Tom Wilksch's Portable Gliding Simulator offers two improvements over a traditional simulator installed in a fixed location. Built on a trailer base, this can be towed to public events to serve as a recruiting tool - offering a taste of soaring to many more people. And since it folds up tidily, it doesn't require dedicated storage space when not in use.
I love how the aerodynamic cover doubles as a large curved projection screen.
This classic chemistry demo involves the use of toxic metallic mercury, so it's one of those that is best to just watch on YouTube instead of trying yourself. The pulsing action is caused by surface tension effects--metallic mercury is oxidized at the surface of the drop to form a film of mercury (I) sulfate, which lowers the drop's surface tension and causes it to flatten under its own weight. The flattening brings the drop into contact with the tip of a carefully-positioned iron nail, which reduces the mercury (I) sulfate back to metallic mercury, which in turn increases the drop's surface tension and causes it to contract away from the nail. The solution contains an electrolyte and an oxidizing agent, in this case weak sulfuric acid and potassium dichromate, respectively. Thanks to YouTuber sciencevidds for sharing it with us. [via Boing and then some more Boing]
Xavier Calluaud's "Urb Garden -- A vertical food garden for the urban gardener" complete with a composting 'worm farm' and internal watering system. [via Inhabitat]
Got a great idea for an awesome project, and just need access to the tools to make it happen? Do you live in or near southeast Michigan? Then this might be just the opportunity you were waiting for. A2 MechShop is opening up their doors to one lucky artist for an artist in residency program. This could be the perfect opportunity to create some awesome to bring to Maker Faire Detroit!
A2 MechShop, a coworking facility for electrical and mechanical engineering in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is offering a three-week Artist in Residence this spring. The selected artist will have the opportunity to consult with the engineers and use machinery at the A2 MechShop to create artwork that is inspired by, incorporates, or is produced by technology. The residency does not include a stipend, and the artist should expect to supply their own materials.
Applicants can visit the A2 MechShop website for more details. Applications are due February 19th, 2010, and the artist will be notified the week of March 1.
About A2 MechShop:
A2 MechShop is a coworking facility for entrepreneurial engineers located on the west side of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Seven different businesses, mostly one or two person, have private offices surrounding a shared machine shop floor. They share knowledge and tools in a friendly and technically-oriented environment. The A2 MechShop was started in November 2008, and hosts GO-Tech, a monthly geek show-and-tell.
While the functionality may be suspect, these flat-pack wheels have awesome maker flair. Designer Nicolas Belly of Bordeaux, France won 2nd place in the L'Argus Design Contest which had the theme of "Less is More: Traveling in the Era of Simplicity." [via the Ponoko Blog]
Need a unique spot for your studio/workshop/cave? Perhaps you could get inspired to incubate your latest crazy ideas inside one of these. They're being pitched as an environmentally benign alternative to commuting and less expensive to heating a whole house for a home office. These appear to be production models with standardization of design and materials. Anybody have other versions we can see? Do you or your neighbor have one we can view? [Via StumbleUpon]
Wow, the holidays (and their aftermath) can really put the brakes on project building! But they're over, and it's time to get back to building my CupCake CNC. Next up, building the X stage. It's another really easy part to the build, and it should only take about an hour or two to complete. My assembly is undergoing a little final QC in the picture above. Fortunately, it passed with flying colors.
Chances are you have Douglas C. Engelbart to thank for what you're holding in your hand right now.
I'm talking about your computer mouse, of course.
Dr. Engelbart was born on this date in 1925. In 1967, while working at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, he applied for a patent on an "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System," which issued in 1970, although, per his Wikipedia article, he never actually received any royalties on it. He has been widely honored for his contributions to human-computer interface development.
Dr. Engelbart has four children and nine grandchildren, and today he's 85. Congratulations and happy birthday, sir!
HYSICAL COMPUTERS AS populist devices may be the most momentous tech trend of the past five years that practically no one has heard about. Typically a small circuit board housed in a customized case, a physical computer is an easily programmable device that is aware of its surroundings. It is designed to interface with sensors that measure things around it—say, how fast an object is going, how close something is to it, the temperature around it. Based on that input, the computer takes action by moving switches and levers, displaying information, or otherwise controlling the environment.
For humans, connecting to computers via a mouse and keyboard has long been cheap and easy. For sensors, not so much. Now an inexpensive physical computer called the Arduino is changing all that. When the Arduino burst onto the do-it-yourself ("DIY" to devotees) scene in 2005, all manner of tinkerers seized on it as a device that could easily and cheaply run interactive projects.
Using an Arduino is fairly straightforward: buy a board (ranging from about $19 to $65) and attach it to a personal computer via a cable. Then load instructions into the Arduino's processor via the personal computer. Once programmed, the Arduino makes decisions based on the information transmitted by whatever sensors you've hooked up, and does something corporeal, such as turn on or off the motors, displays, valves, and lights attached to it. For a few dollars, creative and motivated individuals—rather than just corporations or institutions—can make highly intelligent tools, perfectly customized for a particular need.
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