Making an LED blink is usually achieved by interrupting its power supply, This can be achieved through any number of oscillator circuits, or even by means of a mechanical system and a switch. For the 2025 One Hertz Challenge though, [jeremy.geppert] has eschewed such means. Instead his LED is always on, and is made to […]
What should your first instinct be when the room catches on fire? Maybe get out of the room, pull an alarm, and have a disco party? Not your first instinct? Well, this seemed pretty obvious to [Flying-Toast], who retrofitted an old fire alarm to activate a personal disco party. After finding a fire alarm being […]
Sometimes, brilliant perspectives need a bit of an introduction first, and this is clearly one. This video essay by [Cleggy] delivers what it promises: an ode to the aesthetic of light. But he goes further, materializing his way of viewing things into a beautiful physical build — and the full explanation of how to do […]
[Arkandas] had a problem. They liked reading in bed, but their bedroom lamps weren’t cutting it—either too bright and direct, or too dim and diffuse. The solution was custom lighting, and a new project began. The concept was simple—build a custom controller for a set of addressable LED lighting strips that would be installed in […]
Sometimes, we’re faced with what should be simple household tasks that we choose to make more difficult. Sure, you could buy a clock, hang it on your wall, and move on with your day, or could spend a week or two building the perfect one. [Nejc Koncan] was in one such situation recently when he […]
As Earthlings, most of us don’t spend a lot of extra time thinking about the gravity on our home planet. Instead, we go about our days only occasionally dropping things or tripping over furniture but largely attending to other matters of more consequence. When humans visit other worlds, though, there’s a lot more consideration of […]
Content warning: Human alteration and scalpels. General warning: We are not speaking as doctors. Or lawyers. If you watch sci-fi, you probably do not have to think hard to conjure a scene in a trendy bar where the patrons have glowing make-up or tattoos. That bit of futuristic flair was possible years ago with UV-reactive […]
People have been coming up with clever ways to bring light to the darkness since we lived in caves, so it’s no surprise we still love finding interesting ways to illuminate our world. [Michael] designed a simple, but beautiful, book lamp that’s easy to assemble yourself. This build really outshines its origins as an assembly […]
Over on his secondary YouTube channel, [Jeff Geerling] recently demoed the new Mitxela Precision Clock Mk IV. This clock uses GPS to get the current time, but also your location so it can figure out what time zone you’re in and which daylight savings time might apply. On the back a blinking diode announces the […]