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!
San Francisco hackerspace Noisebridge launched a balloon to the upper atmosphere, capturing numerous excellent photos as well as one super spinny video. Declaring a week’s advance notice of a balloon launch to the edge of space when we hadn’t even bought most of the equipment, let alone built it, was probably an act of pique, […]
A Russian firm is selling a system of ship-mountable auto-targeting water-pumping robots with the dual purpose of fighting fires and repelling pirates. BotJunkie’s Evan Ackerman explains:
The robotic water cannons (six on each side of the ship) are controlled by a central computer, using TV cameras to target pirates approaching the ship. The robots shoot streams of water at 40 liters per second out to a range of 70 meters, and can wash away potential boarders and even sink small boats. This is a defensive technique that is already used against pirates, but having robots do the shooting helps keep the people who would otherwise be wielding the fire hoses safe.
My biggest concern with this system would be that the pirates could use their Electro-Bolt plasmids to temporarily short out the automated turrets, then hack them to turn against their masters. I mean, just looking at them, it’s pretty clear these things are based on Rapture-style hydro-tube technology.
There’s plenty of bad found-object and “junk” sculpture in the world. I know because I made most of it myself. But Jud Turner, whose skeletal “Bio-Cycle” made some waves when we posted about it last year, does it right. He’s recently posted a bunch of new work to his website, e.g. the awesome mecha-trilobite shown above.
In case you’ve ever wondered if it’s possible to strap old plastic clothes hangers together with zip ties to make an icosahedron, I bring glad tidings: It is. I’ve done the experiment. We have the technology. I expect to be hearing from the Royal Swedish Academy any day now…
This heart planter is just too cute. Well, not too cute, just right cute. PrettyRandomObjects is on the front page of etsy today, and I’m not surprised.
This is a choice selection of images from the application for U.S. patent 7,631,404, which has since issued to Donald Scruggs of Chino, CA. The title is “Easy inter burial container.” [via Neatorama]
Well, in terms of available parking, UC Berkeley makes UT Austin look like an airport remote lot in Iowa on a Wednesday in the summer. And according to this official page there are presently seven living Nobel laureates on the faculty there, so I’m guessing there must be at least seven NL parking spaces. Supposedly, regular mortals have to shell out $50 for presumptious malparkage among the elite.
