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!

Maker of the day – Kerry McLean, 225-horsepower gasoline-powered monowheel

Maker of the day – Kerry McLean, 225-horsepower gasoline-powered monowheel

Maker07TnToday’s Maker from our new book Makers – Kerry McLean, Wall Lake, Michigan. 225-horsepower gasoline-powered monowheel. “You may be hauling ass, but you feel like you’re floating,” says McLean. The metal fabricator and machinist built his first monowheel in 1970 and has been obsessively perfecting the design ever since. “I don’t feel like anyone has seen it through,” he says. “You hear words like ‘trial and error.’ That’s just some hillbilly stuff. Broomsticks and baling wire. I’m doing R&D.” Makers: page 20. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone8
Maker of the day – Bathsheba Grossman, 3D sculptures digitally printed in metal

Maker of the day – Bathsheba Grossman, 3D sculptures digitally printed in metal

Maker06TnToday’s Maker from our new book Makers – Bathsheba Grossman, Santa Cruz, California. 3D sculptures digitally printed in metal. Instant fabrication equipment printed out the artist’s 2004 sculpture Lazy Eight directly in bronze. To help with the arduous task of generating intricate surfaces on the metal, she’ll write her own computer scripts in Perl. With the advent of affordable 3D printing, she says, “advanced prototyping went from something that was completely in-house at Boeing to something you walk in off the street and order. I can’t tell you how cool it is to have your own small hunk of metal.” Makers: page 28. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone6
Maker of the day – Richard Hull, Homemade nuclear fusor

Maker of the day – Richard Hull, Homemade nuclear fusor

Maker03TnToday’s Maker from our new book Makers – Richard Hull, Richmond, Virginia. Homemade nuclear fusor. “Oh, fusing atoms is easy,” claims Hull with a slight Virginia twang. Well, OK, not that easy. First you have to find a way to generate over 20,000 volts of electricity. Fusor enthusiasts live for the brilliant purple light that emanates from the reaction — an indication that the hydrogen gas has passed into a plasma state and that neutron radiation is on its way. “With this project, you can be killed in so, so many ways!” Makers: page 94. View photo! See previous Makers of the day here. View sample PDF. Click here to get Makers the book before the holidays!

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone
Parts is Parts…

Parts is Parts…

Parts Dale writes “In Chicago Tuesday, I came across an Auto Dismantling Demonstration, sponsored by Allstate and the Chicago Police Department. They wanted to show how a chop shop operates, taking apart a car for its parts. They wanted to show that it could be done in under twelve minutes or less. According to the Allstate spokesman, the stripped parts from a stolen car fetch more than the book value of the car and the most popular stolen car is the Honda Civic because it has interchangeable parts…”

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone8
Claytronics nanoscale robot designs

Claytronics nanoscale robot designs

You may know of Claytronics (aka programmable matter) – the use of reconfigurable nanoscale robots to form shapeshifting objects. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have proposed several basic robotic designs as possible foundations for claytronics, including: Planar catoms test the concept of motion without moving parts and the design of force effectors that create cooperative […]

Continue Reading Collin Cunningham