Brace yourselves – this is actually a pretty big deal. Last week, researchers out of the University of Rochester used laser etching methods to create unique patterns that made metal surfaces extremely hydrophobic i.e. water-repellant. Unlike chemical treatments like Teflon-coatings or Ultra-Ever Dry, they claim that this material is much more rugged and long-lasting. In…
One long-standing user problem for 3D content creators has been in turning 2D images into 3D models, as we have the tools of photography within our grasp at all times but fewer tools for 3D capture. Smoothie-3D, a new and free modeling tool, doesn’t automatically turn 2D images into 3D models, however it gives a…
With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from a brilliant popcorn machine to the release of Microsoft Outlook on iPhone and…a blowdart for shooting laser-guided marshmallows (??!!) Ready?…
With an 80 cent piezo buzzer, tungsten wire and some spare MDF, Dan Berard has managed to build an working Scanning Tunneling Microscope that can image whole atomic structures. Arthur C. Clarke once said that any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic… …my variation would be “any sufficiently advanced technology made in your house…
For those that grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s, it’s likely that some of the best weekends-ever consisted of epic Nerf soft-dart Blaster fights and fort-building. Unlike LEGOs, the soft darts didn’t hurt if you stepped on one and the combination of building strategic forts for protection certainly led to at least some…