In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of ...
In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple yet accurate demonstration of the "rising ionized gas" principle. In other words, a transformer, two metal prongs and lots of evil laughter. Remember those large "towers" in the background of Frankenstein movies with a "lightning bolt" rising upwards every few seconds? That's called a Jacob's Ladder; one of the coolest awe-inspiring demonstrations of high voltage. Here's a video of the final product: Materials and Tools
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our tutorials, post to the community corkboard, and come play on our free server!
Last post, we looked at fractal cookies based off of the recipe by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. In this post, we'll follow their recipe for fractal cupcakes based off of the Koch Snowflake, which we used previously to decorate pumpkins for Halloween.
UTILIDOR n pl. -S an insulated system of pipes for use in arctic regions 59 points (9 points without the bingo)
Oh, yeah. I was a skeptic, too. A few things are worth noting, though. 1) This stuff is cheap. You can get started on a project for very little money. Even advanced fabrication tools are reasonably priced.
1/3 of the city gone, the red colored buildings and homes are the ones that got destructed in the fire..
They've been at it for a few years now, but the crazy group of amateur rocket scientists who call themselves Copenhagen Suborbitals have triumphed over adversity, successfully launching their DIY rocket nearly 2 miles into the sky last Friday. The privately funded, non-profit aims to one day send human beings into suborbital space on the cheap, without the need of government budgets and administration.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
On Thursday, March 9, there was a news story on the evening news about Khan Academy (NBC News). The story began when Sal Khan started tutoring his cousin in 2004. Since he was in Boston and she was in a different city, he decided to make and post videos on YouTube so anyone could watch the videos. Later he added videos for her brothers and for people that contacted him with requests for other videos. During this time Sal had a job that he later replaced with another job. Today Sal has 2010 vi...
There's never a bad time to pull a prank on someone, right? Well, how about you consider setting up this prank during lunchtime? Next time you see a co-worker leave his/her takeout food unattended, that's when you'll strike. Follow the simple steps below and you'll be known as the master prankster at work. Tools and Materials Needed
'Tis the season for Christmas tree decorations and everybody's favorite board game— SCRABBLE! Okay, that was too ebullient on my part.
Free Tree Gift Request Links With the new orchards and tree mastery system everyone is looking for more trees! As wishlist requests often end up with errors, I've created this list that will provide links you can put your ID into allowing people to send you the item without getting the "gifterror=notfound" message.
In the top right corner of your farm you will see a little drop down menu that shows you your stats!
PopSci has compiled an amazing list of 30 college labs that would tempt anybody to re-enroll. If you know any high school juniors or prospective grad students, pass this along. They just might reconsider their initial choices.
Texas based artist Shawn Smith brings the digital world to reality with his woodcut pixelated sculptures. The combination of a traditional material (wood) with a contemporary concept results in surprisingly fresh work. Plus, the craftsmanship appears to be impeccable. Check out his artist statement below.
So says the Original Scraper Bike Team, founded by Tyrone Stevenson (aka Baybe Champ, the Scraper Bike King).
Starbucks may be the McDonalds of the coffee world, but sometimes there is just no way around that jones for a cup of joe. Today was one of those days. A late night of wishing friends farewell from the city of angels turned into sleeping past my alarm and running late for work. With no time to make my usual breakfast, I was hurting for a jump start. With Starbucks directly across the street from my office it was my only option. As I walked in, silently wishing I was at Intelligentsia, I commi...
25-year-old Anthony Le, of Colorado is THE ultimate Iron Man fan. A cosplay fan, Anthony decided to try his hand at building a super realistic Iron Man suit, just in time for the release of Iron Man 2. The incredibly talented fitness consultant did above and beyond what you might expect. Check out the two videos below. Le's insane suit features the following: a dent-proof exterior, a motorized faceplate, and a spinning mock Gatling gun. He spent one month and approximately $4k building his ma...
A fully functional steampunk computer workstation. With attention to detail this unique computer was manufactured from old materials. The ensemble consists of iron, steel, wood, brass, glass and leather. Perfect for timetravelers office or as ether terminal. Consists of a 150 years old base frame, a keyboard, a monitor, a mouse, together with a separate, free-standing mouse pad, webcam, plasma tubes, lighting, a Nixie clock and various gadgets ...
For creating my costumes I try to use only authentic materials, such as old leather, steel, brass, copper, wood and glass. Nearly nothing is glued, most parts are reversible connected with screws.
Do you like to read? well, here's an idea for you to make your own book-markers easy, cute and fast.
While they may make your clothes smell fresh after a cycle in the dryer, commercial dryer sheets contain many harmful and toxic chemicals that have been linked to causing cancer.
Got a stubborn splinter lodged into your finger? There are a number of ways you can remove it easily using materials found around your home. Elmer's glue, banana peels, eggshells, potatoes, and baking soda are all great at painlessly extracting those tiny pieces of wood, glass, or other material.
This is for anyone who wants a simple secret door. Materials Needed
Back in the '80s, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America did a study where they discovered which houseplants were the most effective in purifying the air in space facilities. Though you may not be living in a rocket ship, you can definitely benefit from having one or more of these plants in your home.
Combine your passion for drinking soda and growing your own vegetables by making an upside-down tomato planter! This gardening project is especially great for people who have limited space for growing their own green things. To make this, you'll be using an empty soda bottle, aluminum foil, masking tape, twine, potting soil, and other simple materials.
They say that flowers are the way to a girl's heart, but why waste your money at the local florist when you can make your own? If you have a maple tree in the area, you can create a fanciful faux rose from maple leaves. If not, you can turn to the kitchen and make your loved one a bouquet of roses using heavy-duty plastic spoons.
The materials you need for this is: straightener
Forget those boring evergreen wreaths with the thick red ribbon and the pine cones that everyone else has hanging in their homes. Make your own DIY upcycled wreath using newspaper, paper shopping bags, cardboard coffee cup sleeves, toilet paper tubes, or even that trashy paperback novel you bought for a dime at the local thrift store that you're probably never going to read.
A man named Tom Hardwidge has taken it upon himself to create an army of steampunk insects from a bunch of different found materials, including bullets and pocket watches. He's made a ton of them—and they're really awesome. They're modeled after real insects, too, and aren't just fantasy creations. His website has them all categorized by species, with clever, robot-inspired names. His arthrobots are for sale, too, so if you're interested in owning your very own horde of steampunk insects, you...
This low impact woodland home in Wales is the cream of the crop. The woodland home was built entirely of natural materials, and best of all - only took 4 months and $5000 to complete.
The Panzerbike. A monster bike like no other. The Frankenstein of all motorcycles. This big boy has an 800-horsepower engine, and weighs in at 4.74 tons.
Cool cassette tape art by Atlanta based artist Brian Dettmer. From Design Boom:
Using a scanner to "take photos" is like having great studio lighting, a top of the art photocopy machine, and a high quality camera all in one. The process results in a shallow depth of a field, amazing detail, and best of all a dreamy, magazine-like quality.
Pranks are fun, but finding a way to maximize the affect of a prank can be tricky. Toilet papering the whole campus or repainting all of the parking spaces slightly smaller can take a long time and a lot of resources. A better plan of attack is to booby trap the choke points where your victims are forced to pass through. Think like a guerrilla. A dorm doorway is a good idea.
Solar panels are an amazing invention. Catching energy from the Sun before it even enters Earth's food chain, photovoltaics are like an all-natural nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the constituted parts of a solar panel are rare, valuable, and subject to the coercive forces of market competition.
Lying is awesome. From a very young age, children learn that flat out denying the truth gets you out of trouble and helps keep you calm in the face of horror. But what happens when you just have to know if someone, say, used your toothbrush? You could ask them to take an expensive and arduous polygraph test.
When I was attending college, my friends had a phantom thief in their dormitory. Almost every night, a different item of food would go missing, never to be seen again. There was constant speculation as to whom the thief was and how to catch them. Security cameras were deemed too invasive, but none could think of another method of surveillance... until today.
Bikes are a great form of transportation. They use human energy more efficiently than any other machine. You can keep it in your closet or hallway. You can even take it on the train in a pinch. However, this portability is also the bike's biggest draw back. If you own a bike in the city, chances are it will be stolen. Locks barely deter thieves armed with bolt cutters and crowbars. Throw the bike thieves for a loop and make a tilt-sensitive alarm. It will hopefully startle your bike's assaila...
