Month: February 2010

Atomic emission spectrum scarf

Atomic emission spectrum scarf

ur very own inimitable Becky Stern makes and sells these beautiful custom scarves featuring the atomic emission spectrum of your favorite element. Shown above is the “silicon” version (as modeled by AdaFruit’s likewise inimitable Limor Fried) but you can choose whichever element/spectrum you like. And here’s a handy-dandy Java applet from The University of Oregon that makes it easy to browse for your selection. Minimalists may prefer hydrogen or helium, but for my money it’s hard to pass up the rainbow-y goodness of, say, iron or tantalum. Want!

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4
Unusual mechanism: The rolleron

Unusual mechanism: The rolleron

Yes, this is a missile. Sorry about that. But it turns out the AIM-9 Sidewinder is the only well-documented example I can find, on the web, of a machine that employs these interesting little widgets called “rollerons.” See the little metal pinwheels at the trailing corners of the fins? The rolleron is basically an air-driven gyroscope, as Tom Harris explains over on How Stuff Works:

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan20

Lego Segway needs only NXT 2.0 parts

This isn’t the first Lego Segway (defined as a balancing bot on two wheels) — that honor would probably go to Steve Hassenplug’s Legway. However, the Legway used two EOPDs (Electro-Optical Proximity Detector) from HiTechnic Sensors to balance. What’s cool about this project is that it needs only those parts found in a standard NXT […]

Continue Reading John Baichtal