2009 | |
| November | Spark Fun
(An Elemental Recipe for Creating Great Showers of Sparks) |
| October | Flash Bang
(The Hidden Uses of Everyday Explosives) |
| September | Gone in a Flash
(Diamonds Are For, Well, a Couple of Seconds) |
| July | Power Sculpting
(Carve Steel with Saltwater, Electricity and a Tin Earring) |
| June | Cold, Hard Facts
(How to Cast Solid, if Fleeting, Shapes in Mercury: Just Add a Lot of Liquid Nitrogen) |
| May | The Other White Heat
(You Know Bacon is Delicious, But Did You Know it Has Enough Energy to Melt Metal?) |
| March | Blowing (Up) Bubbles
(A Dramatic Demonstration of Why the Same Gas That Heats Your House Can Also Make it Explode) |
| February | Building a Tough Bit
(Making a Tungsten Carbine Tool Than Can Cut Nearly Anything) |
| January | Homemade Titanium
(With Heat and Common Chemicals, the Author Turned Ore Into Metal) |
2008 | |
| December | Glass Grill
(The author creates an ornament-using his barbecue) |
| October | Metal's Hidden Treasure
(All metal is made of crystals; you just can't see them—without a little acid, anyway) |
| September | Make Your Own Ammo
(How do you turn molten metal into perfect spheres? Just pour it off the roof) |
| August | Quantum Physics in a Glass
(Two chemicals create a glowing (and poisonous) mixture that's a window into the weird world of quantum physics) |
| July | Shattering the Strongest Glass
(Explosive glass drops demonstrate why your car windshield is so strong and safe) |
| June | Let Burning Metals Lie
(There's not much you can do to put out a magnesium fire. Douse it with water or spray it with a fire extinguisher, and the results can even be explosive) |
| May | The Instant Hot Tub
(If a few ounces of quicklime mixed with water can make self-heating soup cans, we figured 500 pounds of it could create a self-heating hot tub) |
| April | Flaming Oxygen Drops
(In large quantities, pure liquid oxygen is powerful enough to launch rockets. But even a tiny bit packs a wallop too) |
| March | Trap Lightning in a Block
(To create beautiful electrical-charge patterns like this, you could use a giant particle accelerator. But shag carpeting will also do just fine. Watch how Lichtenberg figures are made in our amazing video) |
| February | Fire Without Flame
(Precious metals in your car burn up the dirty exhaust, with no flame to be seen) |
| January | Titanium or Plain Ol' Steel?
(Cut through titanium-marketing hype—take a grinder to your stuff) |
2007 | |
| December | Plate your 'Pod
(How do you keep the back of your iPod clean? Sandpaper and electricity) |
| November | Burning Metal
(Send steel up in flames--as long as it's in wool form) |
| October | Transform Hand Warmers to Liquid Ice Sculptures
(The mysterious material inside hand warmers "freezes" almost instantly) |
| September | How to Make a Lamp out of Lime
(Create a superbright spotlight just like the stagehands of old: with a blowtorch and a hunk of quicklime) |
| August | Make Your Own Ethanol
(Brewing your own fuel is easy--it's also dangerous and potentially illegal) |
| July | Pretty Penny
(Turn your cheapest coins inside out using some hardware-store chemistry) |
| June | Atoms and Eves
(Before lava lamps and laser light, all you needed for romance was some radioactivity) |
| May | Spark of Destruction
(The plugs inside your car fire a charge hot enough to wear away metal. Here's how to re-create that process, only bigger) |
| February | A Tall Glass of Juice
(Power your stuff like it's 1899 by building your own liquid battery) |
2006 | |
| December | An Elemental Fascination
(How the author's element-collecting hobby turned into a real periodic table--and a free poster for you) |
| November | Soup-Can Searchlight
(Strike an arc between two battery rods for a superbright light that peers deep into the dark) |
| October | Making Salt the Hard Way
(Sodium + chlorine = your favorite popcorn condiment (and lots of smoke and fire!)) |
| September | Playing With Poison
(Mercury used to be lots of fun--before we knew that it could kill you. Here's how several pounds of it made the first electric motor spin) |
| August | Dry Ice Cream
(Skip the fancy ice-cream maker--all you need is a pillowcase and a fire extinguisher) |
| July | Ice Capades
(Ice is supposed to float, but with a little heavy water, you can make cubes that sink) |
| June | Rocket Food
(Want to see a real sugar high? Launch a model rocket with Oreo cookies.) |
| May | Stir Up Some Nylon
(As one of the first synthetic materials ever made, nylon changed fashion-and the world. Now you can make thread yourself by pulling it from a glass of chemicals.) |
| April | Nickel Growing in Trees
(Electroplating makes bumpers shiny and rustproof. It also makes these beautiful bits of industrial waste.) |
| March | Save a Snowflake for Decades
(Create a lasting cast of nature's perfect crystals with a drop of chilled superglue.) |
| February | Making a Deadly Sun
(From urine to firebombs--white phosphorus is among the nastiest of elements.) |
| January | Making a Perfect Match
(How do you create a mixture that can easily burst into flames, but only when you want? Just use one of the most unstable mixtures on Earth, plus Elmer's glue.) |
2005 | |
| December | Make Your Own Lightbulb
(Want to feel smarter than Edison? Build a lightbulb the modern way with some helium and an old welder.) |
| October | Making Silicon from Sand
(In a chemical reaction straight out of Harry Potter, you can turn dirt into the building block of every computer.) |
| August | Titanium in Technicolor
(With a battery and a can of soda, you can anodize the surface of titanium to create colors that will last forever.) |
| July | Calling Van Helsing
(A hands-on investigation into the myth and reality of the original anti-werewolf weapon: silver bullets.) |
| June | Make Everything Golden
(Using sheets so thin they're measured in atoms, you can cover anything with a lasting coat of pure gold.) |
| April | The Original Photo Flash
(Magnesium is great for shiny wheels and really bright explosions perfect for lighting old-time photographs.) |
| March | Seeing the Subatomic
(With a cloud chamber, you can actually watch the subatomic radioactive particles all around you.) |
| February | Gag with a Spoon
(With the right mix of metals, you can make an alloy that turns to liquid at any temperature you choose.) |
| January | The Worst Way to Inlay
(Sulfur is stinky and noxious, but that didn't stop people from using it to beautify their furniture.) |
2004 | |
| November | Grow Crystals in a Cup
(Melting and cooling bismuth reveals the secret crystalline life of metal.) |
| October | The Amazing Rusting Aluminum
(Rust can hold an airplane together or dissolve it to bits.) |
| August | For that Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation!
(In the early 1900s, radioactive water was all the rage. Hard to believe smart people could fall for such twaddle--right?) |
| August | Making Steel with Beach Sand
(Thermite powder yields pure, white-hot iron when lit. Don't try this one at home.) |
| July | Uncovering a Natural (Magnetic) Attraction
(A long walk on the right beach could reveal magnetite hiding in plain sight.) |
| May | The Most Potent Force in Science Today!
(In DIY science, eBay offers amazing access to gear, supplies, chemicals-a whole universe beyond Pez dispensers.) |
| May | Melting the Unmeltable
(There are many ways to melt metal, but an arc furnace can liquefy almost anything you put in it, using only electricity.) |
| April | Getting the Lead In
(Unlock the mystery of the pencil by turning out a few of your own.) |
| March | Futuristic Metal Cutting for the Masses
(Plasma-arc torches are sci-fi made real. And they slice through steel so easily, anyone can use them.) |
| February | Ignorance = Maglev = Bliss
(For 150 years scientists believed that stable magnetic levitation was impossible. Then Roy Harrigan came along.) |
2003 | |
| December | The Subatomic Assembly of H2O
(Tired of waiting for our fuel of the future to come of age? Grab a cup of water and a 9-volt, and read on.) |
| October | Making Small Change Smaller
(The art of shrinking coins using copper coils, magnetic fields and enough energy to power a small city.) |
| September | Smelting in a Microwave
(Our scientist zaps tin and silver, shatters glass, and arcs his oven to prove a point.) |
| August | Casting About, from Al to Zinc
(The best metal for the job isn't always the ideal one.) |
| July | Microcrystalline in 30 Seconds
(Behold the smooth, sweet powers of liquid N.) |
