Unless you're a high-schooler building a nuclear fusion reactor, the hardest part of a science investigatory project often is coming up with a good idea. You want it to be cool yet feasible, novel but still useful. That's why Ai-ni Bautista's science project on making liquid ...more
Most of us have conducted an investigatory science project without even knowing it, or at least without knowing that's what it was called. Most science experiments performed, from elementary to high school students and all the way up to professional scientists, are investigato ...more
In our personal experience, the hardest part about a science investigatory project is simply coming up with a good idea. And we suggest that for your investigatory project you find a topic that's both novel and useful. Check out this science tutorial to learn how to make a ba ...more
The egg drop has become a sort of rite of passage for gangly fourth graders as they embark on their first journey into physics and math before they approach these subjects again later on in middle school and high school. The egg drop is a test of intellect as much as it's a r ...more
Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to perform three cool science experiments with Dr. Lithium. Follow the vid and you'll now have more than one example of an investigatory project! These three experiments were too small to make into their own videos, so t ...more
Mike Lively of Northern Kentucky University shows you how to build an interactive Molecule Viewer in Papervision3D and Flex 3. This is a fun application building project for anyone learning Adobe Flex Builder 3 and a great resource for molecule viewer for students, educators, ...more
This is how to make a near professional grade lava lamp. We did this as a chemistry project. We perfected it in a week. This took many hours to do, as we had to get the density just right. We remade it three times, also. At the very end, we combined all of the wax into a huge ...more
The only thing better than successfully pulling off a new experiment is doing it with household materials. You get to laugh in conceit as professional scientists everywhere spend all their grant money on the same project you just accomplished with some under-the-sink chemicals ...more
Etching your own circuit boards is tons of fun, but etching requires strong chemicals to dissolve the copper plating on blank circuit boards. The normal ferric chloride solution works well, but can be expensive and leaves permanent stains. Luckily, we can whip up our own etcha ...more
Mad Science is looking for more hackers, makers, and DIYers to participate in our community madness. If you've recently designed or made a project, we want to see it! Share with the other Mad Scientists out there by posting up a how-to of your pet project on our community cork ...more
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects. Thanks to all of our active moderators and ...more
Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that "the seed of science" was "wonder," and taking a look at this nine-layer liquid tower from Steve Spangler's Sick Science! channel, one can't help but do just that — wonder. How is this possible? Is this magic or what? While it's not exac ...more
Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make copper sulfate and zinc batteries. They show you how to make the classic copper sulfate and zinc battery using the incredibly easy "gravity" battery design approach. Great for science fairs and similar projects th ...more
I have an absolutely wonderful time making projects and writing articles for all of you mad scientists! Today, I will bring you behind the scenes for a look at the workbench, tools, and software that make the Mad Science World possible. Above is my beautiful workbench! My who ...more
Science investigatory projects suck, or at least seem to at first. But you shouldn't let school drag you down. Instead, use your homework assignment as an opportunity to solve a problem you've always been interested in. And it doesn't hurt if the end result is eco-friendly, ei ...more
Glass is one of the least reactive substances known to chemistry. It is the standard container material for almost all lab chemicals because it's so inert. But there are a couple of substances that have strong reactions with glass. Sodium hydroxide, aka solid drain cleaner or ...more
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects. Thanks to all of our active moderators and ...more
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects. This week has been an exciting one. The com ...more
A perfect Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning could be the best thing that ever happened to the human race. It's tangy, it's sweet, it's spicy...and there's alcohol. Need I say more? Flavor chemist Neil C. Da Costa's latest project is to investigate the taste sensations created by ...more
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the commu ...more
Cooking isn't something that interests me much, unless it results in a fast burning fuel and a successful rocket launch! WARNING: Ignition of an incendiary or explosive material may not be legal in your area, so check local laws before attempting. Use of this video content is ...more
MAKE Magazine recently opened the Make: Science Room, a "DIY science classroom, virtual laboratory, and a place to share your projects, hacks, and laboratory tips with other amateur scientists." The resource currently offers labs in chemistry and forensics, with the promise o ...more
Using a technology we like to call "Hive Computing," several Android apps allow you to contribute idle processing power to help further scientific research. This basically means that when you're not using your phone or tablet, it can join forces with other idle devices to form ...more
Microbial cells can improve the functionality of clothes in creative and useful ways, including cooling us down during a workout or making clothing glow for better visibility. The innovative products were developed by a team of 14 researchers from MIT, in such broadly diverse ...more