If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!
Nice to see our friends who are involved in the Handcar Regatta, namely those behind the Screaming Vortex (above) and the Hennepin Crawler, get a little high-brow attention. They, along with some other awesome Regatta rigs, are on display at the University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University, in Rohnert Park, CA until March 4th. […]
If you’re interested in materials science, design, architecture, and/or chemistry, and you live in Austin or the central Texas area, you should not miss the UT Austin School of Architecture Materials Lab, located in room 3.102 of the West Mall Office Building on The University of Texas Campus. They’re closed this week for Spring Break, but are normally open from 9-5 every weekday. It’s open to the public, and is chock-a-block with physical samples of all kinds of exotic materials that would otherwise be difficult to get your hands on in small quantities. Anyone can poke around, and registered students can check out samples just like a book-library.
If you’re not in the area, the UTSOA Materials Lab is building an online database of its collection organized by composition, form, properties, process, and application. And although they don’t have photos of all the samples uploaded yet, it’s still fascinating browsing.
The folks over at the Milwaukee Makerspace built these fine Pot O’ Gold floats to drive in a St. Patrick’s Day parade.
This Segway-style transportation device uses famed kinetic artist Theo Jansen’s style of bug-like locomtion. I think the rider appears to surf on another creature, perhaps a crayfish? Cajun Crawler [via @EMSL] More: Theo Jansen papercraft walker Theo Jansen-inspired Arduino walker Interview with Theo Jansen… Reader mail: Theo Jansen signs MAKE! Lego Segway needs only NXT […]
Two galvanized nails set in a plug of plaster-of-Paris. That’s it. The Cheap Vegetable Gardener, who created the sensor for an automated grow box project, explains:
Technically a gypsum block measures soil water tension. When the gypsum block is dry it is not possible for electricity to pass between the probes, essentially making the probe an insulator with infinite resistance. As water is added to the problem more electrons can pass between the probes effectively reducing the amount of resistance between the problem to the point when it is fully saturated where the probe has virtually zero resistance. By using this range of values you can determine the amount of water than exists in your soil.
[via Hack a Day]
Lately we’ve had lots of folks writing in seeking practical advice on collecting tissue samples for use in studying diseases of whales. I had no idea there were so many amateur cetopathologists among our readers!
As you folks know–all too well, I’m sure–it is extremely difficult to collect blood from a wild whale without injuring or killing it in the process. However, as is common knowledge even among laypersons, the next best thing to live whale blood is live whale snot. Turns out it spews from their blowholes when they exhale, so the process is really very simple:
1. Find breaching whale.
2. Hold petri dish over blowhole to intercept spout.
3. Return to lab, enjoy sample.
Step 2 is actually the hard part. And although your first instinct may be to just jump in your rowboat, paddle out to a whale pod, lean way out over the side with your sample container, and wait, that’s actually not as safe as it might sound. Each year, untold millions die attempting this maneuver.
Enter Dr. Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, of the Zoological Society of London. Her recent paper in Animal Conservation (abstract), irresistibly entitled “A novel non-invasive tool for disease surveillance of free-ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs,” introduces the ground-breaking methodology of strapping a petri dish to a toy RC helicopter and flying it into the spout. This landmark paper stands not only to revolutionize our understanding of whaleborne disease, but to save countless lives, and establishes Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse as a serious contender for this year’s (Ig) Nobel Prize.
[via The Thoughtful Animal]
P.S. Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse, you are made of awesome. And although I have never met you and probably never will, I love you with all my heart.
I haven’t verified that last bit for myself, but I did spend a long time googling around yesterday afternoon and satisfied myself that these FSC folks are on the level. That’s their “tree with a check mark” seal in the photo, above. Now I know what to look for. And so do you. [Thanks, Hank!]
