Can we live at 350?
350.org is hoping to raise awareness of the need and possibilities of reducing the carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere to 350 parts per million. What can we makers do to turn this challenge into an opportunity? Via judi
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!
Radioactivity plays the strings
From the MAKE Flickr pool Barrie Sutcliffe’s installation titled The Small Within the Great consists of wall mounted strings played via data derived from the quantum decay of radioactive metals – Experimental stage running brushed DC motors controlled via PWM amplifiers connected to an Arduino. Data is fed to the computer from an Aware radiation […]
How-To: Make a Nature Can
How-To: Make a Nature Can By Megan Heep Kids filling your pockets with nature’s treasures? Or maybe you can’t help but pick up rocks, shells, and pretty moss yourself. Here’s what you do: make a Nature Can, using materials you probably have at home, for your kids (or you) to stylishly and conveniently carry their […]
Real adventure with Kon Tiki
After World War II, Thor Heyerdahl and his signal corps buddies arranged an adventure of a quieter, calmer, lower tech sort. After arranging backing for their research project, the Kon-Tiki, they went down to South America, and built a raft from balsa logs and sailed it across the Pacific. For more than a century scientists […]
Sonicator upgrade
Sean Ragan writes: Working in a chemistry lab will spoil you to the use of certain tools. An ultrasound bath is one of them. While a proper laboratory sonicator is a fairly pricey piece of equipment, by amateur standards, there are ultrasonic cleaners designed, marketed, and priced for the home market. They are primarily intended […]
Segway PUMA
And you thought the Smart Car was Lilliputian! Segway has been showing off its latest “experimental” vehicle, a collaboration with GM, at the New York International Auto Show this week. Called the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), the self-balancing two-wheeler can go about 35MPH top speed. S.E. Kramer from DVICE said it’s like driving […]
Starting a worm composting bin
Next door, on our sister site CRAFT, Wendy Tremayne has an excellent piece on worm-bin composting. I’ve had a compost pile since I was a teen. It’s almost something of a religious experience for me (United Church of Compost?), certainly something that gets me up close and personal with natural life cycles I might otherwise […]