5
Bacon Curing Kit
Bacon is enjoying the limelight these days, showing up in everything from chocolate to donuts! If you really want to hop on this fat fad, brine your own. It takes a week, but is incredibly simple and delicious. This kit’s recipe book covers bacon, Canadian bacon, and pancetta. Note to the truly dedicated: invest in […]
Food: bacon, bacon-curing, food, meat
Digital Dominos
These Digital Dominos work just like regular dominos knocking each other down, only virtually. Each domino-sized PCB has a button that triggers an LED to blink (which corresponds to the domino “falling”). An IR sensor on one end and an IR LED on the other allow each domino to trigger any adjacent domino to blink, and so on. […]
Brain Machine
Hack your brain! Put on these glasses and headphones, close your eyes, and enjoy some harmless hallucinations as you drift into deep meditation. You’ll come out after the 14-minute program feeling fabulous. Sound and Light Machines (SLMs) help people sleep, wake up, meditate, and more. They work by generating light pulses (seen through closed eyelids) […]
Science: meditation, relaxation, Science, sound and light machines
Reinventing Edison: Light Bulb Kit
Thomas Edison purportedly said that he didn’t fail 700 times in trying to make the incandescent light, he succeeded in proving 700 ways not to do it. Now it can be your turn. This fun science kit is designed to excite and engage experimenters of all ages in re-creating the development of the first light […]
Energy Wiz
Aimed at kids 8 and up, this kit has real heart. Its 48-page workbook and components (solar cell, buzzer, two motors, LED, capacitor, copper rivets, pinwheel, etc.) take you through lessons and fun experiments that teach the basics: What is energy, as distinct from force? What forms does it take? How can it be converted […]
SpikerBox
This is a solder-together kit for studying the electrical impulses of cockroach neurons. The online instructions are excellent, with videos and plenty of clear photos of the assembly process. My 8-year-old daughter identified and inserted all the electrical components into the clearly marked printed circuit board through-holes, and I did the soldering. She asked me […]
Chofu Wood-Fired Hot Tub
The Chofu is a very simple, and very beautiful, DIY wood-fired hot tub heater. It looks like a potbellied stove with an Eastern aesthetic, and it comes from Japan. Any container that’ll hold water can be the hot tub (metal stock tanks are a great choice). The stove is connected to the tub by two […]
Bulbdial Clock
The Bulbdial Clock displays analog time, without any motor, movement, or screen. The 72 LEDs cast shadow hands across its face, with red, green, and blue for hours, minutes, and seconds. It’s a beautiful effect, and the kit is not difficult to assemble, thanks to incredibly well-done instructions.
Monochron Clock
The Monochron is an extremely rewarding kit to build. Not only is it fun, but the finished clock adds retro flair to any home. As with all Adafruit kits, the instructions are clear and well thought out. The clock features an alarm function, custom laser-cut case, and several different display modes to suit your mood or […]
Ice Tube Clock
The heart of the Ice Tube Clock is a distinctive, vintage, Russian vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) housed in a transparent, laser-cut enclosure. The clock features a precision watch crystal, alarm function, and battery backup. The build quality and online instructions are excellent, as is the completeness of the kit. Anyone who stops by my studio is always […]
