Check out this excellent Lego spider by Jason “Doctor Moebius” Ruff. Yes, that’s right, Lego — those hairs are actually a multitude of levers that the builder repurposed. Click on the image to see a larger version! [via Brothers-Brick]
I can’t wait to make one of these model Hubble Telescopes that are featured on the Hubble web site. There are three versions: a PVC pipe version, a basic paper model version, and an expert paper model version that even includes the internal structure of the telescope. Why not host a little Hubble-building party with […]
The OK Go Rube Goldberg machine folks write: Many of you have asked for some more behind-the-scenes details on how our Rube Goldberg Machine video for This Too Shall Pass was made. We are more than happy to deliver. The interactive floor plan includes photos, videos, a detailed map of the warehouse, and some interesting […]
Matt Mets @ Make: Online writes: Chris and Madeleine Ball wrote in to share their email-counting t-shirt. Using some parts that they got from the Sparkfun Free Day, they added an LED display to the front of the shirt, that displays a count of the user’s unread email. An Android phone continuously checks the user’s […]
While this dress by Abbey Liebman incorporating flexible photovoltaics for charging personal electronics is interesting, what really caught my eye was the fact that it uses an improved type of conductive thread based on a proprietary blend of polymers and nanoparticles.
You click on a link and buy some silver-based conductive thread right now, but over the course of years, the current silver-based threads will slowly oxidize in air and the conductivity will start to degrade. Presumably, the new material (from the Hinestroza research group at Cornell) does not.
About a year ago I was considering a tutorial for Make: Projects about making one’s own conductive thread using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). At the time, you could buy small samples of CNTs from several places around the web at “educator’s” prices. Research on CNT-based conductive inks has shown that carbon nanotubes dispersed in water bond strongly enough to cellulose in paper to resist washing and prolonged mechanical wear, and would also, presumably, show similar performance on cotton thread. So I’m pretty sure you could make durable conductive thread just by soaking regular cotton thread in a dispersion of CNTs in water. Unfortunately, more research has shown, pretty conclusively, that carbon nanotubes are bad for you. Which is probably why the supply of those accessible “educator” samples seem to have dried up. Oh well.
This winter jacket uses a LilyPad Arduino to heat the wearer when it’s cold outside, and cool the wearer when it’s warm outside. The tutorial was made by engineering students Chris Francklyn, Diana George, Jenna Sobieray, and Alex Cossoff.
Many of you may have seen Becky’s Make: Online post about John Young’s clever p8tch system from a couple years ago. Now we’re excited to announce that John has recently opened a store selling them in the Makers Market. When you buy a p8tch, you get a velcro-backed waterproof patch, in one of several cool […]
