Kano
Children today have access to smartphones, tablets and laptops. They are powerful and intuitive, offering the Web and an ever-growing library of apps to explore. Learning and accessing information has never been easier.
Continue reading… “Kano – a $150 DIY computer and coding kit”
Solar Pocket Factory
Two young inventors based in the Philippines, Shawn Frayne and Alex Hornstein, are taking their passion for clean free energy and developing a way to make it accessible and cheap for everyone. These guys are working hard to provide a product that could be used by practically anyone to make homemade solar panels. (Videos)
Continue reading… “DIY ‘Solar Pocket Factory’ can 3D print a solar panel every 15 seconds”
Tiny Homes – Redefining the simple life
Futurist Thomas Frey: Most of us hate feeling cramped. We hate being stuck on a crowded plane, stuck in congested traffic, and wading through packed concert halls. We like to be able to stretch out, get casual, and relax, but we can’t do that when people are invading our space.
Continue reading… “Why the Tiny Home Movement May Not be So Tiny”
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/78961565[/vimeo]
The Mini Metal Maker prints 3D objects from digital files directly in precious metal clay, rather than in plastic. Once these clay objects air-dry, they are fired in a kiln to produce beautiful solid metal objects of high purity and precision. Using metal clay essentially replaces the entire wax-casting or lost-wax process ordinarily needed to do this. The Mini Metal Maker will add new capability for the DIY inventor or artist by making fabrication in metal easy and direct. It will be a boon for anyone interested in creating their own gears, miniature mechanisms, or printing detailed jewelry or metal ornaments. The Mini Metal Maker is built around the concept of using the minimum number of parts, reducing the cost to produce and also eliminating many chances for error during assembly.
Continue reading… “Mini Metal Maker: A $1000 3D printer that prints metal”
A DIY bioprinter
3D printers have been used to print iPhone cases, gun parts, even chocolate candies. Now biohackers, a group that meets at BioCurious, a community biology laboratory in Sunnyvale, California, has created a do-it-yourself inkjet printer that can print living cells. (Video)
Continue reading… “A DIY bioprinter that can print living cells”
John Baichtal says: “MAKE’s interview with hardware hacker Akiba highlighted a fascinating trend: individuals and small groups taking their safety into their own hands by creating, modifying, and networking radiation detectors, a.k.a. Geiger counters, rather than relying on governments for information…
Continue reading… “Make’s Roundup of DIY Radiation Detectors”
DIY gastric bypass kit
For those considering gastric bypass surgery, take a look at Amazon’s do-it-yourself kit. It’s only $260 (cheap!) and comes with 3 sets (so you don’t have to get it right the first time!). Bring your own anesthetics and instructions, though.
Continue reading… “DIY Gastric Bypass Surgery Kit”
Finally a great way to recycle your old plastic credit cards
Expired credit cards, library cards, and gift cards get a new life with the Pick Punch, a stapler-like gadget that creates unique guitar picks out of any flat piece of plastic. Customized maxed-out AMEX picks make jam sessions instantly cooler.
Continue reading… “DIY Credit Card To Guitar Pick”
Spider Boy
Hibiki Kono had a dream — he wanted to be like his hero, Spiderman. Most little kids would have their parents buy them a costume that they could wear to school. Not Kono — the 13 year-old set to work making his dream a reality. He’s used two 1,400-watt recycled vacuum cleaners and a little bit of elbow grease to make a machine that allows him to scale walls — just like his spindly hero! (Video and pics)
Continue reading… “Spider Boy Scales Walls Using Recycled Vacuum Cleaners”
You may be done thinking about snow, but English Russia has a gallery of snowmobiles made from scrap and repurposed materials. The one above is arguably the most awesome:
This bulky machine constructed by one enthusiast retiree from the Russian city of Kirov is powered by the old Yamaha motorcycle engine and is entirely made of scrap….
Do-it-yourself abiliy is in the genes
Home improvement enthusiasts who flounder with flat-pack furniture were given an excuse today for their struggles – DIY ability is in the genes, say scientists.
Continue reading… “DIY Ability Is In The Genes”
The Awesome VORTEX CANNON!
If you’ve been sitting around all week wondering how you could combine smoke, speakers, and a love of novel physics experiments into an excuse to tinker in your workshop this weekend, building a smoke-shooting vortex cannon should cover everything nicely.
Over at Make, the DIY-centric magazine, they’ve put together a video tutorial on how to build your own vortex cannons. The first cannon is essentially a super size version of the DIY Airzooka just bigger is better! The second model they create, however, is powered not by an elastic membrane stretched across the back of the tube, but by the kick of a big speaker.
Check out the video after the jump to see the construction of the vortex cannon and the cannons in action…
Continue reading… “Build a Vortex Cannon”
