Green Science Fair contest
Instructables has teamed up with Discover magazine to bring you the Green Science Fair contest. Deadline for entries is June 6 – there are some great prizes! Green Science Fair Contest
Science
Tim Hunkin explains it all
Tim Hunkin is known for his automata – the Disgusting Spectacle at Maker Faire 2007 was inspired by one of his pieces. He’s also a talented explainer. You can find entertaining explanations for a huge range of topics at his site, Rudiments of Wisdom. Related: Tim Hunkin’s giant automaton clock for the London Zoo The […]
Chia Pet meets the solar cell
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have come up with a way of making solar photovoltaic cells more efficient by making them fuzzy with nanowires. Boosting solar cell efficiency The idea is [to] use nanowires to more efficiently conduct electrons from the collection surface of the solar cell to an electrode. Contemporary thin-film […]
Make a marble machine
The Science Museum of Minnesota’s Studio 3D has some great kid’s projects. I especially like the Marble Machine, which incorporates recycling and simple electronics and kinetics. Marble machine Related: The Way Things Go (one of our favorite DVDs!)
Rocket motor design software
BurnSim ($39) is a solid rocket motor ballistic simulation program (Windows only) now in its third version. In a nutshell, input your motor, nozzle and propellant characteristics and BurnSim calculates the Kn (kilonewton) through the burn and predicts estimated chamber pressure and motor performance. Once your motor design is in BurnSim, you can tweak the […]
The science and poetry of clouds
There’s a Cloud Appreciation Society. Who knew? Lots of pictures, art, poetry, science, folk lure, discussion, etc. Cloud books, too (The Cloudspotter’s Guide). The Cloud Appreciation Society [Thanks, Patti!] Related: The wonder, science, and how-tos of snowflakes
Capacitor spool phyllotaxis?
Lenore, of Evil Mad Scientist Labs, glimpses the pattern that connects in a spool of monolithic capacitors: These capacitors… exhibit the opposite spirals of phyllotaxis that are probably most familiar from the face of a sunflower. Who knew capacitors could be so lovely? Electronic Phyllotaxis