Solar Powered Helios Search Results

How To: Install solar window screens

Hub Kirkpatrick teaches the viewers how to save handyman bills by installing solar window screens by yourself. This video describes the step-by-step process of installing solar screens on windows. According to Hub, these screens are not only very easy to install using tools found in everyone's garage, they are also only about one-third of the price of the conventional roll-down screens. In addition, these screens, if properly installed, can drastically reduce air-conditioning bills by prevent...

News: Rainwater + Solar Power = DIY Rainbow Machine

Artist Michael Jones McKean has harnessed nature with his DIY rainbow machine, a mechanism that uses reclaimed rainwater and solar power to shoot man-made rainbows across the sky at whim. High powered jets and fountain nozzles shoot a heavy wall of rainwater into the air, creating a faux rainstorm. Sunshine does the rest.

How To: Use Your "Dead" Car Battery to Power Emergency Fans, Lighting, and More!

A common misconception is that all car batteries die. This, in fact, isn't true—the majority of "dead" car batteries just don't contain enough juice to power a car, but they can still provide enough watts to keep emergency fans and lighting running, which is great when a power outage occurs. So, instead of lugging the battery to the nearest drop-off center or just letting it collect dust in the garage, you can put that car battery to good use.

How To: Are Your Gadgets Safe from Solar Storms and Nuclear Attacks?

It's September 1st, 1859, and the Earth looks more or less like something out of an apocalyptic movie or Sci-Fi novel. All communications have failed, it's so bright outside at midnight that people are getting up and making breakfast, and people all over the world are seeing auroras. The solar storm that produced the electromagnetic pulse and caused all this mayhem is known as the Carrington Event, and storms like it happen about about once every century.

How To: Turn Your Old Satellite Dish into an Outdoor Solar Cooker

Harnessing the power of the sun is something that Captain Planet made cool before it was the go-to for renewable energy. Solar-powered energy is quick and cheap, and can make for some really cool DIY projects. And for those of you wondering what you should do with your old satellite, look no further. Aaron from Sharealikelicence offers up a way to create a DIY outdoor satellite cooker. He started with an old Ku Band dish and covered it with aluminum tape, for better reflection of the sunlight...

News: This 1974 Gas-Guzzling Beetle Is Now an Eco-Friendly Electric "Voltswagon"

Want an electric car without the price tag? You could always build your own, or maybe just hack your old gas guzzler into an eco-friendly electric machine... This weekend at Defcon, security consultant David Brown showed off his "Voltswagon" project, a 1974 Beetle named Shocky that he converted to electric for only $6,000. He removed the old combustion engine, radiator, and a few other unneeded parts to make it lighter. Then he loaded it with batteries front and back, ten Interstate DC-29, 12...

News: Scientists Turn Bacteria into Mini Cyborg Solar Panels

Plants all around us capture sunlight every day and convert it to energy, making them a model of solar energy production. And while the energy they make may serve the needs of a plant, the process isn't efficient enough to generate power on a larger scale. So, scientists from the University of California found a way to treat bacteria with chemicals that turned them into photosynthesis machines, capable of generating products we can convert into food, fuels, and plastics.

How To: Purify Urine for Drinking with an Emergency Solar Still

It’s called Urophagia—the art of consuming urine. There could be any number of reasons for having the desire to drink your own urine (or somebody else’s). There’s the so-called term “urine therapy,” which uses human urine as an alternative medicine. In urine therapy, or uropathy, it’s used therapeutically for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes. There’s also those people who drink urine as sexual stimulation, where they want to share every part of each other. And then there’s the o...

How To: Secretly record people with your own spy sunglasses

Hack a pair of sunglasses to secretly record audio and video and spend less than $40 in the process with this how-to video. To replicate this hack for yourself, you will need a spy camera and black solar shield sunglasses. For detailed, step-by-step instructions on building your own spy recorder sunglasses, watch this hacking how-to from Kip Kay of Make Magazine.

How To: A/C Broke? Keep Your Car Cool with This DIY Solar-Powered Air Conditioner

If a solar-powered air conditioner that requires no electricity or moving parts sounds to good to be true, well, then you're not as ambitious as this clever high school student. Instructables user Fozzy13 put together an awesome DIY tutorial on how he built his own air conditioning unit in his car that works using the principles of evaporation, convection, and capillary action. This air conditioner works by using sunlight to heat air at the bottom of the unit. The hot air rises, allowing the ...

How To: Use solar heat to kill bed bugs

Learn to use solar heat to kill bedbugs with this video! 1. Take a dark plastic bag or a vacuum bag. 2. Make sure it is intact. Don't use bags with holes! 3. Place a piece of clothing or bedding in it. Don't over fill the bag! 4. Close the bag. 5. Make sure that it is firmly closed and has no openings. 6. Place the bag on a hot surface under the direct summer sun, preferably on a concrete surface which was already heated by the sun (terrace or a balcony), but you can also put it in a car. 7. ...

News: Hot Summers = Solar Shades

Solar Shades Looks like it's going to be another hot summer and this time of year, I always get questions about the best kind of Shades for the home! I may be a little bias in my opinion because I'm going through a more minimalist "less is more" style in my life right now. Taking the more modern design approach that is very popular right now, I wanted to talk a little about Solar Shades for the home.

How To: Make a 3D eclipse animation in Photoshop CS4 Extended

Learn about some of the advanced features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended for animating 3D objects in this software tutorial. In this project we will create a solar eclipse simulation from 2D, and video images of the earth and moon. This is an advanced users tutorial so you should be familiar with Photoshop first. Follow along as Russel Brown shows you how to work with the new 3D features of Photoshop CS4.

News: Solar Scope Dialed in for the Eclipse

It's taken me several weeks to figure out the Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 Double Stack telescope that I bought to produce a timelapse video of the solar eclipse but I'm pretty happy with the images I can produce now. Here's hoping for clear skies tomorrow!

How To: Make vegan avocado and asparagus sushi maki roll

In this organic cooking how-to video with the Hippy Gourmet, we visit an off-the-grid solar home where we meet Renee Loux, raw chef to the stars. Renee creates a Vegan Tekka-Maki (or sushi) roll without rice! Watch as she uses a simple blend of sesame seeds, ginger and special seasonings, this awesome veggie roll comes to life! Try making this vegan avocado and asparagus maki roll at home.

How To: Hook up an iPod to a laser

Combine your iPod and a laser to send your music on the beam. Easy project that anyone can do, with the help of a little soldering. You will need your iPod, a solar cell, a laser, and a soldering tool. Watch this video circuitry tutorial and learn how to hook up an iPod to a laser for a laser-wired music experience.

How To: Apply a reflective violet eye Ben Nye makeup look

The bright colors and reflective sheen in this makeup look are really eye-catching. The cosmetic products used to create this look are ArtDeco eyeshadow base, MAC Sharkskin shadestick, Ben Nye Grande Lumier palette, Rimmel white kohl, Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara, MAC Solar White, NYX White, Revlon Colorstay liquid eyeliner, MAC Corps de Ballet lipglass, Nars Desire Blush, and MAC Shimpagne MSF. Watch this video makeup application tutorial and learn how to do a reflective violet eye Ben Ny...

News: Solar Flare Gives Earth Biggest Radiation Storm in 7 Years; Auroras Likely

NASA reports that the sun erupted late last night with a large solar flare—an M8.7 class flare. The classification is calculated according to the peak flux of 100 to 800 picometer x-rays near Earth measured from the GEOS weather satellite. There are 5 letter classifications for solar flares, each with a linear 1-9 number scale of severity. M is the fourth most powerful class, with X leading the way. But last night's earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), captured by the Solar Dynamics Ob...

How To: Use a Light Bulb and the Sun to Make a Fire

Don't throw away your dead light bulbs, they may come in handy one day. This video will show you how to start a fire using a dead lightbulb. And no electricity. The tricky part is emptying out the insides, but this can be done with sticks and stones, assuming you're in a survival situation and just happen to have a light bulb with you for whatever reason.

News: Time-Lapse Video of Sunday's Annular Solar Eclipse

The annular solar eclipse was amazing. It was so much fun watching the sun transform from a thin crescent to a ring and then to a thin crescent going the other direction. I'll be posting up the pictures used to make this video in various resolutions on my photography website over the next few days, all of the way up to the full 16 megapixel ultra-detailed images.