Chemistry

Very small hollow metal spheres

Very small hollow metal spheres

Tiny metal spheres are needed for tiny ball valves and tiny ball bearings, which are needed for all kinds of miniaturized machines. Hollow spheres are lighter, and thus have less inertia, and thus can be made to move faster in these very small applications, where response time is often critical. But how do you make a hollow metal sphere 2mm across? Turns out you can do it with one of the lost foam processes I’m always going on about. Tiny styrofoam beads are first coated with fine metal powder and a binder, then heat-treated to evaporate both binder and bead, leaving only a fragile hollow metal powder shell, which is then sintered into a continuous shell at higher temperature. The sintered shells can then be polished in a tumbler to the same exterior finish as regular ball bearings.

Make: Projects – Pages of a forbidden tome

Make: Projects – Pages of a forbidden tome

They could be from The Necronomicon, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, or simply Poe’s “quaint and curious volume,” but everybody needs at least a few tattered leaves of ancient mind-blasting arcanum lying around to impress guests. Especially around Halloween.

This tutorial presents an easy method for producing weathered “antiqued” paper without much expense. The trick of soaking white paper in coffee or tea to give it an old, yellowed look is very familiar, but the process for selectively burning the edges of the paper is my own invention. A simple and safe chemical treatment is used to selectively burn the page, only where it has been applied, upon mild heat treatment.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009  – “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 – “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 – “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”… The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 awards studies of one of life’s core processes: the ribosome’s translation of DNA information into life. Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms. As ribosomes […]

“Fiction science” theory of Superman’s powers

“Fiction science” theory of Superman’s powers

Back in 2005, I wrote a fictional scientific paper (.pdf) postulating that zombiism is in fact caused by a prion, rather than a virus, as is commonly hypothesized. I also wrote a short essay about the idea of “fiction science” at the time. Now Ben Tippet, at the behest of Dinosaur Comics’ Ryan North, has written a similarly fictional scientific paper (.pdf) presenting “A Unified Theory of Superman’s Powers” from a physicist’s perspective. I’d be interested in hearing of other examples of people co-opting the serious literary forms of science for fictional purposes. If you know of one, please drop me a comment. [via Neatorama]

Novel edge-collecting solar panels

Novel edge-collecting solar panels

This is a solar panel. Really. If you’ve observed that it looks a lot like a piece of live-edge fluorescent acrylic, you’re more than halfway to understanding how it works. Light entering the panel from the sides is absorbed by dyes and converted, by some fancy top-secret nano-metal whatnot ingredients, into a kind of internal re-radiation that is collected by conventional silicon applied only at the edges. Fair warning: Full science-hype disclosure rules apply here.

Maker Shed Science Room Grand Opening Sale

Maker Shed Science Room Grand Opening Sale

The paint has dried, the floor’s been swept of construction debris, and all the merchandise is now in place in the Maker Shed’s new Science Room section, their companion to our new Make: Science Room. To celebrate this accomplishment (think: ordering, receiving, warehousing, and merchandising hundreds of chemicals and lots of things made out of glass!), they’re holding a massive Grand Opening Sale.