While we’re 100 years past Edison’s fear, uncertainty, and doubt campaign, the fact of the matter is that DC is a bit easier to wrap one’s head around. It’s just so honest in its directness. AC, though? It can be a little shifty, and that results in some unexpected behaviors, as seen in this video […]
to enrich their lives? The generator itself is mostly 3D printed, with the magnets producing current in eight copper coils as they spin past. Courtesy of the 4.5:1 gear on the crank side, it actually spins at over 1,000 RPM with fairly low effort when unloaded, albeit due to the omission of iron cores in […]
Kombucha! It’s a delicious fermented beverage that is kind to your digestive system and often sold in glass bottles. You don’t just have to use those bottles for healthy drinks, though. As [Simranjit Singh] demonstrates, you can also use them to create your very own plasma tube. [Simranjit’s] build begins with a nice large 1.4-liter […]
While not impossible, replicating the machines and processes of a modern semiconductor fab is a pretty steep climb for the home gamer. Sure, we’ve seen it done, but nanoscale photolithography is a demanding process that discourages the DIYer at every turn. So if you want to make semiconductors at home, it might be best to […]
Researchers at the University of British Columbia leveraged an unusual discovery into ultra-black material made from wood. The deep, dark black is not the result of any sort of dye or surface coating; it’s structural change to the wood itself that causes it to swallow up at least 99% of incoming light. One of a […]
The simple plasma ball – it graces science museums and classrooms all around the world. It shares a place with the Van de Graaf generator, with the convenient addition of spectacular plasma rays that grace it spherical surface. High voltage, aesthetically pleasing, mad science tropes – what would make a better DIY project? For some […]
It seems as though every week we see something that clearly shows we’re living in the future. The components we routinely incorporate into our projects would have seemed like science fiction only a few short years ago, but now we buy them online and have them shipped to us for pennies. And what can say […]
Imagine if you will that you are enthroned upon the porcelain, minding your own business while doing your business. You’re catching up on Hackaday on your phone – c’mon, admit it – when a whir and a buzz comes from behind you. You sit up in alarm, whereupon your lower back suddenly feels as if […]
“You can never be too rich or too thin,” the saying goes, and when it comes to coatings, it’s true that thinner is often better. The way to truly thin coatings, ones that are sometimes only a few atoms thick, is physical vapor deposition, or PVD, a technique where a substance is transformed into a […]
It’s basically a lightsaber. Except smaller. And with an invisible blade. And cold to the touch. But other than that, this homebrew cold plasma torch (YouTube, embedded below) is just like the Jedi’s choice in elegant weaponry. Perhaps we shouldn’t kid [Justin] given how hard he worked on this project – seventeen prototypes before hitting […]