Biology

Colorful Beaded Skulls

Colorful Beaded Skulls

Our own Andrew Salomone spotted this beautiful skull, one of eight in a limited edition called “Our Exquisite Corpse” sold through a trendy London boutique. Seed-beaded art objects like this are commonly identified with the Native American Huichol people of western central Mexico, though the style is dubiously “traditional.”

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Golden Needle Felted Koi

Golden Needle Felted Koi

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, from user Christine Prusha, AKA FeltedChicken. The base, simulating water, is made from poured resin, with felted cherry blossoms sprinkled on top.

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BioCurious Officially Opens — Test DNA, Build Equipment, Find a Co-founder and More…

BioCurious Officially Opens — Test DNA, Build Equipment, Find a Co-founder and More…

Think science is for geeks in lab coats or little kids growing bean trees in styrofoam cups? Time for a rethink. Science has gone DIY. Thousands of people around the world are part of a new brand of research called DIYbio. This group has thousands of engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and students. And lots of artists. This is the kind of collaboration you just don’t get inside institutions.

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Scrap Tanker Car Becomes Giant Steel Mantis

Scrap Tanker Car Becomes Giant Steel Mantis

Bill Secunda’s sculpture “Mantis Dreaming” was inspired by The Verve’s song “Catching The Butterfly.” Of it, he writes: “I imagined a praying mantis might have that dream, his opposite, the butterfly, beautiful, delicate, and always out of reach. He is so infatuated with it, when the butterfly lands on him he stands frozen. His instincts clash with his fascination, all he can do is hope it doesn’t fly away.”

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Functioning Lego Greenhouse

Functioning Lego Greenhouse

Our own Rachel Hobson says: “This fantastic greenhouse made entirely of Lego bricks was just unveiled at the 2011 London Design Festival. Designed by Sebastian Bergne, it is made up of around 100,000 Lego bricks.”

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CheapStat: An Open-Source, DIY Potentiostat

CheapStat: An Open-Source, DIY Potentiostat

Although potentiostats are the foundation of modern electrochemical research, they have seen relatively little application in resource poor settings, such as undergraduate laboratory courses and the developing world. One reason for the low penetration of potentiostats is their cost, as even the least expensive commercially available laboratory potentiostats sell for more than one thousand dollars. […]

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