Hasta La Gadget!

If there’s one thing that I never thought you could turn into a DIY project, it’s lava flows. But leave it to the ingenuity of sculptor Boby Wysocki and geologist Jeff Karson at Syracuse University to create their own DIY lava project. They create molten rock, then pour it out to produce lava. Then, kids get to melt marshmallows on it.

The lava is created by melting crushed basalt from Wisconsin that’s 1.1 billion years old. It’s melted in a gas-fueled, tilt furnace up to 2192 degrees Fahrenheit. A couple of hours later, the rock has become molten, and it’s poured out. They’ve done more than 100 lava flows since the start of the program.

I’m not sure how the lava-toasted marshmallows will taste, but the project is pretty awesome as most of us haven’t seen lava up close and personal. Geologists and volcanologists are on hand to answer any questions you might have.

It sounds like a great field trip! If you don’t like marshmallows, then you can opt for hot dogs and roast them up on the lava as well.

Wysocki and Karson are currently working on making even more realistic lava flows, as is demonstrated in the video below:

[via Make:]

I am quite sure by now that you have watched The Dark Knight Rises, and the film should have left quite the impression on you. Hopefully, a good one at that, just like how the highly sought out Raspberry Pi mini computer has been transformed into what you see in the video above – The Dark Pi Rises. Aerospace engineer “algorhythmic” has cobbled together a remote controlled, roving surveillance vehicle that is equipped with a night-vision camera. Obviously, a Raspberry Pi mini computer runs at the heart of things to keep everything working fine and dandy.

Considering how the Raspberry Pi itself costs approximately $25, this surveillance drone hack will see bits and pieces from all over the place, including a PlayStation 3 Eye camera and a Wi-Fi module, which is hooked it up to a remote control car while the system has been specially configured to stream video from the camera over the Internet. An Arduino component also sees action to control a motor which enables the camera to move.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Raspberry Pi is at the heart of this BBC Micro-inspired keyboard , Royal Data Throne made out of printed circuit boards,

I’ve been hearing about LittleBits, an electronics kit for hobbyists and kids, for quite a while but I never got a chance to play with them until recently. The company recently announced a funding round with hardware manufacturer PCH and they launched their Extended Kit, a new box of bits.

The kit allows you to build simple circuits using a power source, a connector, and an output. For example, you can connect an LED directly to the 9-volt power supply or you can add a potentiometer or switch to turn the LED on and off manually. There are other bits that allow you to pulse the output devices and add light and motion controls.

Fans of old-timey electronics kits will find this whole setup quite familiar. The system is just complex enough to be interesting and simple enough for even young kids to use. My six-year-old son and I were able to build simple circuits and pretend, for example, we were making a trap for his sister’s dolls using a rolling switch and piezo buzzer.

The pieces connect with small, foolproof magnetic brackets and stick together even during rough play. You can power projects via a 9-volt battery or with a USB cable (included in the Extended kit) and the pieces are mostly kid-safe especially considering that the wee ones will probably try to put their tongue on the LEDs when unsupervised.

Now for the bad news. The Extended kit costs $149 and the basic kit – which I’d recommend – costs $89. It’s a bit pricey, and considering electronics kits like this one cost nearly the same, picking up the LittleBits is a bit of a stretch. I do believe the prices will go down over time and these are definitely far cooler than any 500-in-1 generic hobby kit, but sticker shock may drive parents away.

However, the kits are very clearly a labor of love and are great fun for geeks and geeks-to-be. The Extended kit adds USB power and a large USB fan to the mix as well as a plethora of momentary switches. You also get a piezo buzzer and long-lead LED for creating a buzzing, highly annoying light up bug.

The Starter Kit includes a pressure sensor and the aforementioned pulse bit that sends a regular pulse to the output, allowing you to create an intermittent flasher. You can also add a “bar graph” to a potentiometer in order to create a cool light readout.

Again, these guys are pretty expensive but they’re pretty cool. If your wee ones are into electronics they’ll love being able to mess with these kits and they are equally interesting as creative office toys. It’s a fun way to become acquainted with electronics from one of the most popular hardware startups in New York.

Click to view slideshow.

In life, there are themes all around us – a themed party, for instance, or how about a certain theme for a notable event in your life? Well, having video game themes around us are nothing new, but here is something that Bioshock fans might just fall in love with. We are talking about the efforts of DIY enthusiast “rasmadrak” who hails from Sweden, coming up with this rather interesting Bioshock-themed custom pinball machine that sports plenty of neat little touches from Rapture, ranging from Little Sister vents to its fair number of Big Daddy homages. Not only that, two different systems – Arduino and chipKIT are used to cobble this particularly impressive DIY effort, but I guess you will not be able to find this for sale anywhere else in the world since this is a one off creation.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Build your own pinball machine with two LCD displays, Pinball machines can tell the time too,

Snowspeeders are awesome. One of my favorite parts from The Empire Strikes Back is the Hoth battle, with those Snowspeeders zipping all over the place. If you want to make your own snowspeeder, this is how it is done. You just need some cardboard, duct tape and a can-do attitude.

After this Snowspeeder was finished by “Fortyozjuicebox”, it was attached to a sled base for some winter time fun. He actually made this for a Downhill Derby Cardboard and Duct Tape Contest. It may not take out an AT-AT walker, but she’s got it where it counts.

Judging by the video, it looks like a smooth ride as well. I guess it won’t be long until we see daily Snowspeeder races. I personally can’t wait.

[via Nerd Approved]