-y goodness of, say, iron or tantalum. Want!
Unusual mechanism: The rolleron
Yes, this is a missile. Sorry about that. But it turns out the AIM-9 Sidewinder is the only well-documented example I can find, on the web, of a machine that employs these interesting little widgets called “rollerons.” See the little metal pinwheels at the trailing corners of the fins? The rolleron is basically an air-driven gyroscope, as Tom Harris explains over on How Stuff Works: