Much of what we write about here at GeekMom is high tech gadgetry, so when I say ‘solar’ you might think of any number of modern solar powered electrical systems. What you probably didn’t think about is the super low tech but incredibly brilliant solar bottle bulb developed by students from the Massachusetts Institute […]
Continue ReadingIn Maine we prepare for power outages in the winter, whether we get 12 inches of snow, or an ice storm that candy coats everything. We stock up on batteries, canned food and frozen goods. Yes, you heard me, frozen goods: if the power goes out we can throw it in the snow bank, nature’s […]
Continue ReadingWe’ve all done it. We’ve all earned the scathing look and the whine of discomfort because we just accidentally static shocked our child. You always feel just a little bad, unless of course you did it on purpose, in which case you are trying very hard not to smile. But in all things there is […]
Continue ReadingThis summer libraries around the country will be hosting activities in keeping with this year’s theme kids’ reading theme: Make a Splash. As a teaching artist who presents children’s hands-on workshops in libraries and schools, I decided that this would …
Continue ReadingYou know you’re wasting electricity around your house. And as a geek, you’ve always dreamed of being able to run your home from a portable device – maybe something slick and hand-held? Well, this fellow got the DIY spirit and …
Continue ReadingOne hundred and fifteen fifty-three years ago, Nikola Tesla was born in the small village of Smiljan, Vojna Krajina, in modern-day Croatia. Beside the eponymous Tesla coil, Tesla is known for his contributions to the field of science, especially regarding …
Continue ReadingThe latest in No Starch’s “Manga Guide to” series, the The Manga Guide to Electricity introduces electricity to neophytes in a fun yet informative manner. You’ve heard the ‘water’ method for teaching electricity — the hose is a wire, water …
Continue ReadingTesla Coils, Jacob’s Ladders, and even the simple Van De Graff generators make me happy. Throw some Pulse Rate Modulation at a solid state Tesla Coil and I can only be described as giddy. My first chance to see ArcAttack …
Continue ReadingYou don’t have to go too far into the countryside to find wind farms providing us with clean and renewable electricity. Despite the promise of renewable energy to solve all of our future energy problems there are still a few …
Continue ReadingI heard on Twitter last night that Bre Pettis has a pilot for a freaky nerdy history show that will air on the History Channel later on this month. Pettis, formerly of MAKE and currently a video maker for Etsy, is known for his ability to explain technical subjects to a non-technical audience, and make […]
Continue ReadingIn busy times, it takes a certain combination of inspiration, spare time and a little cash to stop dreaming and start making. I was inspired to make a cheap solar light back in June based on an Instructables post involving deconstructing solar garden lights and reinstalling them in mason jars. My inspiration held out long […]
Continue ReadingWe recently returned from a camping trip to Port Burwell Provincial Park, on the shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario. What made this trip a little different from the usual was that besides local wildlife and flora to explore, there was a looming man-made feature of considerable interest. A wind farm has sprung up […]
Continue ReadingIt’s been 5 years to the day since much of the Northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region of Canada lost power during what would quickly become the largest power blackout in North American history. Residents in 8 US States as well as the Province of Ontario lost power for up to four days […]
Continue ReadingYou’ve heard of them, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID, pronounced arfid) tags, little transmitter chips that broadcast your identity to airline check-in stations as well as to anyone who has a RFID snooper. The phenomenon has all sorts of people up in arms over the possibility we’d be tracked wherever we go, or that criminals could […]
Continue ReadingThis year’s Bent Festival is over. Taking place in three cities over nine days between April 17 through May 3rd, Bent Festival is an annual art and music festival celebrating DIY electronics, hardware hacking, and circuit bending. Each year we invite artists from across the country and around the globe to perform music with their […]
Continue ReadingOne year ago, you were reading this by Jeffrey McManus: From KidScientist.com, the no-nonsense science blog for kids Principal Investigator: CelesteResearch Assistant: Jeffrey Date: April 21, 2007 This weekend we decided to do another experiment with a science kit. This time we used a Snap Circuits Jr. electricity set to create a motorized fan. To […]
Continue ReadingEver want to fold your own circuits? With this really cool DIY, you and your kids can create some really neat hand-made origami electronics with a few simple materials. In what follows, we combine basic electronics (an LED Throwie) and papercraft (a traditional origami balloon) to make what might be called an "LED Foldie." The […]
Continue ReadingThe Fifth Annual Bent Festival is being held in three cities, LA, NY, and Minn, in late April/early May (depending upon location): The Bent Festival is an annual art and music festival celebrating DIY electronics, hardware hacking, and circuit bending. Each year we invite artists from across the country and around the globe to perform […]
Continue ReadingOf all the geeky professionals in the world, NASA employees (down to the janitors, I strongly suspect) are definitely among the geekiest. They are unabashedly nuts about what they do, be it chemistry, aeronautics, astrophotography or any one of a thousand other specialist niches required to make the space agency run — right down to […]
Continue ReadingWhen science teacher Michael Arquin started educating students about wind power, he had no idea his curriculum would come to influence thousands of teachers and students all across the country. After earning his B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies from UC Boulder and a M.A.T. in Science Education from Cornell, Arquin, 37, taught for five […]
Continue ReadingThe Bakken Library and Museum is an “independent, nonprofit education institution that collects archival materials related to the history of electricity and magnetism in medicine and the life sciences.” Founded by Earl E. Bakken, the inventor of the pacemaker, the museum grew out of Bakken’s collection of antique medical devices of an electrical nature. Currently […]
Continue ReadingHow To Charge An IPod Using Electrolytes And An Onion – video powered by Metacafe Yesterday we tried to light an LED using lemon batteries. (See the preliminary results at my Home Chemistry blog.) But in researching that project I came across this great idea — charging your iPod using an onion soaked in Gatorade. […]
Continue ReadingThis 2006 movie has recently become a cult hit in our family. Two Victorian-era stage magicians – Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman — compete for fame, fortune and Scarlett Johansson. Michael Caine is the old guy who knows all the secrets. And David Bowie (!) is Nikola Tesla (!), who takes on an assignment to […]
Continue ReadingReally nifty time-lapse picture of a Tesla Coil-activated Christmas Tree Display by a fellow in Australia who appears to be a really big home electricity buff. Link, via Neatorama.
Continue ReadingI’m not sure all the contributors to Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Garages, Basements, and Backyards are dads. In fact, some of them aren’t even men. But their technological explorations can tantalize anyone of a geeky persuasion. Are you shooting for the GeekDad Hall of Fame? Look no further for inspiration. […]
Continue ReadingA multimeter is an instrument that, true to its name, measures a number of different aspects of electricy and electronics: voltage, resistance, capacitance, frequency, conductance, inductance, and others. If you are a geek, and don’t have a multimeter, you need to get one. Beyond insuring that you maintain your non-techie friends’ and family members’ awe […]
Continue ReadingGreat minds think alike, I was just working on my Erector Set article when I saw Jeremiah McNichols’ post on the same subject. The other day I was admiring the Erector Empire State Building set and thinking about all the crazy inventions I created with Erector back in the day. It’s a big nostalgia thing […]
Continue ReadingFrom KidScientist.com, the no-nonsense science blog for kids Principal Investigator: CelesteResearch Assistant: Jeffrey Date: April 21, 2007 This weekend we decided to do another experiment with a science kit. This time we used a Snap Circuits Jr. electricity set to create a motorized fan. To our surprise, when we flipped the switch, the fan propeller […]
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