The AI effects we know these days were once preceded by CGI, and those were once preceded by true hand-built physical props. If that makes you think of Muppets, this video will change your mind. In a behind-the-scenes look with [Adam Savage], effects designer [Mark Setrakian] reveals the full animatronic glory of Mr. Wink’s mechanical […]
White LED bulbs are commonplace in households by now, mostly due to their low power usage and high reliability. Crank up the light output enough and you do however get high temperatures and corresponding interesting failure modes. An example is the one demonstrated by the [electronupdate] channel on YouTube with a Philips MR16 LED spot […]
At the end of the day, a skateboard boils down to a plank of wood with some wheels. They are wonderfully simple and fun and cheap modes of transportation. But this is Hackaday, so we are not here to talk about any normal skateboard, but one you can download and print. [megalog_’s] Skateboard MK2 is […]
When it comes to LED matrixes, building one is just the first step. Then you have to decide what to display on it. [panjanek] came up with a relatively flexible answer to this question, building an RGB LED matrix that can display the GIFs of your choice. The web interface accepts GIFs for display. [panjanek] […]
Some cats are what you might call indoor cats, happy to stretch out in the lap of indoor luxury and never bother themselves with the inclement outdoors again. Others however are fully in touch with their Inner Cat, and venture forth frequently in search of whatever prey they can find. [Rkramer] has a cat of […]
If you look at this solar generator from [Concept Crafted Creations], you might think it’s somehow familiar. That’s because the design was visually inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. Ultimately, though, it’s purpose is quite different—it’s designed to use mirrors to collect and harness solar energy. It’s not quite there yet, but […]
The CIA ran a series of web sites in the 2000s. Most of them were about news, finance, and other relatively boring topics, and they spanned 29 languages. And they all had a bit of a hidden feature: Those normal-looking websites had a secret login and hosted CIA cover communications with assets in foreign countries. […]
What if you could design your 3D print to fall apart on purpose? That’s the curious promise of a new paper from CHI 2025, which brings a serious hacker vibe to the sustainability problem of multi-material 3D printing. Titled Enabling Recycling of Multi-Material 3D Printed Objects through Computational Design and Disassembly by Dissolution, it proposes […]
Just a quickie for anyone who is in the neighborhood, today the annual Open Source Hardware Summit conference starts in Edinburg, Scotland. If you’re able to make it, it’s a microcosm of the open-source hardware world, and full of great talks and great hackers. If you’re not in Scotland, they have a livestream on YouTube […]