Albert Einstein once said, "We know less than one thousandth of one percent of what nature has to reveal to us." While this still lies true, that fraction has inspired man since the beginning of human life. You can see the reflection of nature in the poems we read, the theatr ...more
In this clip, learn how to make super powerful 9 volt LED flashlights using things you most likely already have around the house. You will make these mini-lights out of things like batteries and scrap wires. So, dig around in your garage and see what you can find to get starte ...more
This OzLabs video demonstrates how to build an LED sign using their flatheaded LED strips.
You must have seen some expensive mp3 players and CD players which have LEDs fixed on them and they dance to the tune looking really pretty. Imagine you could make your own LEDs and configure them to dance to Daft Punk or Swedish House Mafia. I’m going to tell you how it can ...more
Most of the time, the LED notification light on the front of your Android device just sits there doing nothing. Other than that brief period of time between when you receive a notification and when you turn your screen on, it's practically useless for anything other than showi ...more
This is a complex process, but the guys at Graffiti Research Lab have armed you with detailed written instructions and this video on how to create a night writer. This is a more complicated version of their LED throwies that allows you to catch a tag in lights. You'll never ne ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
I always found that those safety lights for bicyclists on the market were never good enough when riding in the dark. That got me thinking about people who use wheelchairs and how unsafe the night could be when they want to go out. So here's what I came up with: I decked out t ...more
At night, it can be pretty difficult to see what's inside drawers and cabinets, unless you have night vision or something. Sure, you can turn on the light, but sometimes you're in such a hurry that you don't have 5 seconds to walk over to the light switch and turn it on. Perh ...more
You've probably seen the classic fruit battery science experiment a thousand times, but I doubt you've ever seen it turned into an art project! Photographer Caleb Charland uses everyday objects like apples, coins and vinegar to create makeshift batteries, then takes these gorg ...more
How many trips up and down the stairs do you think it took artist Janne Parviainen to create this incredible topographical light painting? Apparently, quite a few. Using only one LED, he moves around his house, tracing all of the surfaces. Sometimes the exposure times are up t ...more
By using LEDs that only put out a little light the eyes can be lit in dim room light but still appear white, the moment the eyes are in shadow they glow bright red. Watch this video tutorial to see how to make glowing LED creature costume eyes for your film or costume project. ...more
Remember the arcades? Were you saddened when they closed up one by one, leaving no outlet to actually go out and socialize while you played video games? With all the home consoles and internet connectivity, gaming has evolved, but the social factor has been eliminated. Sure we ...more
It's somewhat funny that the HTC ThunderBolt smartphone would be released around the same time as Apple's new Thunderbolt technology. Mainly because HTC's smartphone isn't exactly something I would compare to a flash of lightning, which averages around 60,000 miles per second. ...more
The last few months of WikiLeaks controversy has surely peaked your interest, but when viewing the WikiLeaks site, finding what you want is quite a hard task. Despite rumors of easy access via the Kindle and iTunes App Store, there currently is no way to view the leaked docum ...more
Glow sticks are one of the few things used commonly by ravers and military personnel, but their uses extend far beyond dancing and illuminating. The juice contained in blue glow sticks can be used to make an organic LED (OLED) test board, and this video will show you how to do ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to make light using a stepper motor generator. First, take the motor out of an old printer that you don't use anymore. After this, find a few LED lights. You will need to solder the LED lights, then connect them with a soldering iron to the print ...more
In this acoustic guitar video lesson, brought to you by RockGuitarPower, host Mike, will teach you how to play "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. As you follow along with him, he teaches you the progression of the chords used in the song, breaking down each part of the song ...more
It isn't a new gadget, but the EyeClops Mini Projector still makes a great stocking stuffer for Christmas Day. It's great for kids to play with, but for techies— it's sure to be something fun to hack and mod this holiday season. The EyeClops Mini Projector looks more like Wal ...more
The first day of Hanukkah is here, the day you start lighting the candles of the menorah. So, why not ditch the wax and light the "lights" this year? (Skip ahead to see the LED menorah) Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that lasts eight days from the 25th day of Kislev, which th ...more
This video offers instructions on how to use a wire wrap (or wirewrap) tool, an excellent and underrated alternative to soldering. It's particularly useful when prototyping as wirewraps can be undone quickly using the short end of the tool (though this particular process isn't ...more
Continuing on with budget lighting, we explore using Fluorescent and LED lights, along with using available light, bouncing it with a reflector. These setups will work great for interviews, video casting, vlogging, and the likes. These lights use less power and also generate m ...more
In this video tutorial you will learn how to make a pair of high tech night vision sunglasses. You will first need a pair of 100% clear sunglasses with nothing but UV protection. Then two sheets of theatrical photo gels, one congo blue and one primary red. Using the gasses as ...more
Kipkay never fails to impress, and this so-called "condom hack pack" is no exception. Who knew there were so many useful uses for a condom besides the obvious! In this Kipkay two-part video, learn how to hack condoms for nine different uses. One condom hack is the "condom fir ...more
This video is led by Eddie from Long Island Boaters Club. As the boating season ends, Eddie explains, it is very important to clean and prepare your boat for storage for the winter. An important part of this process is to power wash the algae growth and barnacle debris that ca ...more
This two-part video introduces you to the breadboard, also called a protoboard, used to build electronic circuits without soldering. The first part of this presentation describes the features of a breadboard. The second video continues by showing you how a breadboard is used ...more
Check out this DIY video tutorial from Curbly, the best place to share pictures of your home, find design ideas, and get expert home-improvement advice. Well, if you have a thing about windows, especially barn sash windows, then you can pass this cool art design for your home ...more
General Electric isn't known for their Christmas lights, but maybe they should be, because their GE Color Effects are pretty awesome. Especially the LED Color Effects G-35 String sets. And especially when someone named Darco hacks them. Darco, whose real name is Robert Sun Qu ...more
A function or signal generator is an electronic device that can create different types of waves and send them through a circuit without building oscillators. This video will teach you how they work and how to build a basic LED dimmer that uses one as an example.
This simple weather instrument is an example of electronic instrumentation, it uses a swinging pendulum conductor and four LEDs to indicate wind direction. This simple, but sophisticated, device is suitable as a science fair project or as a project in the grades 6/7/8 technolo ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to create stop motion light painting for animation First, you need to be outdoors in the dark or in a very dark room. Then, grab a still camera that can open a shutter for a long amount of time to capture the lighting. Next, lock the camera down ...more
This simple After Effects tutorial from Laurence Grayson will show you how to use CC Ball Action effect in AE to create a realistic scrolling LED signboard effect, like the ones you see at conference centers and football stadiums. Then end result can be altered to suit your pr ...more
Snake cams have become the epitome of high-tech gadgets on television and in movies. In 24, Jack Bauer is always using a snake camera to check for terrorists on the other side of the door. The video game Splinter Cell has made the snake cam an integral part to Sam Fisher's ars ...more
Get started with the LilyPad Arduino! It's a sewable microcontroller that lets you embed lights, sounds, sensors, and much more into your wearables, perfect for clothing and accessories. In this Make Magazine intermediate, soft circuit, video tutorial, you'll see how to sew up ...more
Check out this DIY video tutorial from Curbly, the best place to share pictures of your home, find design ideas, and get expert home-improvement advice. If you have some junk piles of techno goodies, things you have no idea what to do with, like microchips, LEDs, switches, or ...more
If there is any doubt that nerds deserve to rule the world, please watch this brilliant home brewed invention. Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent ...more
What's an LED Throwie? Watch this video and find out how to light up your neighborhood using colorful LED's and magnets! Yet another great idea for creating neighborhood art from Graffiti Research Lab. LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surf ...more
Zabernism. What exactly is it? It's a term that originated in 1912, during an incident involving an overzealous soldier who killed a cobbler for smiling at him is Saverne, a small town in Alsace in north-eastern France. The said event ultimately triggered an intervention from ...more
Before there was digital music and fancy computers and music software, people use to employ the power of the electric color organ (now more commonly known as the "light organ") to add some visuals in sync with their music. MAKE shows you how to build your own sound-to-like cir ...more
Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make a lithium thionyl chloride battery, which is capable of generating 2.8v with enough current to power a LED. Warning: Thionyl Chloride is EXTREMELY toxic and this experiment must be performed in a fumehood by an e ...more
This automotive installation tutorial shows you how to install cruise control in a Toyota pickup. For many vehicles cruise control is something that's just there, but if you don't have it in your pickup and want to install cruise control check out this tutorial. Tools you'll p ...more
These days, eReaders are everywhere. For die-hard book nerds, eReaders offer the convenience of a full library without having to sacrifice shelf space. Sure, there are the paper buffs who swear that you just can't take an eReader with you into the bathtub, but when's the last ...more
It turns out that the popularity of soft circuit electronics has leaked out of the interwebs and into the hands of the U.S. military. Soft circuit electronics allow you to literally sew electronics circuits into fabric using flexible conductive thread instead of wire. Soft cir ...more
Using an IR led array and some reflective tape, you can track fingers in thin air using the Wii Remote by Johnny Chung Lee from Carnegie Mellon University. The grid software is a custom program written using a C# wiimote library and DirectX. Take a look at this instructional v ...more
Take a tour through the world of the light-emitting diode. Learn - who invented it, how to use it, and how to make your own. A light-emitting-diode (LED) (pronounced /??li?'di?/),[1] is a semiconductor diode that emits light when an electric current is applied in the forward ...more
In this article, I'll be explaining the basics of how microcontrollers work, physically and virtually. First off, microcontrollers are no simple thing, so don't be discouraged if you find it mind-boggling! The world of microcontrollers is fascinating, engaging, and an awesome ...more
Valentine's Day is almost here, and if you're like me, you're scurrying to do something special for your mate. The standard chocolates and flowers just isn't cutting it anymore, and you can only make so many homemade cards before it becomes banal and meaningless. So, what can ...more
This video tutorial from OzLabs will show you how power the one-watt high powered LED using 120 volt source using a 12 volt adapter.
Microcontrollers are great. You can do anything from water your garden to catch wildlife trash diggers in the act—and on the cheap. I prefer to use the Arduino microcontroller because of the large and helpful community built around the website. Though it is my favorite, there ...more
This video by makemagazine demonstrates a weekend project on how to make a LED light brick. The materials required for this project are listed on the link to the make magazine page in the info box or it can be orders as a kit from the make magazine store. Take the PCB (printed ...more
This was done for the contest on the forums. I had great plans, but due to needing to keep the blogs up to date and some personal life complications, I didn't get as much done as I needed to in time. I carved the cow on the 24th and took this first picture, then it sat outsi ...more
Guitars will need to be tuned continuously to ensure that it is tuned for the correct scale and notes so your music makes sounds the way you intend. If you haven’t been playing forever, you will probably need the assistance of an electric tuner to find the note. This video wil ...more
Graffiti is a great way of getting your message out to the masses. The earliest known graffiti dates back to 30,000 years ago and used the traditional apply-paint-to-wall technique. Though our paint now comes in cans and not from scavenged berries, the actual graffiti process ...more
A new study from John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign promises an exciting new tech-chic addition to the world of body modification: flexible, implantable LEDs that would radiate sub-dermal luminescence. Just imagine the possibilities. Rogers' study a ...more
Computer viruses are terrifying. They are undetectable, dangerous, and operate constantly right under your nose. For the average computer user, there are only a few repair options. You could buy expensive antivirus software that causes more problems than it fixes, you can wipe ...more
Last week Math Craft admin Cory Poole demonstrated how to make three of the platonic solids from Sonobe units: the cube, the octahedron, and the icosohedron; but where was the dodecahedron? I was pushed to find out how to make a sonobe dodecahedron from this beautiful picture ...more
A few months ago, we showed you a pretty awesome light painting project that visually captured invisible Wi-Fi signals around town using a Wi-Fi detecting rod filled with 80 LEDs. With some long exposure photography, the results were pretty amazing. This project was inspired b ...more
Wow, hair school gets crazy-awesome at CuldeSac and Studio Marisol. How do I enroll? "In cooperation with Vitra Design Museum and the Centre Georges Pompidou, C.I.R.E.C.A. (Centre International de Recherche et d'Education Culturelle et Agricole) has been putting on an interna ...more
Ever wonder how all of those tiny chips and components can fit inside your laptop or smartphone? If you tried to squeeze them in there yourself, your laptop would quickly become too heavy for your lap, and your mobile phone would need wheels to stay mobile. The secret to mini ...more
Most indie game developers will never see a million dollars in their bank accounts, and I certainly doubt that Eul, the anonymous developer responsible for the original version of Defense of the Ancients (DotA), expected to. But now even the fans can earn a little green. Some ...more