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!
Japanese farmers create some amazing works by way of carefully planned planting. The above works from the village of Inakadate use no paint or dye – their color variations are created solely by the different types of rice planted. [via Pink Tentacle] Update: Mike also posted some video of the art growing a while back […]
Check out this amazing Captain Tinkerpaw special. Seen on Kevin Kelly’s Street Use. KK writes: I can’t tell what this is for. Might be a portable night market stall (for food?). There’s a generator on the tail and a light bulb hanging in the middle. Seems to be in Korea. That’s all I know. (Thanks […]
Here’s a nice demonstration of an aluminum-air battery which produces 1.0 V and 100 mA from the oxidation of aluminum foil. Metal-air cells such as this find common application in hearing aid batteries, for instance, which are driven by the oxidation of zinc. More: How-To: Backyard battery The Supercap battery
A Montgolfier ram, also called a “hydraulic ram pump” or “hydram,” is an arrangement of valves and reservoirs that can, without the addition of external power, raise downward flowing water to a point higher than its source. It does so, essentially, by dividing the flow into two streams, the larger of which gives power to […]
The Urban Green Council is looking for submissions in their Green Garage Inventors Competition. They write: The Green Garage Inventors Competition seeks to foster the creative ingenuity needed to usher in the green buildings of tomorrow and to retrofit our existing buildings. The competition will highlight innovative building products that address sustainability in compelling but […]
Via Patti Scheindelman’s New World Geek comes word of this nifty “Ikea hack,” a chicken coop made from an Ikea bunk bed and storage unit. Ikea home for chicks
Miami’s exodus125 makes these custom titanium (!) fire pistons himself. They’re pricey, and in point of fact there’s not much need for titanium (!) in this application when aluminum works just as well and costs way, way less, but still: Titanium! Besides its well-known physical properties–lightweight, noncorroding, and extremely tough–titanium (!) has also been proven […]
