Join Dale Dougherty and a panel of makerspace leaders for a conversation about the challenges of running a community-based makerspace. Some makerspaces closed during Covid, while others survived and some even prospered. We learn more about how these makerspaces are doing, whether their membership has changed and what are some of the priorities and plans for the future. We want to promote the sharing of ideas and lessons learned among the people who lead and operate makerspaces.
The Story of VORON Design • Nero3D the Canuck Creator
Interview with “Mr RussianCatFood” himself Maks Zolin, the creator of VORON Design. We will be chatting about the history of the VORON CoreXY 3D Printer Project.
A Scientist’s Guide to Composting • SciShow
Hosted by Savannah Rose Geary (they/them)
You can turn all your old cooking scraps into gardening gold, thanks to hard-working microbes. Here’s all the science of compost and everything you need to know to get started composting.
Would you be OK with a Semi Solid State? • Just Have a Think
The big dogs of the battery industry are now telling us they’ve come up with a neat solution to get these things onto the market and into our electric vehicles. That solution is ‘Semi-Solid-State’ chemistry. So, what’s the difference, and when will we get them?
Mitutoyo U-Wave Bluetooth vs. U-Wave Wireless
Five Alternatives to Finally Replace Plastic
Plastic is firmly established in our daily lives, but we all know plastic recycling doesn’t really happen. So what can we do? We can convert starches, fungi, seaweed, even shrimp tails into plastic alternatives and bioplastic.
Elon Musk, Wokeness, and the Myth of Meritocracy
How Tony Stark, the myth of meritocracy, and our unspoken beliefs about genius explain Elon Musk and the (re)turn of eugenics to the right wing
Glassy Gels: A New Polymer Class Toughened by Solvent
Tokyo Skinny House, Aging In Place • Kirsten Dirksen
Inheritance taxes on land in Japan means plots often get smaller as they are passed on. This “divide and sell” phenomenon in Tokyo translates into some very tiny home sites. When architects Masahiro and Mao Harada were tasked with creating a home on a lot only 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide at its narrowest point, they chose to interpret small as “near” and use the small scale to their advantage.
On the narrowest portion of the lot, along the street, they created a “gatehouse”: used as both an entryway and offices for the clients. The lower level is a gallery for the wife’s art, which is mostly, appropriately, very tiny objects. The second floor, accessible only by a small, wooden ladder, houses the husband’s office with walls lined with books and movies (he directs commercial).
Forestiere Underground Gardens • Kirsten Dirksen
A Sicilian immigrant to Fresno, California, Forestiere had planned to farm citrus until discovering that his 80 acres of “hardpan” soil were unusable for planting. Digging as far as 20 feet below the surface, Forestiere reached depths where the soil was good, and his trees were protected from Fresno’s extreme summer heat and winter frosts. After about 20 years of digging and underground farming, he could quit his day job and live off the fruits of his subterranean orchards.