Agitating wool in water causes the fibers to bind onto each other and shrink. The great news is that this binding action creates a dense, soft material whose raw edges won’t fray. This is known as felting. The next time your favorite wool sweater accidentally slips into the wash and shrinks to oblivion, take another […]
Wash a wool sweater in the washing machine and you’ll see it shrink to child-sized. This, my adult-sized friends, is called felting. Agitating wool in water causes the fibers to bind onto each other and shrink. The great news is that this binding action creates a dense, soft material whose raw edges won’t fray. I’ll […]
This project was created by Ichiamsa Yagi, who is a professor of the Iwate University Department of Education in Japan. He is also the CEO of EWI (Experimental Workshop Iwate). His company develops the teaching equipment that will encourage the growth of science in schools and universities thoughtout the world. Use ABS pipe and a […]
As my second guide, Build a Hovercraft being my first, I will teach how to create 3D images and view them. This 3D is not anaglyph, or red and blue lens, but stereoscopic. This is also referred to as “Free Viewing.” You won’t even need glasses! NOTE: You will need to cross your eyes! With […]
The HeliRocket is propelled by a standard model-rocket engine, but instead of the engine’s ejection charge deploying a parachute, it releases the rocket’s 3 tail fins. The fins then swing up into a helicopter blade configuration, which slows the rocket’s descent by converting much of its kinetic energy into drag and angular momentum (spin). Some […]
This year my son was enamored of Advent calendars – the idea of getting a little something every day from Hanukkah to Christmas. He also wanted to give them as gifts to his friends. He came up with the idea of a calendar that contained Magic: the Gathering cards. This was a great rainy-day-off school […]
Although it sounds like some kind of euphemism from Brave New World, a “pneumatic trough” is actually a very handy piece of classic chemistry lab kit. Besides providing a convenient means to collect samples of pure gases for various experiments, a pneumatic trough with a graduated container allows the easy volumetric measurement of reaction yields […]
