CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies aborted a test firing of its Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, in what was to be a key milestone in its quest to fly cargo -- and eventually astronauts -- to the International Space Station.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Dark matter, which scientists believe makes up 25 percent of the universe but whose existence has never been proven, could be detected by the giant particle collider at CERN, the research center's head said Monday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will outline his administration's vision for space agency NASA and an eventual trip to Mars during a conference in Florida in April, the White House said on Sunday.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain risks decades of slow economic decline unless it invests heavily in research, which at the moment is one of the country's few genuine areas of economic competitive advantage, leading scientists said on Tuesday.
LONDON (Reuters) - Vitamin D is vital in activating human defences and low levels suffered by around half the world's population may mean their immune systems' killer T cells are poor at fighting infection, scientists said on Sunday.
LONDON (Reuters) - A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said on Thursday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.
OSLO (Reuters) - Large amounts of a powerful greenhouse gas are bubbling up from a long-frozen seabed north of Siberia, raising fears of far bigger leaks that could stoke global warming, scientists said.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Virgin Galactic is aiming to launch test flights into space in 2011, but does not need additional financing after selling a stake to Abu Dhabi's Abaar last year, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
STAR CITY, Russia (Reuters) - Russia announced a halt to space tourism on Wednesday, saying it would struggle to ferry professional crews to the International Space Station after the U.S. mothballs its shuttle fleet this year.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A restaurant in Santa Monica, California faces criminal charges after being accused of selling sushi made from whale meat, the sale of which is strictly banned in the United States, prosecutors said.
OSLO (Reuters) - A "doomsday" vault storing crop seeds in an Arctic deep freeze is surpassing 500,000 samples to become the most diverse collection of food seeds in history, managers said on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - American scientists have for the first time unlocked the genetic code of an entire family, and made a startling discovery -- that parents pass on fewer mutations than previously thought.
THE HAGUE (AFP) - The city of Amsterdam is to be prosecuted over the dumping of toxic waste by a ship in Ivory Coast in 2006, the Supreme Court has ruled in a decision made available Wednesday.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that a group of national science academies would review U.N. climate science to restore trust after a 2007 global warming report was found to have errors.
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The king of Japanese sushi and sashimi may disappear from menus after Europe joined the United States on Wednesday in arguing for a ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna.
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The king of Japanese sushi and sashimi may disappear from menus after Europe joined the United States on Wednesday in arguing for a ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna.
BOSTON (Reuters Life!) - American physicist Sally Ride achieved lasting fame in June 1983 when she became the first American woman to travel in space as a crew member of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
BEIJING (AFP) - China's environment is "still deteriorating", a senior official said Wednesday, as the booming nation burnt record amounts of coal and lagged behind in meeting its energy-saving goals.
GENEVA (AFP) - The world's most powerful atom smasher will be brought up to unprecedented power by early April, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said on Wednesday.
When Anousheh Ansari was a little girl in Tehran, she used to sleep on her family's balcony and look up at the stars as they twinkled over Mt. Damavand. In 2006, she became the first self-funded woman to fly on the International Space Station. She talks to host Scott Simon about her travels into space and about her new book, My Dream of Stars.
The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft will pass within 42 miles of the small, oddly shaped Phobos, once speculated to be a Martian space station. The craft will use radio signals to measure the distribution of the mass inside the moon.
Every few decades, the sun experiences a particularly large storm that can release as much energy as 1 billion hydrogen bombs. Officials from Europe and the U.S. say an event like that could leave millions on Earth without electricity, running water and phone service.
President Obama's proposed budget for NASA would kill an effort to build new rockets and capsules to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, some lawmakers criticized the plan, telling the space agency's chief it would put America on the sidelines while other countries moved forward.
Endeavour and its six astronauts returned safely to Earth on Sunday, making a rare nighttime landing to end a mission that resulted in the virtual completion of the International Space Station.
Astronauts successfully attached a fancy new observation deck to the International Space Station early Monday after a long, frustrating night spent dealing with stuck bolts and wayward wiring.
It's a scientific mystery: How did dunes form on Mars when the wind doesn't seem strong enough to move the sand? Jasper Kok tells Guy Raz he may have the answer — it has to do with sand "bouncing" and "splashing" in a way that's different than what happens on Earth.
The sun is emerging from a two-year period of quiet, and that's good news to amateur radio astronomers like Thomas Ashcraft. He records the sounds of solar flares and other cosmic phenomena from his home observatory in Santa Fe, N.M. Ashcraft tells Guy Raz about this "exciting time" for sun watchers and about his elaborate backyard recording studio.
Twenty years ago this week, the Voyager 1 spacecraft captured a radical view of Earth. Shot from a distance of 4 billion miles, the "pale blue dot" image showed our planet as a tiny speck amid the vastness of space. Carl Sagan, who lobbied for the photo, said it reduced our entire world to "a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
Floating through space right now is a golden record carrying sounds of Earth: a mother's first words to her baby, the sound of a kiss, and music from all over the world. Ann Druyan helped to create the NASA project as a guide to Earth for aliens. And like any good mix tape — interstellar or not — it led to the man of her dreams.
Robert Poole, a historian at the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom and author of Earthrise: How Man First Saw the Earth, takes a journey through time and space, exploring images of the Earth through the ages.
Space shuttle Endeavour is now orbiting Earth after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in Monday's early morning darkness. Weather problems had delayed what might be the last pre-dawn launch for the shuttle program, which is heading toward retirement.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station will soon get to enjoy "a room with a view." Space shuttle Endeavour is bringing up a dome-shaped observation module with a total of seven windows, giving astronauts unprecedented views of Earth and space.
NASA's administrator is defending the president's proposed budget for NASA, which cancels the space agency's planned space shuttle successor and instead relies on private companies to taxi crews into orbit. Charles Bolden said executives from seven companies working on commercial crew vehicles are "the faces of a new frontier."
Airlines are checking the weather in space these days before taking some of their longest flights. That's because thousands of flights each year now cross the poles, where cosmic storms can interfere with communication and navigation systems, or even expose travelers to worrisome doses of radiation.
The gods of Random.org have crowned Rebecca Karger, a student at Horace Greeley High School, winner of our Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 set. This is what Rebecca had to say about what she'd do with the set:
If I had this kit, I'd take it with me to college next year, and build a robot that could go down the hall of my dorm to deliver a note to a friend. And probably 500 different other things. I was on an FLL team in middle school that went to the international competition, but it was the year BEFORE the NXT kits came out! I remember seeing a demo and being highly impressed, but my parents say the kits are too expensive.
Rebecca: so yeah, your FB settings are kinda restrictive. You're going to have to get in touch with me if you want the prize. I'm at facebook.com/nerd1.
Looking to take a break from tinkering on your latest project this weekend? Here are some fine maker events to check out, from The Maker Events Calendar. Wish your event was on the list? Add it to the calendar!
The Lost Knowledge column explores the possible technology of the future in the forgotten ideas of the past (and those just slightly off to the side). Every other Wednesday, we look at retro-tech, "lost" technology, and the make-do, improvised "street tech" of village artisans and tradespeople from around the globe. "Lost Knowledge" was also the theme of MAKE Volume 17
Ever since we humans started making shadow puppets in the firelight of our caves, we've been fascinated by the power of the projected image. It seems only fitting that, for DIY Movie Making Month, we'd take a look at magic lanterns, some of our first technological baby steps that have delivered us to the age of Avatar.
What is a magic lantern? It's basically a 17th century pre-cursor to the slide, and then movie, projector. The Magic Lantern Society defines a magic lantern as:
...an appliance by means of which transparencies are projected by artificial light upon a screen with the projected image having a diameter generally from thirty to eighty times greater than that of the transparency or slide, whilst the area of the image may be from one thousand to six thousand times as great.
Magic lanterns grew on the developments of magic shadow shows (i.e. shadow puppets), camera obscura, magic mirrors, and other earlier optics and projection techniques. The period of the magic lantern spanned from the mid-17th century to the late 19th. While there is no clear inventor of the device, Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), with his lenses designed for use in telescopes, is probably the closest thing to a father of the technology.
For portable radio operation, I like End-Fed Half-Wavelength Antennas (EFHWA, pronounced "EF-WAH"). This type of antenna is similar to the common half-wavelength dipole, but with one significant advantage. A dipole has its feedpoint (where it connects to the radio) in the middle of the antenna, but an EFHWA's feedpoint is at one end. This makes it very convenient to throw the antenna up in a tree and connect the bottom of it to your radio. Here are instructions for making a multiband end-fed half-wavelength antenna that works on 17, 20, 30, and 40-meter bands.
Here's a neat idea for a tablecloth, by Kristine Bjaadal. Normally, one would avoid spilling things on their linens, however the Underfull Tablecloth has a hidden pattern built in that only shows up once it becomes stained. Now you can look at that lovely butterfly pattern and remember that one time you had a bit too much wine, without feeling bad about having ruined the tablecloth! [via neatorama]
Makers Market seller Kevin of kaitrees has a bunch of great videos on his market blog. They range from details of the pieces themselves, to "slap tests", and works in progress. It's a neat look at the process that goes into making these pieces.
My sculptures are an effort to distill what real trees inspire in people into something one can have inside their living or working space.
This tree in the video above will require about 500 hours to complete, stand over 7 feet tall, and will use about 1000 strands of aluminum wire. It's his largest piece to date, and looks Amazing! I wonder how much it will weigh?
In this series, "Letters from the Fab Academy," Shawn Wallace, member of AS220, the Providence, RI community arts space, shares his experiences with the Fab Academy, a distributed learning collaborative, built on the infrastructure of the Fab Lab network. -- Gareth
Victor Freundt prints a project using the ZCorp printer at the Barcelona Fab Lab.
When working with 3D scanning and printing equipment, it quickly becomes apparent that objects are nowhere near as fungible as MP3s. We'll have to wait a while for the day when every teenager is capable of casually copying real-world objects. However, it is surprisingly easy to hack together a crude 3D scanner from commodity cameras, projectors, and hardware you probably have in a couple of junk drawers in your shop.
A good place to start is with the Modela mini mill, which has a piezo-based needle sensor attachment that can be used for scanning small objects. The machine records the plunge depth at the point it contacts the object and the software that comes with the Modela (Dr. Picza) converts these points into a 3D mesh. Here's an example of using Dr. Picza to scan a small shell from Benito Juarez from the Barcelona Fab Academy site:
Kügli is an Arduino-controlled musical instrument by Stefanie Hess and Johannes Schmidt. The project consists of a bowl with a false bottom, packing an Arduino, XBee wireless module, and some speakers. The ball contains a Lilypad and another XBee.
The spacing and dynamic of a ball in a bowl influences sound. While holding the bowl in its hands the player can walk around and rock the bowl forth and back either smoothly or with fast movements. Two factors are relevant for the sound: the position of the Kügli in the ball and the rotation-speed of the Kügli. Both data streams are sent to Max/Msp via the serial port. The XBee component, accelerator and piezo-microphones are sensoring and passing the the movements.
In the Maker Shed:
Deluxe Make: Electronics Toolkit Our Price: $124.99
Do you want to learn the fundamentals of electronics in a fun and experiential way? Not sure where to start, or what tools you might need? We've taken care of all the questions with our deluxe tool kit from the Maker Shed, featuring our best-selling book, Make: Electronics.
An anonymous MAKE subscriber writes in to let us know about this very cool wireless robotics platform based on the Arduino and an XBee. The purpose of the project was to teach their 9-year old son about programming in Processing. What a great way to introduce programming to kids!
I built a wireless robotics platform from a cheap R/C car, an Arduino with XBee shield, small microswitch sensors, and a Processing program running on a remote computer to control the vehicle. The vehicle is completely controlled by the code running on the remote computer which allows very rapid prototyping of the code to tell the vehicle what to do and how to react to the sensor events received from the vehicle. I'm hoping this is a good way to teach my 9-year old son about programming.
In the Maker Shed:
The Maker Shed has everything you need to get started with Arduino
Enjoy playing rock, paper, scissors, but having trouble finding worthy opponents to play it with? Need to improve your game for that upcoming world tournament? Well, then, you will certainly appreciate Steve Hoefer's rock paper scissors playing glove. Thanks to the built-in accelerometer and bend sensors, all you have to do to play is play the game, and the computer will tell you what it's move was, and keep track of who won. It's a funny project, and it includes some cool features, such as using edge-lit plastic for the display. Well done!
Every other week, MAKE's awesome interns tell about the projects they're building in the Make: Labs, the trouble they've gotten into, and what they'll make next.
Part 1. Setting up a background for your project.
By Ed Troxell, photo intern
As a DIYer, you share your projects to show off your expertise and to help others find theirs. But building a project and writing the steps is only half the battle. The other half is capturing images of your work that clearly show what you're talking about and what you've done in your steps.
As the photo intern for MAKE, I shoot lots of projects for the magazine and website. Here are my steps for setting up a background for photographing your project clearly to show it off in its entirety.
1. Set up your project and mini studio.
Find a well-lit area that's clear of visual distractions and provides you with enough room for shooting. If you're shooting on a workbench, clear off all the clutter and if necessary, drop a bedsheet or paper backdrop to hide everything that's not your project. The camera doesn't want to see your mess, it just wants to see your masterpiece. Extraneous items on the bench or in the background will only confuse the viewer and make a good project look bad. Clean up before you shoot.
Clean bench good (but what's that junk in the corner?):
Cluttered bench bad:
2. Know your "light temperature."
Light temperature means the color of your light, and it affects your "white balance." Most cameras react best to daylight, which is a bluish light, and I strongly recommend shooting in daylight. Shooting your project near a big window (with no direct sunbeams coming through) is a good place to start. Shooting outside in smooth shade is good option too (but not in speckled tree shadows).
Your flash is daylight balanced, so you can use your flash as a "fill" or secondary light to fill shadows. (Your flash should never be the main source of light, unless you're using a real strobe system.) Also, most of those compact fluorescent light bulbs are close to daylight balanced. They can be a nice fill too.
Just be careful not to mix the color of your lights. The white balance on your camera will get confused if warmer light is in the room (like a normal household tungsten filament light bulb), conflicting with the daylight or CF lights. Choose the light temperature you're shooting with, and stick to it.
3. Choose a clean background.
Use a plain, simple background, nothing too distracting. You want clean backgrounds that show off your work. Pick colors that go with your project or make it stand out. We tend to use bright colors. We recommend not using red, as red is a very difficult color for digital cameras. Do not use black. White is fine.
Instead of a distracting background pattern like this:
Use a clean background color like these:
4. Place your project on a level and straight surface.
Here's the photo booth we use here in the Make: Labs for shooting indoor shots, when we're not shooting on the workbench:
5. Test your settings.
Take a few shots, then check the images on your computer (ideally in Photoshop) just to check focus, brightness, file size, grain (ISO), and other details. Sometimes a setting can be off. It's best to know now, rather than find out when you're done shooting.
For example, if you're submitting projects for MAKE magazine or Make: Online, you'll need to take high-resolution photos at an aspect ratio of 4:3. High resolution means they can be printed on paper at 300dpi. (Yes, even web photos -- because we might want to print them later.)
In my next post: Shooting your project in high resolution.
Lego's licensing of the Disney/Pixar Toy Story franchise has produced something surprisingly awesome in this mashup of two classic toys. $11 from the Lego shop. [via Geekologie]
Whenever I meet someone who finds out that I work on the directions team for Google Maps, the first question I'm asked is often "So when's Google Maps going to add biking directions?" We're big biking fans too, so we've been itching to give you a concrete answer. I don't want to keep the good news a secret any longer, so the answer is: right now!
I'm a guy that sews. No, I'm not afraid to say it, I think it is one of the best skills my Mother taught me, besides cooking. I sewed this magazine protector to keep my latest copy of MAKE looking newsstand fresh. I carry MAKE in my backpack, and I carry my backpack everywhere. With all the junk I carry banging around in there, it can get my stuff pretty hammered. I took my favorite T-Shirt, that unfortunately has worn out, and cut out a rectangle 1/2 inch larger than my copy of MAKE on both sides, and doubling the length so it can be folded over. I created a flap on the top and sewed velcro to both the flap and the reverse of the protector. Surging the seams would be the best, but I only have access to a regular sewing machine. If you have extra t-shirt, you can use it to make ipod sleeves, calculator protectors, whatever you like.
It's upcycling month at CRAFT, so head on over for some more great recycling projects with our UpCraft! series.
Figuring which way is 'up' for any one of the various IC packages may be second nature to circuit veterens, but getting acquainted with all possible indicators is definitely an important step for newcomers - and it can be a tad tricky at times. Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories posted a detailed photo guide on the subject, even going over orientation tips for seven-segment and LED matrix displays - good stuff!
LEGO MINDSTORMS hacker Akihiro Uehara built an interface between an AlphaRex and a Wii Balance Board.
User can control the robot's leg motors speed and direction by changing the vector connecting user's center of balance and center of the board.
I have designed this application for elementary school kids in a science museum exhibition.
Each block operates independently as a self-contained unit, and has full mobility, allowing movement across any physical surface. The blocks operate independently of one another, but are aware of the position and role relative to the rest of the system. With this awareness, the blocks are able to coordinate with the other blocks to reconfigure their positioning to form larger display surfaces and forms depending on purpose and function. In this way, the blocks become a physical embodiment of digital media, and act as a vehicle for the physical manifestation of what typically exists only in the virtual space of the screen.
Julia even provides a prototype remote control, made improbably gigantic by such buttons as NEEDY, MELANCHOLY and ZEN which would activate pre-pogrammed pixelbot behaviors. Part of the project even includes simulated instructions for dealing with rogue pixels that are hiding under the couch! [via Fast Company]
Have you ever wondered what exactly is involved in building a working, radio-controlled R2-D2 robot replica? This vid documents the two-year process of Victor Franco, of Southern California, and his friends building an R2, mainly from scratch-built parts of varying materials, including wood, styrene, resin, and aluminum. He also used some parts provided by members of the R2 Builders Club. Nice work! [Thanks to Chris James and Michelle Iva Cook Hlubinka!]
Guilherme Martins wanted a simple Arduino-compatible board that he could use as a robotics platform, so he designed one. Called the Motoruino, he took a standard Arduino board and added an H-Bridge chip so that it can control two motors directly. Of course, you could certainly get the same functionality using an add-on board such as the MotorShield (or even by making your own on a breadboard). If you know you are going to be making a robot, though, I can certainly see that having everything together on a single piece would help make your project smaller and more reliable.
He is working on some final tweaks, and plans to release the project under the Creative Commons license. Cool stuff! [via Lets Make Robots]
Hackyhack is a fun project by Dustin Jessen and Chanika Remest that packs an Arduino mini, an LED, a speaker and a piezo knock sensor into a hacky-sack ball. The LED flashes and the speaker emits a sound with every kick, and thirty successful kicks causes a song to be played.
Stewart McCullough sent us this stop-motion music video he did for some friends, The Bran Flakes. He used (and recommends) Dragon Stop Motion software. He says it's "very well done... stable, with a good user interface, and lots of good features specifically for doing any kind of stop-motion animation." It costs $275.
In response to our DIY Movie Making theme, Derek "Deek" Diedricksen sent us this first episode of Tiny Yellow Houses, a series he's doing on backyard shackitecture, this one featuring his "Hickshaw," a movable small structure designed to be used as a backyard hang-out space/tiny office or festival sleeping space.
Derek also has a self-published, hand-drawn book of his wacky, whimsical backyard structures, called Humble Homes... You can order it on his blog, Relax Shacks.
I've had this long-standing concept for a theme restaurant where everything--tables, chairs, utensils, food, condiment dispensers--is like 30% bigger than normal. The idea is to make you feel like a kid again. We'd call it "Tiny's." (And yes, we're still seeking investors. Also waitstaff suffering from gigantism.) Look for one soon in a strip-mall near you. Believe me, you won't be able to miss it.
In the meantime, if you just can't wait for the experience, you could always start filling up your house with great big versions of the stuff you already have. Instructables has just posted a cool round-up of tutorials on how to do just that. Shown uppermost is user Tetranitrate's giant match. And yes, as the middle photo shows, it does (or did) actually work. At bottom, last but in no sense least, there's user indymogul's giant sandwich, which I think was part of a Halloween costume or something. But who cares? Giant sandwich!
Related:
Claes Oldenburg is a famous Swedish sculptor, associated with the Pop Art movement, who made great big versions of stuff as sculpture.
GreatBigStuff.com is an online store that only sells...well, you can guess, can't you?
Dale Dougherty and Sherry Huss would like to invite you all to a Maker Faire Detroit - Community Planning Meeting, Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Main Branch Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI.
In addition to providing updates on the event, the goal of the meeting is to continue to generate ideas, form working groups, and continue to connect with people and organizations that would be interested in bringing Maker Faire to Detroit.
If there are others that you know would like to get involved, please feel free to invite them. This event is open to the public and we'd love to connect with people, groups, and organizations that should be involved with Maker Faire.
If you've attended a Maker Faire Community Meeting in the past, and want to talk about specifics of your curated area, we'll have our Maker Faire team onsite to work with you. Otherwise, we look forward to receiving your submission to the Maker Faire Detroit "Call for Makers" which will go live on March 15th, 2010 at www.makerfaire.com
Liam built this impressive robot, then used it to demonstrate the difference between proportional and PID control. The robot is designed to stay a certain distance from an object, and uses two Sharp IR distance sensors to track it's position. The system looks like it is working great, however he is noticing some variability in the output of the distance sensors he is using- anyone have any ideas?
This is the GBOT with a PID controller using the ZX-40A microcontroller from http://www.zbasic.net. ZX-40A is based on the ATMEGA644 AVR chip. Inputs include 2 IR range sensors (GP2D12). Outputs include 2 PWM signals to the Pololu motor driver (VNH2SP30).
The GBOT maintains a setpoint distance of 10-inches from a target and maintains that distance, no matter what. The control system was originally coded with P-control only and resulted in excessive overshoot and oscillations. So then I added PID control. See video to observe P-control vs. PID control.
Had trouble with IR sensor noise. Issue mitigated with hardware and software. Hardware... added low ESR 1,000uF capacitors on VIN and VOUT of the LM2940T voltage regulator. Software includes an 8th order butterworth filter to clean IR sensor position and velocity. I did have issues with a fire, probably caused by a short or the motor driver. Not sure yet. Since isolating the regulator with the filters and after adding a large heatsink to the voltage regulator, no more fires. See picture below of "incident".
Anyone have experience or information on GP2D12 IR sensor distance variability? I have the noise reduced to 0.025" amplitude. Can this be reduced further? Thanks.
Beeple posted this video analyzing/documenting/presenting a beyond-awesome computer-generated rhythm machine I so deeply wish was real. Note to self - must figure how to construct laser capable of creating laser sound … anyone? [via CDM]
The upcoming mission of the space shuttle will focus heavily on robotics and NASA is using that opportunity to bring additional educational outreach to teachers and students. In an education briefing today, NASA detailed some of the resources and events related to STS-131. The robotics section of the NASA web site includes lesson plans, multimedia, information about robotics competitions, and career profiles of ways students can use math, science and engineering in various robotics jobs. STS-131 Mission Specialist, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, is a teacher-turned-astronaut and will be recording an educational video about the space shuttle and space station robotics operations while on-orbit and crew members will participate in two live educational downlinked events during the mission. You can follow the STS-131 mission on the NASA web site and check the NASA TV schedule for all televised mission events.
Build your dream, then make it move! Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 is the latest version of the robotic building set that launched First Lego League and inspired thousands of kids. People have used Mindstorms to make everything from robotic animals to Rubik's cube solvers.
Today, in association with The Lego Group, we're giving away a NXT set! All you have to do is leave a comment on our Facebook fan page. Simply find the post on Facebook corresponding to this one, and leave a comment describing a real or theoretical project you'd like to make with the set. We'll choose a random commenter to get the prize. The contest ends noon PST tomorrow. Good luck, and our thanks to Lego for their generosity!
Spring is in the air! The snow is melting, the birds are chirping, and we're looking to do some cleaning in our warehouse. What does that mean for you? Well, for starters, we have a bunch of products on sale in the Maker Shed. We'll even throw in free shipping on orders over $125! Just use the code "CLEARME" at checkout.
The United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) has warned that the software included in the Energizer DUO USB battery charger contains a backdoor that allows unauthorized remote system access. In an advisory, the US-CERT warned that he installer for the Energizer DUO software places the file UsbCharger.dll in the application’s directory and Arucer.dll in the Windows system32 directory. An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user.
When considering a battery charger, if there's an open source one, choose it - and avoid the one that comes with software for no good reason, otherwise this could happen... MAKE stocks the MintyBoost, and while that charges devices (not batteries) - it's open source, does not require software, will not trojan your computer.
The conference's keynote speaker is Neil Gershenfeld, Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms and author of FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop -- From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication. Saturday and Sunday will feature workshops on the latest model-making materials, techniques, tools, and resources, as well as career advice. Friday and Monday include tours of Boston-area model facilities at DEKA, Continuum, BOSE, Rhode Island School of Design, Hasbro, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Boston City Model, and MIT.
The student model-making competition has a $500 first prize and the winner's school will receive a RepRap machine that will be built at the conference. Entry categories are: architectural, entertainment, exhibit, product design...working prototypes & engineering models, transportation, virtual/non-traditional, and open category (doesn't fit the other categories). No cost to enter, but you must be a student member of the APMM (either on your own or through your School APMM membership) or become a student member for $25.00/year.
Tokyo/Glow is an absolutely gorgeous short film, written and directed by Jonathan Bensimon, about the little glowing guy from a cross-walk sign who jumps down from the sign, at night, and wanders around Tokyo gawking at all the lights. I don't think there are any CG effects. The film's amazing look was achieved by combining a real actor in a custom glow-suit with a bunch of photographic hi-jinks: stop-motion, time-lapse, long exposure...did I miss anything?
Although this is still a work in progress, I think it's great! All you need is an Arudino, a few buttons, and an 8x8 LED matrix to make you own simplified version of this arcade classic. What's next Halo? Let's hope so! More information, including the Arduino code, can be found in the Vimeo description.
This is a game project for S10-05833 - Gadgets, Sensors, and Activity Recognition in HCI taught by Scott Hudson at Carnegie Mellon University. I created a simple version of Super Mario Bros using an 8x8 LED matrix (one color), an Arduino Nano, two buttons for the input (forward and jump), and a piezo sensor hooked to a separate Arduino for the theme song.
In the Maker Shed:
The Maker Shed has everything you need to get started with Arduino
Dan Morrill decided to take the Garduino system that he built a step further, and created a remote control that runs on an Android phone and talks to the Arduino over Bluetooth:
In practice, it takes your "Serial.print" output from an Arduino program and makes it available over Bluetooth to a PC..... or a phone. Android, meanwhile, added an API for Bluetooth RFCOMM in version 2.0. My wife got me a BlueSMiRF for my birthday, and it was off to the races.
I rewrote the Arduino code into a simple finite state machine, and added the ability to accept commands over serial. It's a very simple project, so there are only 2 commands: reset, and set current time. I encountered some interesting open-source related issues in doing this, but that's another post.
I then wrote a spiffy little Android app that pairs up to the BlueSMiRF, reads the state dumped from the Arduino every 3 seconds, and then makes a pretty little Android UI. It shows me a Sun, Moon, or Clock depending on which state the Arduino is in (daytime, nighttime, or waiting for clock data), and reports the other status fields like light intensity and status.
We have blogged about American assemblage artist Ron Pippin's work before, with a focus on his wunderkammer pieces. But he's been busy since then. Fair warning: Much of Pippin's work uses real animal parts, and although I personally find it very beautiful, some viewers may be disturbed and/or offended. [via The Automata / Automaton Blog]
Tim Heath and Ryan Hickman's Truckbot could be built for under $20 (excluding mobile). That's pretty impressive for such an open and accessible robotics prototyping environment. Using a laser-cut cardboard chassis, $3 micro servos, and a bare bones Arduino, the duo have assembled one of the cheapest platforms to come along in a while. [via GadgetLab]
One of the main reasons for using cell phones as part of robots is to drive down costs. Today's phones come with wi-fi, cellular connections, Bluetooth, GPS, touch sensing, accelerometers, magnetometers, displays, microphones, speakers, and cameras. They are now being powered by 1Ghz processors and come with ample amounts of storage. Everything you need in a robot except for mobility is already in your pocket. We just needed to add some inexpensive mobility to it.
The project description for this iPhone stabilizer is in Japanese but as usual you can rely on Google Translate's garbled assistance. The site's great diagrams and photos, however, need no translation! [thanks, recombu!]
You've got your components, and your datasheet, and you're read to start hacking. But which way does the chip go? Pin 23 is where? If you're lucky, the orientation is clearly marked, or perhaps diagrammed in the datasheet. But if it isn't, or if you're simply new at this, it's helpful to know what to look for.
In the picture above, pin 1 is clearly marked on the Allen-Bradley resistor pack. And for better or worse, this is the exception, not the rule.
Here is a basic rule that applies for most integrated circuits: There's a polarity mark somewhere. From that polarity mark, move counterclockwise around the chip, and number the pins starting at 1.
A common polarity marker is a half-moon shape at one end of the chip. Another is a small dot by pin 1, or sometimes a small triangle or tab instead. Sometimes several of these marks can appear.
Often pin 1 is in a corner of the chip, and it's only that corner-- not the pin itself --that is marked by the small circle or triangle.
In this sketch, we've drawn an imaginary part number "THX1138D," manufactured in week 37 of 2013, and it has a mysterious lot or internal code "OHAI" that may or may not be explained in the datasheet. The polarity marks are a half-moon indentation on the left hand side as well as a dot by pin 1. This device has 20 pins, numbered counterclockwise along the two edges from 1 to 20.
As we'll see, there are plenty of examples of this, or close variations on it. But there are also cases where there are *no* direct marks, but you can instead rely on the orientation of the text to understand the numbering. The text orientation is consistent, and for chips of this shape (with pins on two opposite sides), you can reliably assume that the polarity mark goes to the left of the text.
Here are some classic and beautiful examples of chips with well-marked polarity. These are "ceramic DIP" integrated circuit packages, dated from the end of 1978. Each has a molded half-moon shape as well as a more subtle dot by pin 1.
This is a modern higher-density variation on the same design. It's a wide, low-profile plastic package called a 66-pin TSSOP (and a 128M bit DDR SDRAM, if you're curious). The orientation is given by the half-moon shape on the left hand side and by the dot in the lower left corner. Now, that dot actually looks like it's closer to pin 2 than to pin 1-- Again, the marker often labels the corner where pin 1 lives, not the individual pin.
This 74HC245D "octal bus transceiver" chip from NXP has the half-moon shape on the left hand side, plus a slightly more unusual polarity marking feature. The entire front edge of the chip-- the edge containing pin 1 --is slightly beveled.
And now here is a chip that has less of a "direct" indication of its orientations-- no dot or half-moon shape. As we discussed earlier, you can rely on the orientation of the text in cases like this, and imagine an effective polarity mark on the left hand side of the chip. Pin 1 is on the lower left hand side.
If you look very closely, you'll see that there is one additional polarity marking feature, in that this chip also has a very slightly beveled front edge.
This is a somewhat unusual seven-yes-seven pin DIP chip. It's a neat little solid-state relay capable of switching small loads on AC line voltage (0.9 A at up to 240 VAC) from a low-voltage digital input. Presumably, it has seven pins so that you can't put it in backwards. This chip also relies on a combination of text orientation and a bevel at the side with pin 1.
Careful: That apparent "dot" is not a polarity indicator; pin 1 is still at the corner of the chip.
Here's one more variation. There's a printed bar on the left hand side of this chip to act as a polarity indicator, taking the place of the half-moon shape.
Here's one that we get asked about quite often: A 17-segment alphanumeric display. LED displays can be pretty baffling, because the pin 1 location is not explicitly marked, and there's no half-moon shape or other obvious polarity marker. However, the label itself is a polarity marker and it's important to remember that.
As with the previous examples that we've shown, when you orient the part such that you can read the label, then pin 1 is at the lower left. Or, as we said earlier, the effective polarity mark "goes to the left of the text." That means that pin 1 is to the left of the text, and is the pin closest to the camera, the one that happens (for this particular display) to be located beneath the decimal point.
Here's a 5x7 LED matrix display. You can sort of make out marks on the back side beneath the epoxy, so it's tempting to look for orientation hints there. However, our same rule applies. When you orient the part such that you can read the label, the effective polarity mark is on the left-hand side.
In the left photo, where the display is upright and the label is visible, pin 1 is beneath the lower-left corner. In the right photo, where the label is visible but the part is upside down, pin 1 is visible on the lower-right hand corner.
Sometimes you'll come across very different looking chips with very obvious polarity markers. This chip from Agilent has a gold stripe on the upper left hand corner.
Sometimes a chip has a notched corner to indicate where pin 1 lives. The white silkscreen on the circuit board shows an exaggerated picture of this notching, by the lower-left corner.
The 486 is a good example of a chip with a notched corner, while the 68030 has a gold stripe to indicate pin 1.
This Broadcom chip has a dot by the corner with pin 1, but that's a pretty subtle mark. If your chip is already mounted to a board, that can provide some better information to verify the orientation. For example, pin 1 of this chip is also marked by a white dot on the circuit board, and the other three corners have a mark, as though those corners were un-notched.
Here's another chip that's somewhat ambiguous. Pin 1 is clearly marked with an arrow on the circuit board. If the chip were loose it would be a little less clear because not only is there a dot by pin 1, but there is also apparently a dot by the opposite corner. It may be just a coincidental mold mark, but it's still potentially confusing.
And here, a simple dot to indicate the orientation.
This is far from an exhaustive list, but is meant to show off some of the common ways that chip orientation is differentiated. If you have corrections or links to other interesting chips, we'd welcome them in the comments.
A sordid tale, starting in the bedroom, involving batteries, deceit, cheap tricks, LEDs, and a pot.
It started innocently enough. A family member hinted that a good way to keep warm on cold winter nights was with a heated mattress pad-- more sensible than heating the whole house.
Winter came, it got cold, and we got our mattress pad.
The heated pad has a simple digital controller, where you rotate the dial to set the temperature, on a scale of 1-10, or really, L-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-H. So far, so good. (And it's comfy warm, too.)
But, then we took a closer look at that LED display:
What seems to be a digital seven-segment LED display is actually a rear-lit cutout in the shape of a seven-segment display, with one cutout in the shape of each number. The rotating dial just masks the other shapes so that you only see one at a time.
The whole bezel is rear lit by an LED driven directly off of the AC-- you can tell from the blinking. (Driving LEDs from line voltage is common in consumer electronics; it works reasonably well if you have a big series resistor.)
Somewhere around this point we went from saying "WTF?" to "What the heck!" -- because it's a clever cheap trick, and if they can do it, so can we.
Sure, we can imagine a few cases where something like this could be genuinely useful, either as a front panel indicator or perhaps as a stage prop. But mainly we just wanted to make our own it because it's hilarious.
We'll scale our dial to turn a standard 5 k pot, so that our fake digital display can do something useful.
Next, to design the bezel:
We laser cut the parts-- black and clear plastic for the number plate and plywood for the dial/knob. The black plate fits over the threads of the pot, and the big wooden knob press fits onto the shaft of the pot; the pot turns when you turn this dial, revealing a single number beneath.
You can download our pattern
here (8 kB PDF document).
It's pretty simple, but if you want to play with the mechanism, you can print out both parts, grab a pair of scissors and a brass brad, and assemble it like we did in this project.
Next, we need the LEDs. For maximum fancy (without using actual seven segments!) we got out the fat LEDs:
Two LEDs each, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, to backlight the positions between L and H. We powered it from a 3xAAA battery box, and hooked it up on a breadboard to figure out the right resistor values to drive the LEDs efficiently. (Also, looks neat in the dark.) The four blue and green LEDs are independently driven off of the 4.5 V with their own series resistors. The two red LEDs are driven in series with a resistor, and that setup is used for the yellow and orange LEDs as well.
Then, we wire up the LEDs in a circle, using the same circuit:
And then we can install the black and clear number plate:
And there you have it: A five-color LED-lit fake-seven-segment pseudo-digital pot, based on advanced mattress pad technology.
"I have a question about moving a project off a bread board and onto a project or perf board. Basically what is the best way to do without a lot of rework? This will be my first time doing this and I was just wondering if there were any best practices so that the final product looks clean and organized and I don't have mountains of solder on the back side."
And it's a good question.
It turns out that we don't actually use solderless breadboards all that often-- most of our physical prototyping is soldered directly on perfboards, like so:
However, that's an acquired skill, and there is indeed a bit of a leap from breadboard...
... to protoboard:
Now, it turns out that there's actually a neat and happy medium from (of all places) Radio Shack: A protoboard shaped and wired up like a breadboard.
Ours is in older packaging, but catalog number 276-170 is still around, still cheap, and as they say, "available at most stores."
The bottom side of the board has the same wiring as a typical solderless breadboard, albeit with only one stripe down each side.
This layout means that you can usually duplicate your breadboard circuit exactly, soldering as you go, to make a permanent copy of your breadboarded one.
Doing so, you also get familiar with the process of soldering parts together on the protoboard-- a useful skill, especially if you ever need to build something that doesn't fit on a breadboard so easily.
Here's the top side of that board, which might look more familiar to breadboard fans.
Love that vintage Archer branding, which was lost somewhere along the way.
The Arecibo Message, one of the most famous messages transmitted as part of SETI, loosely translated, says: "Hi! We're intelligent! We're made of meat! Here's where we live!"
Binary designs like the Arecibo message are popular with knitters and cross-stitchers since they can be pixelated easily. We found a pair of fingerless gloves, based on a muffler pattern. We think this type of binary pattern would be good for the message as well. It has also been made into a cross-stitched bookmark.
We implemented the embroidered pixels as columns of satin stitching in a single color. The original binary message didn't have any of the color coding that people have added to help explain it, and it seems more elegant to keep it this way.
We machine embroidered the pattern on both ends of a piece of linen about 14" x 76". The linen is then sewn together on the back and at the ends, and turned right side out. The edges are stitched down to help it lie flat.
The embroidery design is about 3.5" x 11.5". We're providing a couple of different embroidery formats for those with access to machines as well as a .pdf for cross stitch, hand embroidery, laser engraving, or whatever else you can think to do with it.
BOSTON (Reuters Life!) - American physicist Sally Ride achieved lasting fame in June 1983 when she became the first American woman to travel in space as a crew member of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
BEIJING (AFP) - China has postponed the next step in its ambitious space station programme until 2011 for technical reasons, state media said Wednesday.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Endeavour and its six crew members wrapped up a 14-day construction mission to the International Space Station on Sunday with a precision touchdown in Florida.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA on Thursday launched the latest in its family of high-tech meteorological satellites, adding to a constellation of spacecraft that watch storm development and weather conditions on Earth.
Chill things close to the lowest possible temperature and weird things start to happen. New Scientist takes a look at the coldest objects in the universe
Sebring Builders, a privately owned Builder/Developer is hoping to become a “trendsetter”. In 2006, Sebring Builders started planning to build Stone Ridge, a private, gated community in the small central Florida town of Sebring. With single family homes starting just under $200,000, they thought this development had everything to offer, great location, clubhouse with [...]
At the mention of the term natural gas, most of us come to think of it as a gas that, as the name might suggest occurs naturally. Right to an extent, but quite vague in the true sense of it, actually natural gas is a mixture of about eight gases, mainly methane, ethane, butane, [...]
ECOtality has announced a clever new contest aimed at promoting their fresh new blog. It’s been awhile since we’ve published a review anyways, so this is a welcome challenge. Ecotality Life is a beautiful website. I love the how the images add meaningful impact and color to the articles, which are further emphasized by [...]
FeedBurner is a popular online service that gives website owners the ability to enhance and promote their blog and news feeds. Recently the company began introducing their long-anticipated networking service, which gives users the ability to create and manage feed networks based on a topic or theme. These feeds can then be combined and [...]
I hope the price of gasoline and oil doubles in the next year. Actually, I hope it increases 1000%. Why? Because super-inflated gas prices may be the only thing that wakes North America up to the need for change. Public awareness about global warming and climate change has been numbed by increasing media saturation of [...]
Leonardo DiCaprio is best known as a gifted Hollywood actor, but he is also a major spokesperson for the growing environmental movement. For some time now he has also been busy inspiring people to take action to prevent global catastrophe in the face of global warming and climate change. His latest effort is the [...]
This car commercial features a GM EV1 and a hummer. The purpose of this video was to document the car’s existence, as GM has claims they do not have any footage of the car. Those cars were so cool… I’m deeply appalled that they aren’t being produced anymore. Regardless, it was nice to see the [...]
A beautiful, well-designed and frequently updated website community focusing on sustainable living tips and green energy technologies. The daily green tips section includes valuable eco-fashion designs and how-to resources for green outdoor enthusiasts. The forums provide a convenient place for visitors to discuss everything from pollution and climate change to solutions like volunteering and [...]
Rate your conservation efforts with “I Conserve!” challenge cards - the Conservation Council of Ontario distributes cards through The Beer Store’s 441 retail stores across Ontario. By 2009, the Conservation Council of Ontario wants everyone in Ontario to say “I conserve.” The goal is not to become perfect overnight, just better. To make it [...]
SmartPower Urges President Bush to Sign Energy Bill
SmartPower, in a clarion call to the President today strongly urged President Bush to put aside partisan politics and to sign the recently passed Energy Bill. Both the House and the Senate have passed slightly differing versions of this comprehensive energy bill. A compromise bill is expected [...]
As part of our ongoing commitment to bring you the best renewable energy resources, we’ve now launched the AEoogle search engine. Our newest tool combines the power of GoogleTM’s algorithm with the comprehensive resources you’ll find in the renewable energy directory. This fruitful combination provides a more accurate and relevant search result when you [...]
Scientists at Columbia University are proposing a revolutionary new agricultural technology that would bring food supplies closer to the end-user. After studying modern greenhouse techniques they have come up with a new concept to build 30-storey skyscrapers to grow food and raise small livestock, effectively eliminating the shipping and pollution expenses associated with urban living. [...]
Phi Tran submitted this link to me by email. According to Phi, Neo-Aerodynamic introduces a new, history making technology to extract kinetic energy from a flowing fluid, providing “unheard-of” amounts of electricity as the final result; this “rate has not been seen before”. During the development of this technology we have gone from one surprising [...]
This was emailed to me for immediate release. Friends of the Earth Canada has launched a landmark lawsuit today against the Government of Canada for abandoning its international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Filed in Federal Court in Ottawa by Canada’s foremost environmental law organization, Sierra Legal, the lawsuit alleges that the federal government [...]
This video raises some serious questions about the perceived advantages of ethanol and the current political hype surrounding its production. Politicians throughout the United States are promoting increased production and subsidies for the so-called ‘green fuel’, but as this video clearly points out, there may actually be zero environmental or economic benefits. Simply put, [...]
In this video a Wrightspeed X1 electric car out-performs both a Ferrari and Porche! What is stunning about this race is just how well the electric car performs. It shoots off the starting line and very quickly races ahead of the other two cars in both races. I’m very impressed! It’s just too bad that [...]
This solar power tower in Spain acts as a powerful electricity generator and graceful work of landscape art. The 40-story high concrete tower is bathed in powerful rays of bright sunlight and it can be seen for miles. This effect is created by 600 large and intensely powerful mirrors which are used to concentrate the [...]
These last few stories blew my mind (thanks to the EcoGeek I have hope). It’s great to see wind energy technologies evolving, and the concepts sure are attractive. Here we have a beautiful new loopwing tip-less blade design, a collaborative design by students of Archinect that can harness the wind energy of highways, and the [...]
According to Dave White of Mobile Magazine there may be a way to convert carbon dioxide emissions into electricity using Solar Power! This amazing new potential technology is being developed by a group of scientists at the University of California in San Diego. Apparently they already have a working prototype of the technology, which would [...]
Being the bicycle enthusiast that I am I can’t help but notice this cool new toy from Segway. It’s great how it can maneuver in tight spaces and stay on two wheels at high speed. The possibilities for this technology seem very promising (as long as it isn’t used for military purposes). I bet [...]
Retired Airplane Product Development Engineer Gary Reysa has compiled the most comprehensive do-it-yourself solar website online. His non-commercial website, Build It Solar, contains plans, photos and links to over 500 DIY solar and renewable energy projects. “While trying to find good solar heating ideas for my house, I noted that there is not much [...]
Artist and Engineer Theo Jansen has been designing and creating these wonderful wind powered vehicles for over 10 years. He uses lightweight plastic yellow tubing to construct the vehicle’s skeleton. I realize these projects do not produce energy, but they are so beautiful that I just had to share them. Also featured in wind power.
The folks at otherpower.com are extremely busy building new wind energy projects, as is evident by the massive amount of information available on their website. Even the most novice do-it-yourselfer could find enough information there to construct a fully functioning wind energy system for their house. There are do-it-yourself instructions, forums, and they even host [...]
Yet another update: We decided to move the energy forums in order to better integrate them with our main site structure. The old forums are still online but are closed for new registrations and posts. Please feel free to register an account and help us get these conversations going!
For over a year I’ve been trying to figure out a way to display the latest alternative energy news headlines in a timely fashion. It has been very difficult. We’ve gone from manual daily updates to daily feed updates via a sub blog. This past month I’ve been setting up and testing a new system [...]
EcoPhotos.com is a stock photo agency specialized in nature, environmental protection, and sustainability related topics. Images illustrate what needs to be protected, threats to people and to the environment, and a wide range of more sustainable alternatives.
A user submitted video from the Discovery Channel. A very detailed and informative introduction to processing biodiesel as a fuel source. The host tours a biodiesel processing plant and gets an explanation of how the process works, as well as how to convert a regular diesel engine to run off of biofuels. Also featured in [...]
What an exciting and fun website! Designed with kids in mind, Meet the Greens uses flash media to present information about climate change and environmental issues. There are games and videos for kids (and adults) to play and watch. I found myself spending quite a bit of time on this site, it is quality educational [...]
This excellent eye-opening video compares the energy crisis in North America with the sustainable energy models that have been developed in Europe over the past 50 years.
This video gives a detailed overview of an amazing Spanish tower that generates power by collecting heat at its base and forcing the air up through a small chimney. Electricity is produced using a power generator located at the top of the chimney. Also featured in solar power.
On the online shop named http://www.fantasyjewelryshop.com , young
girls bought fashion jewelry, ladies watch didn't need to cost too much
money, you can easily buy fashion jewelry , there are 1200 kinds of
products to choose, shipping is very low, as well as a free gift that
worth 8 dollars wa... By: yesjewelry
get a big buck big enough to fit around your victims head load your
weapon fill the bucket as high as you want depends on how wet you want
them to be aim almost fire carefully place the bucket on top of the
door to where if someone were to come in it would fall on
them PS: whatever you do ... By: what should i try to make
This is a funny trick, that is HILARIOUS to watch. Wehn a person walks
into the door, not seeing the plasic wrap, they hit it, and possibly
fall. Make sure the door is open Materials The only materials are
plastic warp, enough to cover ur whole door, also tape and sissors
Covering the door T... By: nimaco05
I did this a few times in high school when I was bored. It simply
consists of pretending to be a police officer with a radar gun and
laughing when the car speeding past you slams on the brakes. Even
parked at the end of my driveway in the red minivan I drove, I had the
neighbors slowing down upon ... By: JenStar4V
Hi, I'm going to show you how you can annoy a mac user using only a
couple simple parts. Macs have a built in IR sensor that allows you
to control them using an apple remote, this makes them an easy target
for this prank. We will be using an arduino with the apple remote
library to randomly "pr... By: yonsje
This video shows you how to start crocheting an amigurumi, starting with
a magic ring and showing you how to single crochet and how to make an
increase. This is the beginning of an amigurumi ball, which simple
shape can be a base for various amigurumi toys .
By: AbigailsCrafts
Travelling large distances on a holiday can be boring? Just borrow a
coat hanger from the hotel and fold yourself a camera mount to hang from
your rear view mirror. You'll have hours of fun, especially in fast
corners and roundabouts. A coat hanger and a set of pliers is all you
need. Cuttin... By: bertus52x11
Persistence of Vision (POV) is the illusion that an image
continues to persist even though the image has changed. In
essence, we are taking advantage of the limitations of the brain-eye
processing time. With a camera we can tune our eye for a longer
exposure. The Lilypad POV (row of LEDs) is a ... By: quasiben
Ok, so some of you may have seen my other instructable using this same
wall for other shelving ideas. Although the others ideas were cool
I think this one takes the cake. {I also had issues finding any
instructions on how to create this shelving system so I thought I would
remedy this.} The ma... By: SantaB
Here's how to chop your curl downs into a custom set of bullhorns
Supplies Finding a Good Candidate When choosing handlebars
make sure they will comfortably fit your natural grip Guide Line
Choose a comfortable cutting line Chop! Time to cut! Cut along the
black edge leaving all of the... By: brianhabicht
This is my first instructable, and the trick is pretty old, but
anyways... A good prank to pull on your co-workers, teachers,
relatives, and for all ages, too! It only takes about 30 seconds.
Materials: Post-it or any tape that's opaque The victim's mouse
(computer laser mouse) Pen S... By: csong.live
High voltage on flash hot shoe? An insert between camera and OLD
flashgun. Circuit Well, it is not new idea. It is not a patent. It
is common principle how a thyristor works. Parts from scrap
Left is a shoe from old broken flash - unscrewed and right is part
form disposable camera, just ... By: KresimirPregernik
The goal of this Instructable is to create a platform for sledding with
old skis. The crux of this Instructable is to create a platform
for attaching STUFF to skis without modifying the skis or bindings.
In essence take a 2X4 and create a ski boot shape out of it to
mount into the binding as a boo... By: rstupplebeen
I'll show you how I used a burlap coffee sack to make a lampshade
for a hanging pendant lamp. Materials needed: burlap coffee sack
twill tape (I used natural color, 1 inch wide) 1/2 yard plain fabric
(you'll have plenty left over) glue gun and glue sticks scissors
sewing machine C... By: Crafterhours
This is how I made a waterproof case for my digital camera. It's
not a super detailed instructable...more like a build-a-long. It's full
of great idea on how you can make your own... One great hurdle this
case solves is the camera interface. Mose DIY waterproof (hard) cases
don't have a way of o... By: nepheron
Welcome to another outstanding Instructable from Kentucky Bum! In this
Instructable I will show you how to build a kick-ass disc golf target.
I have seen numerous plans (and even some for sale) but I didn’t
care for any of them; too hooky, too flimsy, not robust enough, not
weather-proof eno... By: Kentucky-bum
The SynPad is a position sensitive midi drum pad that
you can build yourself using simple materials and tools for around 50 UK
pounds (depending on what materials you already have, and how many pads
you want to make.) The pad can detect where you have hit it as well
as how hard, so ... By: ganglion
I noticed that with the internet these days and the ability to upload
digital media, there is also a lot of question as to whether one item is
under copyright or not. If you really wanted to know that (as I did),
you would spend countless hours skimming through Wikipedia
articles (as I did). I ma... By: aDimWit
OK, so this isn’t exactly a problem that has plague man
since the dawn of time, but it is something that bothers me about laptop
CD/DVD drives that is so simple to solve. Here is the problem, to
open the CD/DVD drive on most laptops you need to push a button on the
right side of the computer tha... By: inchman
Well i am now back (yes i have been gone) i had to focus on high school.
i took a small hiatus and now my creative batteries are recharged to
whip out better more detailed Ibles. Point: i will provide a
detailed guide on how to mostly make KDE "Physically
appealing" . i strive to do this becau... By: albylovesscience
I am the kind of person who constantly changes their desktop background,
their PS3 background, and most importantly in this instance, their
cellphone ringtone. This Instructable is for a method I use to
make all my own ringtones. Getting Started First of all, if you
don't have audacity go get i... By: finfan7
My friend really likes butterflies and has a wall of cds so I decided to
make her something that used both of these. This was quite simple to
make and could easily be adapted for any picture/animal/shape.
Materials 1. An engraving tool of some sorts (may be similar to a
dremel) 2. Cds 3. A p... By: The Rocketizer
The Walgreens forever camera is a disposable camera that you reuse over
and over again. After using up the film they include in the
camera, you return the camera and get the film processed. They
load a new roll of film in the camera for free. The deal is that
as long as you bring the camera back ... By: mpap89
For the April Fool's Prank Contest, I decided to use the oldest trick in
the the book and revamp it so it will be re-do-able for never ending fun
and laughs. Hope you guys enjoy this and find it helpful in your
pranking on April Fool's Day! The Setup and Execution of the Prank
Now, before we ... By: robot lover4evr
Los ventiladores de techo son artefactos muy útiles,
económicos, amistosos con el medio ambiente y que pueden ayudar a
soportar un verano agobiante. No sustituyen al aire acondicionado cuando
el calor es muy elevado, pero en casi todos los casos mejoran
sustancialmente el ambiente. Nunca hice un est... By: rimar2000
In this 'ible I will show you how to make a great working fishing lure
in the guise of a bug, that attracts a 10 to 20 pound fish, on
average... It's very well worth the time to make it and you'll
definitely reel in the big one! Stuff you need All you need is:
A cork A fishhook A paint s... By: Win Guy
this is a camera i made out of an old broken 3 megapixle cannon, i
replaced its original lens with a "TV zoom lens" from a video
camera that was so old its image sensor was in a glass tube. anyway, its
a pretty simple project when you break it down, the hardest part is
tricking the old digital camer... By: rustlabs
The Nunchuk is a very versatile tool. Contained in it are a
3-axis accelerometer, a two-axis joystick, and two pushbuttons for
around $20. And you can even buy a wireless nunchuck to use as a
controller! But many don't want to cut off their nunchuck
connector. So here is an alternative. I... By: josestude
First of a series of videos which show how to make a DIY Cintiq without
voiding your wacom tablet warranty, with no power tools and with no
electronics knowledge. More details here
http://www.tabletmod.com/Extras.html
By: DoSho
Scheffler solar kitchens are a great solar cooking option. He has
designed a paraboloid that he mounts at one end of an equatorial axis
and he puts the kitchen at the other. The paraboloid rotates
slowly all day and the sun shines into the kitchen on the one spot all
day too. This provides heat f... By: gaiatechnician
We all hate these new Facebook groups. It's become the trend recently to
make a group promising an answer to a riddle or a funny picture if you
just become a fan and do some sketchy online survey. Well no longer will
you have to suffer this terrible plague. Today I will be teaching you
how to hack t... By: Salmon194
What do you do with a baby-sized Care Bear? You skin it and make a
baby-sized Care Bear Skin Coat, obviously! Whether you use this as a
costume or as instant toy store camoflauge, you're going to get more
than a couple looks for this upcycled toy! Get a Bear and Gut It
Find a bear that is... By: scoochmaroo
There are lots of instructions for homemade yogurt out there. I
developed one that I think is somewhere in between
too-casual-I-can-tell-this-might-not-work and
too-scientific-I'm-not-buying-a-heating-pad. Find the recipe that feels
right to you and hopefully you'll have great success. You'll nee... By: obsessed
Our daughter wanted an Alice in Wonderland party so here are the
decorations we made. Butcher paper, cardboard, posterboard, tissue
paper, paint, hot glue, and a little fabric go a long way! We also made
her Alice costume.
By: tonyaomps
A tutorial for the deer paper toy. In this tutorial you will learn the
basics of putting together most any paper toy. Lists necessary tools,
techniques, and tricks of the trade.
By: Macula1
In this video, I show you how to make fresh pasta using only semolina
flour, water, and salt. Then I show you how to turn your sheets of pasta
into delicious, hand-made tortellini. And for even more
obsessive detail, check out my blog post here .
By: cottageindustrialist
I'm going to show you very simple pen prank...ideal for the office,
school or just to annoy your family. Preparation You need:
- a pen with a spring which can be open - a piece of paper
The trick Open the pen. Take a little piece of paper, make a ball from
it and place it in the bott... By: slu6alka
This is about as "from scratch" as you can make it without
having to go out butcher your own meat. I've made this sauce several
times now and I feel my methods are refined enough where I'm comfortable
sharing it with the Instructable community. I'm not really sure if
this is considered a sauce or... By: bFusion
I moved off campus this year, and had to furnish my new
apartment. Mostly, I just needed a proper bed frame. Seeing as
I will be moving quite regularly for the next few years (getting started
in my career and upgrading in my living spaces), I wanted to make a bed
frame that would quickly and eas... By: andrewklove
We at NakagawaGakki are always looking at new ways to make sound more
portable and interesting. The idea of a necklace capable of rockn da
house was the inspiration. If you have time on your hands and the nuts
, then you can make one too. You will need: Walnuts Small handsaw
Sandpaper ... By: NakagawaGaki
Took the idea of an altoids guitar and used some parts I had lying
around. Threw a humbucker in a tin box instead of a little piezo and
went for 6 strings instead of 2 or 3. Not finished yet but she makes
noise :) I need to double the wood on the neck for tension support and
to keep the strings ... By: christoph82
I get amusement creating ships, not a part of job or anything. But I do
it with apportioned time. It is easy it don't require any special
equipments or so. Just a some good glue to stick things and lots and
lots of news papers. I get amusement creating ships, not a part of
job or anything. Bu... By: randombytes
One day I was just going around my fridge when I found this coke
bottle lying in the freezer. I took it out, it was completely frozen,
and I got and idea for some coke float. I did something to it. I opened
it. Then, it exploded on my face. So, here I am with this
instructable. Notice: There co... By: nutsandbolts_64
Ikea sells several really inexpensive shadow-box picture frames that
look good, but which are "preloaded" with images suitable for
a very calm, beige-colored life in a zen world. But what if you like the
frame, but your tastes don't mesh so well with the with the
day-spa sensibilities of the Ikea p... By: emallon
how to make slide gloves for longboarding slide like a pro
gathering materials the materials you will need are: -gloves
(sturdy like welders or thick gardeners) -cement glue or strong glue
no hot glue or school glue -super strong velcrow -cutting
board tools -saw -sander or ce... By: kewlkat007
One day I realized I have more Lego's than the normal human
usually has. Also I realized how unorganized and unsanitary they were.
With that said, I decided it was time I should clean and organize them,
So I did. In this instructable I will teach you how to clean,
organize, and care for these w... By: voemaster
Me playing around with my analog sequencerbox. It contains: a self-built
16-step analog sequencer from 2 4017 ICs (CV out + 4x drum trigger out),
Gakken SX-150 analog synth, the guts of a finger drumkit, a mini space
rocker analog drum after plans from eric archer and a weird sound
generator ... By: datenkrieger
We all know when it comes to making things that the Instructables
community is pretty darn good. When it comes to making GIANT
things though, we really seem to shine. So, prepare
yourself for a really big endevour and super-sized greatness, because
here are some XXL Instructables that will l... By: noahw
At the third science debate between the three main British political parties, it was unclear how secure the science budget will be after the upcoming general election
Disease and obesity go hand in hand, but an increase in body fat may actually be part of our body's attempts to protect itself from the effects of unhealthy eating
All today's stories from newscientist.com at a glance, including: the (accidental) origin of species, why food kills but flab protects, and why women with good genes might get more sex
Forty years after the Apollo astronauts bounced across the moon, new studies are revealing water inside the samples they returned – and showing how close they may have come to water-coated soil
The producers of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove teamed up with government agents to investigate a California restaurant rumoured to be selling whale meat
All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: extermination in paradise, the "midwife molecule" that could have assembled Earth's first life, and why chameleons can eat breakfast
High-speed video images show the lizards can catch prey with their rubber band-like tongues equally well whether their body temperature is a cool 15 °C or a warmer 35 °C
Fixed to a tripod, a camera can record graceful trails
What's happening on the surface of Saturn's moon Helene?
The two galaxies on the far left were unknown until 1968. 
What's that bright object in the sky?
Is it art? 
Pillar at Sunset
The plane of our Milky Way Galaxy runs right
The Lost Knowledge column explores the possible technology of the future in the forgotten ideas of the past (and those just slightly off to the side). Every other Wednesday, we look at retro-tech, "lost" technology, and the make-do, improvised "street tech" of village artisans and tradespeople from around the globe. "Lost Knowledge" was also the theme of MAKE Volume 17
Drumbot Activate! MAKE: 15: Music, Page 60. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition!
On the online shop named http://www.fantasyjewelryshop.com , young
girls bought fashion jewelry, ladies watch didn't need to cost too much
money, you can easily buy fashion jewelry , there are 1200 kinds of
products to choose, shipping is very low, as well as a free gift that
worth 8 dollars wa...
get a big buck big enough to fit around your victims head load your
weapon fill the bucket as high as you want depends on how wet you want
them to be aim almost fire carefully place the bucket on top of the
door to where if someone were to come in it would fall on
them PS: whatever you do ...
This is a funny trick, that is HILARIOUS to watch. Wehn a person walks
into the door, not seeing the plasic wrap, they hit it, and possibly
fall. Make sure the door is open Materials The only materials are
plastic warp, enough to cover ur whole door, also tape and sissors
Covering the door T...
I did this a few times in high school when I was bored. It simply
consists of pretending to be a police officer with a radar gun and
laughing when the car speeding past you slams on the brakes. Even
parked at the end of my driveway in the red minivan I drove, I had the
neighbors slowing down upon ...
Hi, I'm going to show you how you can annoy a mac user using only a
couple simple parts. Macs have a built in IR sensor that allows you
to control them using an apple remote, this makes them an easy target
for this prank. We will be using an arduino with the apple remote
library to randomly "pr...
This video shows you how to start crocheting an amigurumi, starting with
a magic ring and showing you how to single crochet and how to make an
increase. This is the beginning of an amigurumi ball, which simple
shape can be a base for various amigurumi toys .
Travelling large distances on a holiday can be boring? Just borrow a
coat hanger from the hotel and fold yourself a camera mount to hang from
your rear view mirror. You'll have hours of fun, especially in fast
corners and roundabouts. A coat hanger and a set of pliers is all you
need. Cuttin...
Persistence of Vision (POV) is the illusion that an image
continues to persist even though the image has changed. In
essence, we are taking advantage of the limitations of the brain-eye
processing time. With a camera we can tune our eye for a longer
exposure. The Lilypad POV (row of LEDs) is a ...
Ok, so some of you may have seen my other instructable using this same
wall for other shelving ideas. Although the others ideas were cool
I think this one takes the cake. {I also had issues finding any
instructions on how to create this shelving system so I thought I would
remedy this.} The ma...
Here's how to chop your curl downs into a custom set of bullhorns
Supplies Finding a Good Candidate When choosing handlebars
make sure they will comfortably fit your natural grip Guide Line
Choose a comfortable cutting line Chop! Time to cut! Cut along the
black edge leaving all of the...
This is my first instructable, and the trick is pretty old, but
anyways... A good prank to pull on your co-workers, teachers,
relatives, and for all ages, too! It only takes about 30 seconds.
Materials: Post-it or any tape that's opaque The victim's mouse
(computer laser mouse) Pen S...
High voltage on flash hot shoe? An insert between camera and OLD
flashgun. Circuit Well, it is not new idea. It is not a patent. It
is common principle how a thyristor works. Parts from scrap
Left is a shoe from old broken flash - unscrewed and right is part
form disposable camera, just ...
The goal of this Instructable is to create a platform for sledding with
old skis. The crux of this Instructable is to create a platform
for attaching STUFF to skis without modifying the skis or bindings.
In essence take a 2X4 and create a ski boot shape out of it to
mount into the binding as a boo...
I'll show you how I used a burlap coffee sack to make a lampshade
for a hanging pendant lamp. Materials needed: burlap coffee sack
twill tape (I used natural color, 1 inch wide) 1/2 yard plain fabric
(you'll have plenty left over) glue gun and glue sticks scissors
sewing machine C...
The title says it all :)
This is how I made a waterproof case for my digital camera. It's
not a super detailed instructable...more like a build-a-long. It's full
of great idea on how you can make your own... One great hurdle this
case solves is the camera interface. Mose DIY waterproof (hard) cases
don't have a way of o...
Welcome to another outstanding Instructable from Kentucky Bum! In this
Instructable I will show you how to build a kick-ass disc golf target.
I have seen numerous plans (and even some for sale) but I didn’t
care for any of them; too hooky, too flimsy, not robust enough, not
weather-proof eno...
The SynPad is a position sensitive midi drum pad that
you can build yourself using simple materials and tools for around 50 UK
pounds (depending on what materials you already have, and how many pads
you want to make.) The pad can detect where you have hit it as well
as how hard, so ...
I noticed that with the internet these days and the ability to upload
digital media, there is also a lot of question as to whether one item is
under copyright or not. If you really wanted to know that (as I did),
you would spend countless hours skimming through Wikipedia
articles (as I did). I ma...
OK, so this isn’t exactly a problem that has plague man
since the dawn of time, but it is something that bothers me about laptop
CD/DVD drives that is so simple to solve. Here is the problem, to
open the CD/DVD drive on most laptops you need to push a button on the
right side of the computer tha...
Well i am now back (yes i have been gone) i had to focus on high school.
i took a small hiatus and now my creative batteries are recharged to
whip out better more detailed Ibles. Point: i will provide a
detailed guide on how to mostly make KDE "Physically
appealing" . i strive to do this becau...
I am the kind of person who constantly changes their desktop background,
their PS3 background, and most importantly in this instance, their
cellphone ringtone. This Instructable is for a method I use to
make all my own ringtones. Getting Started First of all, if you
don't have audacity go get i...
My friend really likes butterflies and has a wall of cds so I decided to
make her something that used both of these. This was quite simple to
make and could easily be adapted for any picture/animal/shape.
Materials 1. An engraving tool of some sorts (may be similar to a
dremel) 2. Cds 3. A p...
The Walgreens forever camera is a disposable camera that you reuse over
and over again. After using up the film they include in the
camera, you return the camera and get the film processed. They
load a new roll of film in the camera for free. The deal is that
as long as you bring the camera back ...
For the April Fool's Prank Contest, I decided to use the oldest trick in
the the book and revamp it so it will be re-do-able for never ending fun
and laughs. Hope you guys enjoy this and find it helpful in your
pranking on April Fool's Day! The Setup and Execution of the Prank
Now, before we ...
Los ventiladores de techo son artefactos muy útiles,
económicos, amistosos con el medio ambiente y que pueden ayudar a
soportar un verano agobiante. No sustituyen al aire acondicionado cuando
el calor es muy elevado, pero en casi todos los casos mejoran
sustancialmente el ambiente. Nunca hice un est...
In this 'ible I will show you how to make a great working fishing lure
in the guise of a bug, that attracts a 10 to 20 pound fish, on
average... It's very well worth the time to make it and you'll
definitely reel in the big one! Stuff you need All you need is:
A cork A fishhook A paint s...
this is a camera i made out of an old broken 3 megapixle cannon, i
replaced its original lens with a "TV zoom lens" from a video
camera that was so old its image sensor was in a glass tube. anyway, its
a pretty simple project when you break it down, the hardest part is
tricking the old digital camer...
The Nunchuk is a very versatile tool. Contained in it are a
3-axis accelerometer, a two-axis joystick, and two pushbuttons for
around $20. And you can even buy a wireless nunchuck to use as a
controller! But many don't want to cut off their nunchuck
connector. So here is an alternative. I...
Scheffler solar kitchens are a great solar cooking option. He has
designed a paraboloid that he mounts at one end of an equatorial axis
and he puts the kitchen at the other. The paraboloid rotates
slowly all day and the sun shines into the kitchen on the one spot all
day too. This provides heat f...
We all hate these new Facebook groups. It's become the trend recently to
make a group promising an answer to a riddle or a funny picture if you
just become a fan and do some sketchy online survey. Well no longer will
you have to suffer this terrible plague. Today I will be teaching you
how to hack t...
What do you do with a baby-sized Care Bear? You skin it and make a
baby-sized Care Bear Skin Coat, obviously! Whether you use this as a
costume or as instant toy store camoflauge, you're going to get more
than a couple looks for this upcycled toy! Get a Bear and Gut It
Find a bear that is...
There are lots of instructions for homemade yogurt out there. I
developed one that I think is somewhere in between
too-casual-I-can-tell-this-might-not-work and
too-scientific-I'm-not-buying-a-heating-pad. Find the recipe that feels
right to you and hopefully you'll have great success. You'll nee...
Our daughter wanted an Alice in Wonderland party so here are the
decorations we made. Butcher paper, cardboard, posterboard, tissue
paper, paint, hot glue, and a little fabric go a long way! We also made
her Alice costume.
A tutorial for the deer paper toy. In this tutorial you will learn the
basics of putting together most any paper toy. Lists necessary tools,
techniques, and tricks of the trade.
In this video, I show you how to make fresh pasta using only semolina
flour, water, and salt. Then I show you how to turn your sheets of pasta
into delicious, hand-made tortellini. And for even more
obsessive detail, check out my blog post here .
I'm going to show you very simple pen prank...ideal for the office,
school or just to annoy your family. Preparation You need:
- a pen with a spring which can be open - a piece of paper
The trick Open the pen. Take a little piece of paper, make a ball from
it and place it in the bott...
This is about as "from scratch" as you can make it without
having to go out butcher your own meat. I've made this sauce several
times now and I feel my methods are refined enough where I'm comfortable
sharing it with the Instructable community. I'm not really sure if
this is considered a sauce or...
I moved off campus this year, and had to furnish my new
apartment. Mostly, I just needed a proper bed frame. Seeing as
I will be moving quite regularly for the next few years (getting started
in my career and upgrading in my living spaces), I wanted to make a bed
frame that would quickly and eas...
We at NakagawaGakki are always looking at new ways to make sound more
portable and interesting. The idea of a necklace capable of rockn da
house was the inspiration. If you have time on your hands and the nuts
, then you can make one too. You will need: Walnuts Small handsaw
Sandpaper ...
Took the idea of an altoids guitar and used some parts I had lying
around. Threw a humbucker in a tin box instead of a little piezo and
went for 6 strings instead of 2 or 3. Not finished yet but she makes
noise :) I need to double the wood on the neck for tension support and
to keep the strings ...
I get amusement creating ships, not a part of job or anything. But I do
it with apportioned time. It is easy it don't require any special
equipments or so. Just a some good glue to stick things and lots and
lots of news papers. I get amusement creating ships, not a part of
job or anything. Bu...
One day I was just going around my fridge when I found this coke
bottle lying in the freezer. I took it out, it was completely frozen,
and I got and idea for some coke float. I did something to it. I opened
it. Then, it exploded on my face. So, here I am with this
instructable. Notice: There co...
Ikea sells several really inexpensive shadow-box picture frames that
look good, but which are "preloaded" with images suitable for
a very calm, beige-colored life in a zen world. But what if you like the
frame, but your tastes don't mesh so well with the with the
day-spa sensibilities of the Ikea p...
how to make slide gloves for longboarding slide like a pro
gathering materials the materials you will need are: -gloves
(sturdy like welders or thick gardeners) -cement glue or strong glue
no hot glue or school glue -super strong velcrow -cutting
board tools -saw -sander or ce...
One day I realized I have more Lego's than the normal human
usually has. Also I realized how unorganized and unsanitary they were.
With that said, I decided it was time I should clean and organize them,
So I did. In this instructable I will teach you how to clean,
organize, and care for these w...
Me playing around with my analog sequencerbox. It contains: a self-built
16-step analog sequencer from 2 4017 ICs (CV out + 4x drum trigger out),
Gakken SX-150 analog synth, the guts of a finger drumkit, a mini space
rocker analog drum after plans from eric archer and a weird sound
generator ...
We all know when it comes to making things that the Instructables
community is pretty darn good. When it comes to making GIANT
things though, we really seem to shine. So, prepare
yourself for a really big endevour and super-sized greatness, because
here are some XXL Instructables that will l...
a ez how to make a bule ray laser with vairble out put.
