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!
“A laser harp is basically a big frame resembling a real harp. There are no strings. Instead, beams of laser light are projected from the bottom of the harp. These beams strike light sensors at the top of the frame. When something (a hand, foot, etc.) blocks the beam, a note is triggered on a synthesizer or some type of tone generator. Theoretically the harp could control anything but I’m interested in its musical possibilities.” Here’s how to make one! [via] Link.
In MAKE 01 we showed you how to make a “gauss rifle” – A linear accelerator for studying high-energy physics costs around $5 billion. But you can make one for about 30 bucks with four strong magnets, a wooden ruler, some plastic tape, and nine steel balls. Here is Daniel’s photo set on Flickr of the one he’s making… Link.
Winners of the Olympus BioScape contest are in, first place – rat eyes “If the key to the inner self is visible by looking deeply into someone’s eyes, rats must be among nature’s most glorious creatures – for a stunning, brilliantly hued and richly patterned photograph showing the inside of an aging rat’s eye has been chosen as the first prize winner in the 2005 Olympus BioScapes International Digital Imaging Competition.” See the entire gallery here… Link.
Here’s a detailed log of how to build a utility trailer. Includes a free AutoCAD drawing, materials list, parts list, as well as lots of pictures. Glen writes “I needed a trailer to haul around a snowmobile so I decided that I might get better use out of a general utility trailer instead of a snowmobile trailer. I checked the local trailer retailers and found that the going rate for a 5′ x 10′ utility trailer was around $1,300 Cdn. The trailers weren’t very strong and were made mostly from light angle iron. Always looking for a good project, I decided to build one instead.” Link.
Pat writes in with these week’s video from the Manufacturer’s blog! “…here is this week’s video of fiberglass insulation being made. The opening screen says, “Sand to Glass to Fiber Glass.” You’ll see here the process from sand to glass, and recycled glass, through 2500-degree ovens and eventually into fiberglass insulation. This is a substance that will be keeping us warner this winter, thought you might want to see how it’s made. The plant you see here makes enough insulation each day to insulate 250 homes.” Link.
Doh! er, Play Doh! “Fingerprint scanning devices often use basic technology, such as an optical camera that take pictures of fingerprints which are then “read” by a computer. In order to assess how vulnerable the scanners are to spoofing, Schuckers and her research team made casts from live fingers using dental materials and used Play-Doh to create molds. They also assembled a collection of cadaver fingers. In the laboratory, the researchers then systematically tested more than 60 of the faked samples. The results were a 90 percent false verification rate.” [via] Link.
Print out a working plastic gun, or a self contained puzzle…Sascha from wmmna writes “The design products-department at the Royal College in London teamed up with a company called 3D Systems to get their hands on some state-of-the-art rapid-prototyping equipment. The brief was to create projects that are not prototypes but products that couldn’t have been made with any other technique. The results were quite stunning and point towards a future of manufacturing that seems to be swiftly approaching…” Link.
