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!
A microtome is a laboratory machine normally used to slice extremely thin samples of soft specimens for optical microscopy. If you’re one of those folks who could care less about optical microscopy, it also has culinary applications. I quote from the sacred text of GoodFellas: In prison, dinner was always a big thing. We had […]
Back in March of 2008 we mentioned a class project from a group of UC Berkeley students working to develop a microscope extension for cameraphones. Led by Daniel Fletcher, the team has since updated their prototype, which is capable of acquiring objects at 1.2 micrometers across.
In this brief video, MAKE contributing editor Bill Gurstelle demonstrates a simple arc light (a precursor to the incandescent bulb) using a length of carbon rod, a knife switch, some ceramic insulators, Nichrome wire, and an 18-volt power tool battery. How to Make an Arc Light
Who is this man and what is he smiling about? Pictured above is our very own Copy Chief Keith Hammond, and he’s grinning ear to ear for a number of reasons. First, he’s doing what he loves best. Second, he just caught a wave in the salty cold waters of Northern California on a board […]
I love all of the… er… juice that electric-powered drag racing has been getting lately. I just found out today, via the HacDC e-list, that there’s electric drag racing right near me, the Power of DC, coming up the end of August, in Hagerstown, MD. It’s the 9th annual race, hosted by the Electric Vehicle […]
My favorite ham activity is making contacts via satellites. Not only is there the romantic notion of sending messages into outer space, but you have to trace the orbit of the satellite with your antenna while tuning the radio, to compensate for the Doppler effect. The satellites AO-51, SO-50, and AO-27 orbit the Earth acting […]
Pictures from the longest solar eclipse of the century. Boston Globe – Earlier today, the moon passed directly in front of the sun, causing a total solar eclipse that crossed nearly half the Earth – through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Today’s was the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting as […]
