DIY wooden Lung
Here’s how to make an wooden lung, from a 1952 Popular Mechanics: “Could a life have been saved in your community if a mechanical respirator had been at hand for immediate use? Often just a matter of minutes means the difference between life or death for a little child stricken with polio, or a victim of drowning or a paralyzing accident. Here’s a chance for every community to be ready at little expense for such emergencies. Members of clubs and civic organizations can do a great service by making one of these respirators and placing it in competent hands. Save a life — maybe your own.” Thanks Charlie! Link.
Great project from Jed and Nikhil (
Nextbrick has a great LEGO project from Tom Johnson – “This is an orrery I made to help explain to my children why we have so much light in the summer and not nearly enough in the winter (we live in Alaska). No attempt was made to get relative sizes, distances, or the orbit periods correct. Rather, this model shows the inclination of the earth’s axis and why it causes the seasons.” 
Google video of the 
Weber decided to start construction of his house by building a homemade solar water heater… “It took a lot of time and sifting, but I was finally able to devise a simple and inexpensive water warmer that I knew “us regular folks” would be able to build. In fact, my design involves only three steps: First, build a glass-covered wood “hot box” to catch the sun’s heat. Second, install a manifold of copper water pipes–inside this collector box–so the gathered warmth will heat water. Third, hook the outlets from the manifold to a storage tank (this container should be set above the heat collector) so the thermosiphon principle will move water from the collector to the tank.” Thanks Star! 
Matt writes – “Like many people I enjoy gardening and growing houseplants. While my wife and I have a large garden during the summer months I have often thought about how it would be nice to grow things such as tomatos and beans indoors during the winter months. Now I could have the floors lined with even more pots and planters than I do now but as much as my wife likes the movie I don’t think she would appreciate the house having that little shop of horrors decor.” Here’s an inverted hanging planter constructed from a 2 liter soda bottle. I plan on growing tomatoes indoors in addition to the beans which I already have growing in one.” 
