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!
Mark’s article on GOOD! The Return of Amateur Science… Last week, while browsing the Popular Science archives (which recently became available on Google), I noticed that the earlier issues of this 138-year-old magazine contained quite a few articles devoted to amateur science. The 1940s and 1950s were a heyday for basement-based research, with experiments such […]
Greater City: Providence has a post on some recent LED lighting news (good stuff+links in the blog and the comments), including links to a couple of articles on LED streetlights in NYC, Ann Arbor, and others: Since LEDs use less power than existing halogen, incandescent, or even fluorescent bulbs, it makes sense that this will […]
Ecolect, a great sustainable materials resource, has created their GreenBox. It’s a subscription to eco-friendly material samples so you can check out physical samples of materials you might want to make something with: Every 3 months, we release a sampling of 12 cutting-edge materials, packaged in a durable box that can also function as a […]
The future of travel… Wesley writes- For years I’ve assumed that one of mankind’s greatest fantasies has been to develop a practical, personal jetpack. But if the covers of Popular Science serve as any measure for this sort of thing, then it seems that for the past few decades man’s been dreaming less about rocketing […]
This how-to describes making a refrigerator that uses 1/10th the amount of energy of a traditional refrigerator. The website has a link to a PDF with all the building details. This would be a really great addition to any home running solar power, since the fridge is a major energy hog. More about a DIY […]
You can make your own USB microscope using an old webcam and a cheap toy microscope. All it takes is a soldering iron, some hot glue, and an hour of your time. Instructables user moris_zen has the details, which basically involves a little focusing trial and error before gluing things together: While you view the […]
What *is* it about cephalopods? You can build your own adorable squid at Te Papa’s Colossal Squid site – there’s lots of information about the real colossal squid, too.
