Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts had a special Grossology exhibit a while back. They still have a great related site up, with Foul Facts, Eeww Experiments, and Disgusting Downloads. I love the instructions for Edible Poop Cookies: "Shape the dough into turds. You can make flattened cow pies or little kitty turds." Ew, gross!!

Amazon has several grossology books, including "Hands-On Grossology".

Nasco has tons of cool stuff, both fun and icky, from paper masks to preserved pig hearts. I think the range of items they carry is kind of surreal. Lots of disgusting decorating potential here!

A lemon battery powers an LED. From the Make: Flickr Pool.

Lemon Battery

More:

• The elder lemon joule thief
• Lemon LED Tester

Sylvain sent over these instructions for buiding a USB-able radiation detector -

The geiger counter is a pretty simple device to detect radiations. Many forms of radiations from radio elements (alpha, beta, gamma) can be detected but it is more sensitive to beta and gamma radiations. The Geiger-Muller tube is a simple device, it's a tube filled with a gas with two electrodes. A high potential is applied betweens electrodes. When a ionizing particle arrived, it create a temporary conductive path between electrodes. The resulting current can be detected by an electronic amplifier.

Warning: High Voltage Ahead. This Instructable shows you how to make an old-school high voltage capacitor, a Leyden jar, out of a jar of salt water. Even though this shows you how to make a small-jar capacitor, so the voltage is probably not lethal, it'll still pack a wallop, so not something to be undertaken if you don't know what you're doing.

This project is done by Plasmana, the same Instructable member who did the World's Smallest Electronic Shocker and the Marx Generator. We have a really sweet story in The Best of Instructables about a regular MAKE/Instructables reader who didn't know that Plasmana was the handle for a kid he knows and whose projects he's admired and thought about building. And they both ended up in the book!

Make A Water Leyden Jar

More:

• A simple Marx Generator

Here's what Neal had to say in response to our questions:

I read you have an english wheel in your basement, and the article where I read this said something like 'thanks to the wonders of Harbor Freight, cost has come down from thousands...' does this mean that you subscribe to the dangerous drug that is harbor freight?

An English wheel is a really simple device, so I figured there wasn't that much that could go wrong with one from Harbor Freight. And, that was really the only option to get one... sometimes, I'll buy the first version of a tool cheaply and then upgrade if I'm using it a lot.

What's the most surprising technological development you've seen over the last 10 years?

It's a boring answer, but I have to say the growth of the Internet.

What technology today do you think will really surprise people over the next decade?

I'm not big on making predictions like that...

Do you think nanotechnology development has been slowed by government policy, and do you think it'll ever reach the levels of Diamond Age?

Honestly, I haven't been following nanotech closely enough to stay abreast of the latest in the area of government regulation. I tend to dive into a topic for a book and then let it go.

Why make a video trailer for Anathem?

It's a popular trend in publishing. I'd never heard of the idea until I got an email from my publisher announcing that they were going to do it. So I was more intrigued than anything. The filmmaker, Brady Hall, put the thing together amazingly quickly. He paid close attention to the book and listened to my input. Now he's working on one for Neil Gaiman.

I've read you 'went all in' with Snow Crash, writing what you wanted and not what you thought would be commercially successful. If nobody bought it, what would you be doing today?

At that point, I knew enough about the world of publishing that I probably could have bounced back and eventually written something else to keep my career going... if I had gotten a normal job, it probably would have been some kind of gig in the high-tech industry.

What DIY projects don't seem to be receiving the manpower that they should

I'm kind of surprised that people don't use composites more. I think there are a lot of things done with wood, nails, and metal that could be done with composites. It's a different toolset and a different way of thinking. But it's very accessible now: it doesn't take much to tool up for. Scissors, gloves, experience... but amazingly versatile. I suspect many get turned off because they try to go cheap and use polyester resin, which is hideously smelly. If you work with epoxy, it doesn't stink and it's stronger. The good stuff has a high mixture ratio, 4:1 or even 5:1 of resin to hardener. Don't use 2:1 or 1:1 epoxy unless you specifically want a flexible result, e.g. laying glass over wood where you have to account for differential expansion.

Is there a composites resource or project you'd recommend starting with?

Braided tubes are a good starting point: they come in a bunch of different sizes, and they're relatively easy to work with. They work like Chinese handcuffs. You can put them over any kind of tube or strut, pull on both ends, and the braid will tighten over the strut. Apply resin and a little while later you have a very strong, nice-looking structural member.

what's your favorite tool, and why?

It's a tossup between an oxyacetelyne torch and a portable Lincoln wirefeed welder. The welder's infinitely more useful, and the torch is just cool because of what it is.

What's the grandest failure of a project you've achieved?

I've had some pretty grand failures with composites, because once you start to get ambitious, you can have a catastrophe on your hands when the epoxy starts to cook off ahead of schedule... Actually, my grandest failure has been with rockets that didn't do what i wanted them to... a few of them that came to bad ends, but i think the worst was one where I was using a hybrid nitrous oxide motor that was supposed to work a certain way based on my computer modeling. It was at a rocket launch meetup and something went wrong with the motor so that it delivered only about a third of the expected total impulse. It went up 100 feet, nosed over, and slammed into the ground.

How do you choose what projects to work on when, and how do you know if you're working on the right things?

With books, I've just got a sense now for what's going to work. I didn't used to. Now, I can tell what's gonig to go or not, just from experience, having done it before. As far as building stuff, what tends to happen is if I can keep doing it on my own with the tools I've got and maybe a couple of collaborators it goes. But it gets stuck if it requires tools I don't have or cumbersome processes.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers, in their cubicles waiting to have that 'big idea' for the next great novel?

Just keep writing. The big mistake is to write something and then stop for a long time while you try to sell it. Don't ever stop. If you stop, you get out of practice. And writing is like cabinet making or soccer playing, it's all about practice.

If you could change one thing about one of your books, what would it be?

Well, technically I can: they're my books, and I can change things for future editions. But, to go back and start rewriting is really a mistake. There's a saying in the bible about dogs returning to their vomit...

You have a magic wand to make one change in the world. what would it be?

Hmmm, a magic wand question. I would move us decisively away from oil, which seems to be at the root of all sorts of trouble.

Do you think that 'Snow Crash' led to a boom (then bust) in virtual communities (e.g., Second Life) before their time?

I'm not close enough to the industry to know if there was a true 'boom and bust' in that field. There have always always booms and busts... The basic idea of a metaverse is sort of obvious; it's nice that people look to "Snow Crash" as inspiration but I'm sure that similar things would exist now even if I'd never written that book.

Anathem raises the new question for me: Are human beings evolved to only think short-term, or is civilization warping us? You would think that if nature is about wanting to preserve your bloodline, ensuring the world is habitable in 100 years is a pretty reasonable evolutionary imperative, no?

Evolution only relates to having kids, so once you've gotten past the age when you've had kids evolution ceases to really fuction. I would be awfully surprised if evolution has done us any favors whatsoever in the long-term thinking department. It has been incredibly effective, however, at making us want to have sex with each other.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I don't analyze myself enough to know where I get inspiration from... I'm disturbed by how little I've been reading of late... so many things can be done on a computer and I just chain them all together: socializing, mail, taxes, work, phone calls, entertainment.

Do you do all of your own historical/technical research or do you solicit help?

I do all my own research, and I don't use any proprietary databases. Although, I did hire Lisa Gold, Research Maven to help generate some family trees and a few other ancillary things for the Baroque Cycle after the books had been written.

What's your favorite creation outside of your books?

A telescoping practice sword... you can put a pad on the blade of a sword so it doesn't hurt so much but the thrust will still hurt. I made a sword that telescopes inward on impact.

How deeply did you imagine the culture of Arbre? For example, there aren't texts for the Hylaean Anathem in the book. Did you conceptualize more than you wrote down about music, language, architecture, etc.?

Very little... not one of those projects w/ a whole world created around it. And yes, I am wondering how much more development Jeremy Bornstein will do on the Orth grammar. That's up to Jeremy, he seems to be having fun with it... I don't think they'll be a klingon or elvish demand for it, but I could be wrong.

I'll post about Neal's telescoping sword later today. Thanks again, Neal!

Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory supplies aquariums and scientific institutions with living marine specimens (not to individuals, sorry). Their site has a lot of information on jellyfish, corals, starfish, all sorts of marine life. Look around for links to YouTube videos, like this one of an octopus egg hatching and an octopus opening a jar - it's so amazing to see it reach in and gather up all the crabs!

Little Shop of Horrors fans may see a resemblance to the bloodthirsty plant from the 1986 movie in the above electron micrograph image.

Drexel University doctoral student Jessica Schiffman won an honorable mention in photography in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for capturing what's actually an array of suckers found on the tentacles of a long-finned squid.

Each sucker--about 400 micrometers wide, or a little smaller than the width of a human hair--is surrounded with "fangs" of chitin, a hard organic material.

If you read science fiction, you'll already know who Neal Stephenson is. For those that don't, suffice it to say that the author of Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, and a considerable fortune of other gems is ranked #1 on Amazon Science Fiction and #74 overall for his new book, Anathem. In my slightly biased opinion, he should be higher. And not just because he counts creating medieval armor among his hobbies.

For those in Austin: he's here on a tour promoting Anathem, Thursday 7pm at Bookpeople. For everybody else, you've got really short notice to send me any questions you'd like me to ask. Assuming it remains in one piece, I'll be giving Neal a ride to the book signing in my pedicab and interviewing him on the way.

An exciting new book was published today, called the Hungry Scientist Handbook (Amazon). Authors Patrick Buckley and Lily Binns write:

It's for gadget-loving gastronomes. For people who really love to play with their food, who make their kitchen into a lab and a workshop. Your brother, your mother, your kid neighbor. Hell, it's for anyone.

Cryogenic martinis, modular pecan pie, glowing lollipops, pomegranate wine, edible lingerie, and much, much more. Twenty completely ridiculous, totally fabulous, oddly educational, and sometimes even useful projects that may blow up your kitchen and will definitely blow your mind.

Check out the Hungry Scientist website, too!

MAKE friends Windell and Lenore from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories contributed several projects for the book, including these smart coasters which light up red or blue according to the temperature of your beverage.

Smart Coasters are cast-plastic coasters for your drink that light up red when you put a hot drink on top and light up blue with a cold drink. The design is fully analog-- no microcontrollers and no programming-- and they incorporate a solar cell so that the whole thing is hermetically sealed: waterproof and washable. Complete step-by-step DIY instructions are included for both the electronics and the resin casting.

This "Electromagnetic Field Destector Bracelet" will alert you of the EMF affected areas that you inhabit daily. It reminds me of a project that I worked on in 2002, so it's nice to see the evolution of the device is getting smaller and more integrated into everyday clothing and accessories. The next step with this one would be how to integrate the mapping aspect, a problem that I never fully finished with my design.

Low cost wearable sensor for detecting Electromagnetic fields

A £1m clock called the "time eater" has been unveiled at Cambridge University by Professor Stephen Hawking. The author of A Brief History of Time was guest of honour when the unique clock, which has no hands or numbers, was revealed at Corpus Christi College. Dubbed the strangest clock in the world, it features a giant grasshopper and has 60 slits cut into its face which light up to show the time. Its creator John Taylor said he "wanted to make timekeeping interesting". The Corpus Clock will stand outside the college's library and will be on view to the public.

Mad Maxine sent me a great bug link - QuaoArlo has a great collection of videos he's taken - he's quite the world traveler and really knows his bugs. My favorite is the Trilobite beetle from Laos - it's fantastic! It moves in a really unusual way; its legs are all towards the front end, and it kind of pushes off with its butt. I love the music, too.

Jamie and Adam of Mythbusters will be doing 2 shows in Seattle on October 4th.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage take you on a behind-the-scenes look at the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters with a hilarious and entertaining Inside The Scientist's Studio style presentation. They will bring stories of myths gone wrong and outtakes of segments never seen on air. They will answer questions about their unique personal chemistry and the mad science behind making one of the most popular shows on television. You give Jamie and Adam your suggestions for myths they should bust on future programs. "Behind The Scenes At Mythbusters" does not include experiments or explosions.

I'll get a chance to talk to them while they're here - I'd love to pass on myth suggestions from Make readers! Send them to me at patti@makezine.com; I'll put them together and pass them on. Make sure you include your contact info.

Artist David Rogers makes these wonderful ginormous sculptures of bugs. He started constructing things and learned to weld when he was only 13! His bugs are well-traveled; looks like they're currently at the New England Wild Flower Society's Garden in the Woods in Massachusetts.

Curious minds @ NYC Resistor experiment with audio synthesis from a simple bike wheel alternator - fun stuff! We'll be on the lookout for the next report of their findings - The Sound of Electricity

Remember seeing this thing on YouTube a while back? A lot of people thought it was fake, but it's a real critter, an Asp Caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis, otherwise known as the puss caterpillar. It pupates into an equally adorable moth. It can be found in the southern United States - anyone ever seen one? If you do, don't touch it! It's very venomous.

This "Three Meter Geodynamo" project conducted at the University of Maryland was built to study how planets generate magnetic fields. The rotating sphere attempts to generate a magnetic field from spinning liquid sodium metal. Very impressive project and be sure to check out the construction details at the link below.

via Collision Detection

I've been curious about raising praying mantises for a while; according to Wikipedia, there are 2,000 species of mantids; only 20 of them are native to the United States. I've heard of people using them for a natural pest control, but apparently they'll eat beneficial insects as well as pests, and will even eat hummingbirds! If you're interested in raising them at home, here's a good article to start with. Don't release them unless it's the right time of year, and they can survive in your area! (I've never seen one in the wild in the Northwest - I think that means if I hatch some, they're my responsibility as long as they live.)

The expansive ash tendrils created by mercury thiocyanide decomposition are nauseatingly amazing! I'm guessing this reaction could have inspired Tetsuo's animated affliction.

More info, and a perilous recipe on YouTube - Alien rock from Mars [Thanks, Erica!]

Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments

This simple project combines a touchscreen mounted on some servo motors so that it maintains the balance of a ball bearing centered on its surface as it tilts. Although its purpose remains a question for all, we still applaud the simplicty and elegance of this device. Check out the video above for the full effect.

Ball Balancing Touchscreen via Electronics Lab

Science writer (and science tattoo gallery curator) Carl Zimmer recently wrote an article for The New York Times about the science of Spore. He's also linked to this video from Seed of a conversation between astrobiologist Jill Tarter and Spore creator Will Wright. Here's a print version of the conversation.

The sight of these non-traditional gear configurations might seem unreal to the untrained eye - but in fact these are used in a variety of industrially applications. Non-circular gears [via Hacked Gadgets]

23andMe is proud to announce a major step toward our goal of democratizing genetic information by giving our customers access to even more of their SNP data through our next generation custom content, all at a lower price.

With the introduction of v2, our next-generation analytical platform, 23andMe customers will have access to an even more powerful set of SNPs we use to probe their unique genetic composition. And thanks to advances by Illumina, the provider of our genetic analysis technology, that information will now be available at the reduced price of $399. By making genetic data more affordable and accessible, we hope this development will spur the evolution of personal genomics as a potent force not just in science but also in medicine and everyday life.

Last night the first test of the LHC (the world's largest refrigerator) went well it seems, here's an overview from the BBC along with a cool screenshot of their control panel.

Scientists have hailed a successful switch-on for an enormous experiment which will recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang. They have now fired two beams of particles called protons around the 27km-long tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The £5bn machine on the Swiss-French border is designed to smash protons together with cataclysmic force. Scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics. The first - clockwise - beam completed its first circuit of the underground tunnel at just before 0930 BST. The second - anti-clockwise - beam successfully circled the ring after 1400 BST.

I was a comic book fan way before I was a mom. I've always liked exposing my kids at an early age to simple forms of complex ideas; I think it makes concepts familiar, letting kids get comfortable with sometimes difficult topics before they're presented with the adult, "serious" versions - comics are the perfect medium for that! (Anyone remember the old Classics Illustrated comics?) Don't worry that kids might be too young for these books - I've noticed my kids read them before they were really ready to understand everything they read, then came back to them when they were older and got more out of them. There are a number of comics about science and technology; these are just some of our favorites. If anyone has others they especially like, I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Though not really a comic, I have to start with David Macaulay's The New Way Things Work. His adorable (and smart!) little mammoths lead us through wonderfully illustrated explanations of simple machines to complex machines and on to the digital age. He also has a number of books on the inner workings of castles, big structures, and what's underground - there are lots more.

We own most of Larry Gonick's books; they're classics. He's written guides to statistics, chemistry, genetics, the environment, physics, and more - our favorite is the Cartoon Guide to Physics. He's also the author of a most excellent series on history.

We recently discovered the Max Axiom series for younger kids. The main character is a superhero type, and each book explores different concepts like electicity and sound. The comics are very accessible and easy to understand, and each one has a list of books for further reading. (the bio of Max Axiom says he lives in Seattle - I wonder if he goes to Dorkbot?)

How will nature treat them, with [hostillity] or acceptance? How will the wind-up birds adapt to heat/cold wet/dry conditions? Will small insects creep inside the circuitry creating possible short circuits, beetles eat the wood, squirrels use the wood slit as nut storage (or the roof as a slide?), birds use it as a shelter, etc.? Will they be treated as foreign objects or accepted into the local eco-system?

Read more about Wind-up Bird(s)

This experiment is sick and those that think it a joke are sick. The scientists are terrorists in threatening mass destruction. They have no right to veto my existence, the lives of my children, life on earth in all its wonderous beauty and complexity. They have no right to threaten the people of Earth with mega death. The experiment has to be stopped at all costs. No data or knowledge is worth this kind of risk. Science has reached its limitation. People were quite happy in the past with simple pleasures. No one needs this science or data. we have too much already. Humans need to return to simple and sustainable living and not be threatened by a minority of freaks with over sized brains and no appreciation of Nature and everyday things like mountains, birds, insects, flowers or the sunrise.

And here's a snippet from Science Daily & The Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, September 5, 2008.

A new report provides the most comprehensive evidence available to confirm that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)’s switch-on, due on Wednesday next week, poses no threat to mankind. Nature’s own cosmic rays regularly produce more powerful particle collisions than those planned within the LHC, which will enable nature’s laws to be studied in controlled experiments.

The LHC Safety Assessment Group have reviewed and updated a study first completed in 2003, which dispels fears of universe-gobbling black holes and of other possibly dangerous new forms of matter, and confirms that the switch-on will be completely safe.

The report explains that if particle collisions at the LHC had the power to destroy the Earth, we would never have been given the chance to exist, because regular interactions with more energetic cosmic rays would already have destroyed the Earth or other astronomical bodies.

The Safety Assessment Group writes, “Nature has already conducted the equivalent of about a hundred thousand LHC experimental programmes on Earth – and the planet still exists.”

I think the problem is that when you ask a scientist "is there *any* chance things could go wrong" - they will always say well, sure a 0.000000000x chance... it's not zero, but it's also not exactly like pulling the slot machine handle when this machine is fired up either. I do agree with the commenter though, "they have no right to threaten the people of Earth with mega death".