Galvanic metals

Galvanic series

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The galvanic series (or electropotential series) determines how well two metals will work together to make a battery. When two metals are submerged in an electrolyte, while electrically connected, the less noble (base) will experience galvanic corrosion. The rate of corrosion is determined by the electrolyte and the difference in nobility. The difference can be measured as a difference in…

Juice Box Wallet

Juice box wallets

The common juice boxes and cartons are finding new lift after its juices have been drank.  People are making them into wallets and other goods. Juice box wallets are beautiful and useful. A juice box and cartons are made of liquid packaging board which is usually six layers of paper, polyethylene plastic, and aluminum foil. Paper is used to shape the…

recycled orchestra students

Landfill Harmonic – Recycled Orchestra

Recycled Orchestra “The world sends us garbage, we send back music” There’s an amazing video floating around YouTube that has brought a ray of sunshine to a very dark week for all of us. It’s the trailer for an upcoming documentary called Landfill Harmonic, which focuses on one remarkable group in Paraguay: an orchestra that plays…

Styrofoam goo

Repurposing Styrofoam

That white styrofoam we use for packaging, coffee cups and other things can be repurposed into a wide range of things.  When Styrofoam is mixed with gasoline or other chemicals it will breakdown into a gooey glob that when dried will be a hard plastic instead of the light fluffy stuff we think as styrofoam.…

Triboelectric power

Triboelectric power

The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged after they come into contact with another different material through friction. Rubbing glass with fur, or a comb through the hair, can build up triboelectricity. Most everyday static electricity is triboelectric. The polarity and strength of the charges produced differ according to the materials, surface roughness, temperature, and other properties.…

termes robots

Robots that think like termites

Insects like termites build amazing complex structures with no central authority.  Each termite is replaceable independent and relentless.  As man builds robots these simple tiny termites are giving us examples on how to make much better robots to do complex, dangerous and monotonous things. Given the size of a termite they build mounds taller than…

dhaka waste pickers

Waste Pickers in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh, is one of the worlds poorest and largest cities. With 9 million people over 3000 tons of waste is generated every day. There is little priority on recycling and waste pickers are the among the lowest class of people and often abused. Due to many factors, less than half the 3000 tons a…

aquaponics

Introduction To Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a method by which you grow plants and nurture aquatic animals together in a system that recirculates the nutrients produced, to the benefit of both plants and animals. The aquaponics approach is gaining in popularity as a sustainable gardening method. The idea take conventional aquaculture, (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish…

Beer delivery drone

Beer delivery drones emptied by the FAA.

Minnesota brewery Lakemaid got shutdown by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after it published a video on YouTube showing the company delivering cases of beer to ice fisherman. According to the FAA, using a drone for “commercial” purposes (like selling and delivering beer) is against the rules, unless the company has the FAA’s permission. “The…

WInd powered phone charger

Wind driven phone charger for bicycles.

A creative inventor has come up with a wind turbine to charge your cell phone while riding your bike.  It looks like a little fan built into a iphone case and of course he named it ifan.  Tjeerd Veenhoven, of the Netherlands, says it takes about 6 hours to fully charge a iphone with his…

Solar Forge

Solar Powered Forge

A man has posted a page claiming to be building a solar power forge that can  heat steel to over 1000 °f, hot enough to get it red hot and forge it.  He used a home made parabolic mirror to heat steel instead of the traditional gas, coal or charcoal furnace.  The idea of a solar…

card board generator

Simple cardboard electric generator

I found a great video on the making of a simple electric generator.   It produces enough power to light a small light bulb. It uses scrap cardboard, wire and magnets. A good friend told me about how education programs are running into problems due to the lack of electricity in the homes and the…

arduino_uno_test

Intro to Arduino

The Arduino is a palm sized micro controller.  It is a computer-like device that allows you to control real things in your world with a computer.  They are every inexpensive costing around $30.  You can build robots, 3d printers, control your heating or home lights, connect to the internet, connect to your phone or a…

3d metal gun

First 3D printed metal gun

Watch the video of the first metal 3D printed gun.  The firearm was made by a firm holding a Federal Firearm License.  The gun is a copy of a standard U.S. military side arm, the 1911 model. Although there have been  3D printed plastic guns, this is believed to be the first 3d printed gun made…

plastic solvents

Plastic Solvents

This is kinda techie but interesting if you’re digging deep in to repurposed plastics.  I discovered a post on what solvents work with specific plastics.  Pure nail polish remover (Acetone) works with most plastics.  The process of solvent welding is simple. You apply the solvent to the pieces you want to stick together, push the pieces…