Do a Motor

When you have a parent who cooks—and has you act as sous chef—the kitchen automatically becomes a less intimidating place. In other words, kids who know their way around the kitchen will most likely become adults who cook for themselves, which also means that they'll eat more ...more

After 3,000 man hours and $100 grand spent, 49-year-old Randy Grubb of rural Oregon turned this old junker long-haul truck... ...into this truly breathtaking beauty (who goes by the name of Piss’d Off Pete): Here are the specs, via PopSci: DESIGN "Grubb opted for thinner t ...more

A couple months ago, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But that didn't stop the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from warning citizens of one global possibility besides complete destruction—ZOMBIES. They used the farcical flesh-eating living dead as an ...more

There are many ways to make a lightsaber. You can turn a flashlight into a steampunk lightsaber, you can make a lightsaber from junk, and you can make one that looks totally real (if you've got the money and time). Heck, you can even make one in Photoshop. And now you can make ...more

One of the most annoying things about summer is mowing the lawn. Depending on how big your yard is, it can mean spending hours out in the hot sun while you could be doing something a lot more fun like watching the Olympics or making giant soap bubbles. Reclaim your summer with ...more

The video gives a step by step tutorial on how to replace the water pump, all belts and the shaft seals on a Porsche 944 S2. The video has a German soundtrack but English subtitles are available at YouTube. The repair is shown for a S2, but most steps are the same for other mo ...more

Although mowing is key to keeping your lawn healthy and good looking, it isn't anything worth jumping up and down for when it comes time to doing it. As it turned out, the first time I mowed my lawn wasn't nearly as fun or exciting as Hank Hill made it out to be. Maybe it was ...more

When choosing a security system for the office, Billy Chasen decided to ditch the traditional lock & key barricade for something a little more 21st century. He hacked together a device that uses a web server, servo motor and some parts from Home Depot to enable locking & unloc ...more

You can take macro photos on a huge variety of devices, whether you're using a DSLR with expensive lenses or just your iPhone (or any smartphone, for that matter). One common issue, though, is that it can be hard to get the image as crisp as you want because the depth of field ...more

Virtual and mixed reality experiences feel immersive because they take over your senses in various ways, but they still lack tactile feedback. Haptic gloves can change that, and you can make a pair yourself. Video: . YouTuber PlayingAroundWithVR figured out a reasonably simple ...more

Nearly all humans (admittedly childishly) admire the ability to emit uncannily musical armpit or hand farts, or even rarer- mouth fart motor engine aping. However, it is the rare occasion that a performer's gaseous-sounding melodic notes are indeed truly gaseous (meaning liter ...more

I love robots. They have the potential to evolve into Asimovian destroyers of the human species, but have only just mastered the art of cleaning my rug. They have an ever increasing cool factor and a growing number of cheap and simple components that let the hobby roboticist r ...more

Time to make those lazy Sunday afternoons even lazier. Instructables member johndavid400 has posted a full HowTo on modding your lawn mower to operate via remote control. " ...How to make your Arduino into an R/C interface that you can use for just about anything requiring re ...more

Instructable user samsmith17's solution for riding in the dark is a lot snazzier than your typical bicycle light: "This summer I realized that you don’t need a driver to run your el wire if you’re putting it on a bike. I hooked a stepper motor up to a transformer from an old ...more

If you've finished building your Curiosity rover and are wondering, now what? Perhaps it's time to move onto something a bit more... mobile? Take these awesome recreations of the Dark Knight's Tumbler and Bat vehicles built by Mahj, complete with lights, motors, and moving pa ...more

From Jalopnik: The LOLrioKart is outfitted with..."a hundred pounds of Ni-Cad batteries in the lower tray, a crude steering rack up front, pneumatic tires all around and some power-electronics to control a 15 HP Etek pancake motor hooked to a sweet custom differential at the ...more

Rockets are lots of fun when you are launching them. However, finding them can be an arduous if not maddening task. Fancy space rockets have lots of tracking equipment to make touchdowns as simple as pie. Today, we look at embedding LEDs into your hobby rocket for easy night f ...more

First off, let me say this—using real steam power is dangerous, and heavy, and just generally not worth it when you have modern alternatives. Except, you know, if you're a Steampunk. Or this guy: Video: . The guy in the above video makes some awesome gadgets, which are unfortu ...more

Apple has finally given Control Center the love that it needs with an updated interface design and more customizations than ever before. Taking the more customizable overhaul one step further, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 have elevated controls beyond Control Center, so you can use co ...more

My grandfather's brother won this car in a lottery during 1957. He had no driver's license, but his brothers used to give him a lift in it. From 1975 to 1996, the car was parked in my grandfather's brother's garage. My grandfather moved the car on a trailer in 1996 to his gara ...more

R/C car manufacturer Losi just recently released the LOSI 1/10 TEN-T TRUGGY RTR, which is apparently the world's most advanced radio controlled car. The Ten-T is 18 inches long and 6.2 pounds, and operates like a real race car (but at 1/10 of the size). Check out these specs ...more

While most people go to great lengths to conceal their emotions, Japanese company Neurowear is offering a product that would reveal states of tension, excitement and relaxation—all by the up-and-down motion of a pair of cartoony cat ears. Necomimi is a "new communication tool ...more

In 1969, the Apollo 11 crew were the first to walk on the Moon, the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl ever, Led Zeppelin released their first studio album, and one of the most pivotal moments in music history happened—Woodstock. But that's not ...more

Mark Burnett is, financially speaking, perhaps the most successful television producer today. While I had launched America's Most Wanted and COPS a decade earlier, Mark exploded onto network television with Survivor, the glossy and fantastical innovation to reality television. ...more

During its presentation at Unite Berlin, Magic Leap gave attendees a crash course in developing experiences for Magic Leap One (ML1), we found out quite a bit more about how the device works and what we can expect to experience with the device. Alessia Laidacker, interaction ...more

Having control of your basic motor functions is something most people take for granted, but for individuals with Parkinson's disease, that is not the case. Emma Lawton is a 33-year-old British graphic designer who has been living with Parkinson's for the last four years. Park ...more

PETA wouldn't consider James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's ingenious flypaper clock very eco-friendly, but I might beg to differ. The clock doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Instead it captures flies and converts the bodies of the dead insects into energy. Eight dead f ...more

Since its launch in 2001, Wikipedia has become the number one reference site on the web, used by anyone and everyone, written by anyone and everyone. With over 18 million collaboratively written articles, there's backgrounds and descriptions on practically everything—if it exi ...more

You can't get the same gaming experience on your iPhone as you would on a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or gaming computer. The processing power is less, the controls inadequate, and there are many on-screen distractions, all of which make mobile gaming less enjoyable. While y ...more

Cotton candy is a treat generally reserved for carnivals, fairs, and other events that don't come around often enough. Through some clever construction and about $45 in materials though, you can have all the sugary substance you could ever want with this awesome DIY cotton can ...more

That's right, no batteries required. Ever. Instructables user brunoip demonstrates how to make a flashlight that uses a "small stepper motor to generate energy and many capacitors for keep it stored for several seconds". Click through to learn how to make-it-yourself!

Dogs make great best friends, but anyone who's had one knows they can be the most high-maintenance friend you've ever had. Bathroom breaks, feeding schedules and walks are only the beginning. Even if you make your dog organic treats and teach it neat tricks, it still needs to ...more

Black Mirror, Netflix's technology-horror anthology, never fails to provide thought-provoking entertainment centered around emerging and futuristic technologies, and the third season's second episode, "Playtest," delves deep into the worlds of mixed, augmented, and virtual rea ...more

Wish you could make the shift to electric or hybrid, but you can't afford it? If you've got more than a few free weekends on your hands, you may want to consider undertaking Benjamin Nelson's ambitious (to say the very least) car conversion project. First, Nelson outlines in ...more

Popsci has posted 2009's most amazing scientific images, and there's quite a few great ones in there. A few of our favorites below, click through for all 62. In short, Cow Farts. "Scientists measure methane at the source: In a lush pasture near Buenos Aires, this cow and its ...more

Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive. End ...more

The dryer’s idler pulley provides tension to the dryer’s drum belt so the belt won’t slip when the drum is turning. It can become faulty over time due to increased friction. If your dryer is making a squeaking or squealing nose then the idler is probably faulty. Replacing this ...more