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!
Lorin Parker of Electric Western (creator of the Phantastron) puts fire to work controlling sound – The THERMATRON is essentially a voltage controlled oscillator and wave shaper controlled by the action of a flame. This is possible because electricity can be conducted through a flame. This is not a new discovery, in fact the electrical […]
Build It Solar has a great collection of solar DIY projects, including stills, cookers, food driers, and water heaters. But the gem of their solar-distillation collection, for my money, is this paper, from 1985, by Horace McCracken and Joel Gordes. It’s unformatted ASCII and black-and-white GIFs, but it provides a better review of the various […]
Well, classes are finally over, and people like Charles can finally settle down to the important work of…extreme grocery carting: While I seem to be in “build season” mode year-round, it is during long breaks with little in the way of academic or life obligations that I get the most done. Last summer, I began […]
OK, so it’s not like smurf-blue, but still: Blue hardwood! It comes from Talipariti elatum, the so-called “Blue Mahoe” tree, which is native to the Caribbean and is, apparently, the national tree of Jamaica. Turns out it also grows very quickly and shows some promise for sustainable forestry. Lumber is available through Tropic Ventures.
In response to my post of the clothes dryer chicken coop, Instructables author Alois sent us a link to his computer case beehive. The red jar lid on the front of the hive helps the bees find their way home. Who knew? Computer case beehive
My latest guilty SkyMall pleasure is this “Moloniki” transparent polycarbonate canoe by Clear Blue Hawaii. It’s 13′ long, 3′ wide amidships, and almost 1′ deep, and the polycarb is UV-stabilized to prevent sun-yellowing. Of course it looks cool, but what is really attractive, to me, is the prospect of being able to see what’s going […]
Saw a piece on the news last night about the increase in urban chicken coops. Here’s one quick n’ dirty way of creating a coop for your birds. Just make sure some wiseguy doesn’t plug it in to see if it still works. Clothes Dryer Chicken Coop
