Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists
11
Jun
EurekAlert  | Email this | Comments Citizens in Flood Zone Build Homemade Levees to Protect Their Homes
19
May
Homemade Levee Click here to read more about our efforts to tame the mighty Mississippi--and how those efforts are failing--in our feature. Scott Olson/Getty Images
All of that water pouring out of spillways and topping levees up and down the Mississippi River has to go somewhere, and many living in those areas prone to flooding have taken drastic action to keep from being inundated. In what could be called a testament to the human instinct to protect hearth and home, some in the disaster zone are holding out by taking civil engineering into their own hands, building makeshift levees to keep the rising waters at bay. Click through the gallery to see how far some homeowners have gone to protect their properties.
Click to launch the photo gallery
Many residents of low-lying areas can't rely on government infrastructure to protect their homes--in fact, in some cases it's the government that's flooding them. In an effort to spare population centers like New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Army Corps of Engineers have opened the Mississippi's three major spillways--the Birds Point-New Madrid spillway in Missouri, the Morganza spillway near Morganza, La., and the Bonnet Carre just north of New Orleans--the first time all three have been opened up at the same time.
In other places, the overflowing Mississippi has left local rivers with no place to put their overflow. Floodwaters claimed their first victim today as a 69-year-old man was pulled form the waters by firefighters in Vicksburg, Miss., which is today buried beneath the levee-topping Yazoo river. The destruction in Vicksburg--where the water is expected to crest at 57.1 feet today--and along the Yazoo River (where the images in the gallery above were taken) is just a microcosm of the larger devastation stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf.
This Lady Made A DIY TSA-Like Body Scanner [Video]
04
Dec
Gray Matter: In Which I Fully Submerge My Hand in Liquid Nitrogen
30
Aug
A layer of bubbles protects the flesh from liquid nitrogen, though only for a split second. Need proof? Watch the video
When I first saw this photograph of a man’s hand submerged in liquid nitrogen at somewhere below -320° F, my immediate thought was, “That guy must be crazy! One second in that stuff, and you’re shopping for new skin!†My shock was tempered only slightly by the fact that it was my hand, and we’d taken the picture just a minute earlier.
I hadn’t realized that my hand was quite so deep into the liquid. Amazingly, I barely felt the cold at all. My skin didn’t get hurt for the same reason that water droplets dance on a hot skillet. An insulating layer of steam forms almost instantly between the water and the metal, keeping the droplets relatively cool as they float for several seconds without actually touching the hot surface. To liquid nitrogen, flesh is like that skillet—a surface hundreds of degrees above its boiling point. So the moment my hand touched the liquid, it created a protective layer of evaporated nitrogen gas, just as the skillet created a layer of steam. That gave me just enough time to put my hand in and pull it out again. Any longer than that, and frostbite would have set in.
The phenomenon is called the Leidenfrost effect (after Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, the doctor who first studied it in 1756). I’d known about it for years, but when it came time to test it in real life, I have to admit that I used my left hand, the one I’d miss less.
I drew the line at another classic example of the effect. According to the books, it’s possible to stick a damp finger directly into molten lead without getting burned, if you do it fast enough. After some consideration, and remembering the times I’ve been burned by molten lead, I decided that it probably wouldn’t make a very good picture anyway.
ACHTUNG! Do not try this. If liquid nitrogen soaks into your clothes, you will not be protected by the Leidenfrost effect, and you can get frostbite very quickly.
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Handmade knife chipped from fiber optic glass
16
Jul
Flint (and glass) knapping is no longer practiced on a large scale, but it used to be the primary method of making weapons for primitive cultures. In this day and age of course, it’s easy to go to the sporting goods store and pick up a quality steel knife, but it wasn’t always so.
There are still people out there that practice the art (and I do mean art) of knapping; one such artist created this knife from fiber optic glass, and offers them for sale on his web site. Personally, I doubt I would ever use such a knife for fear of breaking it, but it does make an amazing display piece. If you want one, it’ll cost you $165 – a small price to pay considering the amount of time it must have taken to hand make this knife from a piece of glass. Remember, one mistake, and you have to start over.
[via Make]
The Paperclip iPhone/iPod Touch Stand [DIY]
30
Sep
If $100 is just too much for you to pay for a homemade iPhone stand, then this paperclip version might be a better option. And to anyone who has ever paid more than 50 cents to hold any pocket electronic, hopefully this fan-made pwnage will keep your money in your pocketbook/child savings accounts next time. [via Lifehacker]