“Doubles” is an electronic musical instrument that uses two controllers (which resemble air hockey mallets) and a surface of rolling beads. When moved, the controllers are measured in speed, distance, and their motion is used to create the resulting audio and visuals. via Digital Experience
This is a 1/12th scale model of the Dorpat telescope. It was built by William Gould for the National Geographic Society’s Centennial Celebration. The original telescope was built in 1826 by Joseph von Fraunhofer for the Dorpat Observatory, and was one of the largest of its kind; you can appreciate its scale by noting the […]
Keith Newstead is an “automatist” who makes the most amazing kinetic mechanical sculptures. Here are a couple of his pieces, recently posted to YouTube. Keith Newstead Automata [via Dug North] More: Cabaret Mechanical Theatre – A Museum of Automata (mechanical sculpture) Designing automata kit & cabaret mechanical movement
Todd Wiley writes to us: We’re starting up a co-op hacker space in Lexington, KY. Were going to have a brief planning meeting this Thursday, 7PM, at Common Grounds (343 East High Street). I hope other area makers will come out and pitch in. I’ll likely be keeping information flowing on twitter.com/xtoddx. Common Grounds
”Minimum_Module” by Limiteazero is an open source sound installation (you can download the source code for it at the link below) built with Processing where 4 frequencies are generated by 4 laptops and played through a subwoofer which creates vibrations on 4 steel plates which are picked up with microphones as visualized as a wave […]
National Geographic interviews Wu Yulu, a chinese farmer obsessed with building walking machines. Wu was ridiculed for a long time because of his mechanical creativity, but recently has gained recognition for his self-taught skills after being named China’s most innovative farmer. Over the years he’s managed to construct some pretty awesome automatons from salvaged materials. […]
Greg Gage from Backyard Brains demonstrates their SpikerBox kit, which lets you experiment with cockroach neurons. Becky and Greg surgically remove a cockroach leg and listen to the neurons firing. This is an archived clip from Make: Live, which was originally broadcasted on 7/29/11. Go to https://makezine.com/live/ for information about the show, chat transcripts, and details on the next show.
