Preventice MAKE: Blog: Flashback: Home Mycology Lab Start a cultural revolution in your own house with Philip Ross’ Home Mycology Lab project from MAKE Volume 07, our Backyard Biology issue. Mushrooms are fascinating (and tasty), and this article introduces you to what it takes to make them grow. I love this illustration: Philip offers a detailed how-to on making your own miniature mycology lab using an off-the-shelf home air purifier with a HEPA filter to create a “clean box” pristine environment. The project takes about an hour to build and about 2 weeks to grow, and provides a fun and easy window into the magical world of mycelium. Philip Ross has extensive experience with mushrooms, and incorporates them (as well as plant life) into his artwork. Check out Home Mycology Lab in our Digital Edition. Goli Mohammadi I’m senior editor at MAKE and have worked on MAKE magazine since the first issue. The maker movement provides me with endless inspiration, and I love shining light on the incredible makers in our community. Related
Tie Not Water Balloon Filler 11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph.D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries. We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek. Click on any image to see it enlarged. 1. Aerogel Also known as frozen smoke, Aerogel is the world's lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. Aerogel isn't just neat, it's useful. Price: $35 2. Inside these sealed glass balls live shrimp, algae, and bacteria, all swimming around in filtered seawater. EcoSpheres came out of research looking at ways to develop self-contained ecosystems for long duration space travel. Price: $80 3. NASA has been trying to figure out how to get a sample of rock back from Mars for a while now. Every once in a while, a meteorite smashes into Mars hard enough to eject some rocks out into orbit around the sun. Price: $70+ 4. Price: $150 5. Price: $110 6. Price: $80 7. Price: $15 8.
Desktop Carnivorous Plant Set TR35: Stéphanie Lacour, 30 Bioengineers who hope to help paralyzed patients by melding electronics with nerve or brain tissue face a materials challenge: living tissue and microelectronics could hardly be more different. Most tissues are supple, while the semiconductors and metals used in electronics are brittle and stiff. As a result, the implanted electronics can irritate and damage surrounding tissue. As a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, Lacour fabricated thin gold strips on elastic rubber substrates that could be stretched like a rubber band without losing electrical conductivity. But it’s the potential applications in biology and medicine that are, Lacour says, "really thrilling." At the back of her mind, says Lacour, is the goal of creating electronic skin that could cover prosthetic limbs. Morrison has begun using Lacour’s stretchable metal electrodes in experiments to study brain injuries. Morrison is re-creating the injuries by violently stretching thin slices of brain tissue.
Grow Your Own Bioluminescent Algae - Instructables - DIY, How To You may have memories of running after fireflies with hands outstretched on a warm summer evening. You may have even watched some discovery channel documentary on the mysteries of the deep sea and marveled at those 'glowing' organisms featured. Chances are however, you probably haven't heard too much about the plethora of other bioluminescent creatures inhabiting this planet. Bioluminescence (literally meaning living light) occurs within many living organisms, although, most are relegated to the deep sea. This chemical reaction involves the oxidation of Luciferin (just a name for a class of biological light emitting pigments). Today however, we'll focus on a particular light emitting alga known as Pyrocystis fusiformis. Here's a video of one such concentration in a bay in australia. There is even a bay in Puerto Rico full of the stuff which people can kayak in. With a little luck and a LOT of patience, you can grow your own bioluminscent algae at home.
Tekno Black Light Bubbles Clearing the Way for Cheap, Flexible Solar Panels For years solar companies have wanted to make lightweight, flexible panels that are cheap to ship and easy to install (by unrolling them over large areas). But they’ve been held up by a lack of good and affordable glass substitutes. Now 3M thinks it’s found a solution. The protective film is a multilayer, fluoropolymer-based sheet that can replace glass as the protective front cover of solar panels, says Derek DeScioli, business development manager for 3M’s renewable energy division. The film is 3M’s answer to demand by solar-panel makers–particularly manufacturers of certain thin-film solar cells–for an alternative to glass. “Flexible solar panels have all these great-sounding benefits, but then you come to the question of how you encapsulate them. Using plastic to protect solar cells isn’t a new idea. United Solar Ovonic is the only major thin-film maker that has been shipping flexible panels for years.
Da Vinci's Wood Catapult Kit