Android controlled PLEN robot
Time again for another Android controlled robot demo. This time it’s the venerable PLEN. Watch as the the diminutive 9-inch bot is put through it’s paces as the demonstrator deftly navigates the touchscreen controls.
Computers & Mobile
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
How-To: Make a giant octopus
YouTuber bluworm took on the task of making a great big octopus puppet for stop-motion animation in a film by his friend Daniel Lennéer. Along the way he produced this informative and entertaining video describing the casting, sculpting, and armature-work that went into it, as well as showing off some of the finished animation (starting around 5:00). Besides the cool propcasting info, I gotta give it up to bluworm for his video editing chops–this is definitely one of the most watchable how-to videos I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a bunch of them. [via Propnomicon]
Briggs-Rauscher oscillating chemical reaction
There are, however, other oscillating chemical reactions. None of them result in mechanical action, but the cyclical color changes of, for instance, the Briggs-Rauscher reaction (shown above) are pretty cool in and of themselves. The prototype chemical oscillator is the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction (Wikipedia) which was only discovered in the 1950s. For years, no respectable journal would print reports of oscillating chemical reactions because many editors could not reconcile their understandings of thermodynamics with the notion of an oscillating reaction. Guess who had to eat crow?
Mercury “beating heart” demo video
This classic chemistry demo involves the use of toxic metallic mercury, so it’s one of those that is best to just watch on YouTube instead of trying yourself. The pulsing action is caused by surface tension effects–metallic mercury is oxidized at the surface of the drop to form a film of mercury (I) sulfate, which lowers the drop’s surface tension and causes it to flatten under its own weight. The flattening brings the drop into contact with the tip of a carefully-positioned iron nail, which reduces the mercury (I) sulfate back to metallic mercury, which in turn increases the drop’s surface tension and causes it to contract away from the nail. Thanks to YouTuber sciencevidds for sharing it with us. [via Boing and then some more Boing]
Maker Birthdays: Douglas Engelbart
Chances are you have Douglas C. Engelbart to thank for what you’re holding in your hand right now.
I’m talking about your computer mouse, of course.
Dr. Engelbart was born on this date in 1925. In 1967, while working at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, he applied for a patent on an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” which issued in 1970, although, per his Wikipedia article, he never actually received any royalties on it. He has been widely honored for his contributions to human-computer interface development.
Dr. Engelbart has four children and nine grandchildren, and today he’s 85. Congratulations and happy birthday, sir!
“Cutest trailer in the known universe”
On the blog Stuff I Like, they posted this heartbreakingly cute vintage trailer they saw while vacationing at Calaveras Big Trees. Talk about efficient use of space. The Cutest Trailer You Ever Saw
AirMouse, a cyberpunk-styled, hand-mounted mouse
The AirMouse begins with the human form and builds functionality around it. The AirMouse is composed of a lightweight durable fabric that seamlessly aligns itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist and assists them into a neutral posture during use preventing you from developing computer-related repetitive stress injuries such as carpel tunnel syndrome […]
