The Homemade Nitrogen Laser
“The nitrogen laser will give 100kW pulses of light at 337.1nm (UVA light). The pulses are only 6ns long, so the energy per pulse is just 0.6mJ. It is a very simple laser, and it does not require mirrors or glass working at all! But using a mirror at one end of the laser will boost the output to over 250%. And if the nitrogen entering the laser (it is a flowing gas laser, but it can be made sealed) is cooled, it can go up to 120 pps. So if it is running at 120 pps, and has a mirror at one end, the average power output will be 180 mW. Although the beam is invisible it can be used to pump dye lasers to give beams with wavelengths ranging from infrared to ultraviolet.” Link.
Clever instructable for protecting and camouflaging your bike using an old innertube – “An old innertube or two can be artfully used to protect your bicycle frame from damage. This is excellent in preventing damage to your frame from using U-Locks to lock them up. Also great to dress down your bicycle for urban environments.” 
“The Quarter Shrinker uses a technique called high velocity electromagnetic metal forming, or “Magneforming”. This technique was originally developed by the aerospace industry in conjunction with NASA, and has been popularized by Aerovox, Grumman, and Maxwell. It involves quickly discharging a high energy capacitor bank through a work coil to generate a very powerful and rapidly changing electromagnetic field which then “forms” the metal to be fabricated. While it works best with metals of relatively high electrical conductivity such as copper or aluminum alloys, it will work to a more limited extent with many poorer conducting metals and alloys such as steel or nickel.” Thanks Derek! 
Shawn writes “Rhode Island artist Neil Salley makes interesting installations using his own home grown technologies for creating 360 degree-viewable holograms. Be sure to look at his TVD 360 degree TV prototype. I wish there was more on the site about the technical details- all of his inventions and pieces are refreshingly simple and low tech.” 
This week’s video from the Nation Association of Manufacturers is all about steel…“Try to live in a world without steel. Steel is sorta of the mother of manufacturing. For many, it epitomizes the history of manufacturing here in America. When you see this video, you’ll see that it really does epitomize manufacturing in that it is now as high-tech as the rest of manufacturing…From spectrometers that do molecular-level inspection of steel to lasers and high-tech instruments that calibrate and measure the steel in every step along the production process, there is technology everywhere you look.” 
Just like video game cars, real cars have cheat codes too…“Here’s a(n) [alleged] way to disable the traction/skid control systems called VDIM on the Lexus IS: “start the car with the parking brake on…then foot brake twice. (keep the foot brake down). then parking brake twice (keep it down ) and repeat till skid light is on the dash…..it will reset when you restart the car” [
Here’s a simple and clever way to build a motorized cart for kids: power it with two 18V cordless drills. The drills friction-drive the cart’s front wheels via two 3/4-inch sanding drums, and you drive and steer the thing by pulling the drills’ triggers, one with each hand. Two fully charged drill batteries will run the cart for about 45 minutes of play time. Thanks Paul!