Micronics SLS nylon 3D printer makes electronic circuits

From Applied Science. A new desktop SLS nylon 3D printer can make printed electronic circuits with the addition of a powdered catalyst and electroless copper plating bath. The printer is available here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/micronics3d/micron-a-desktop-sls-3d-printer Applied Science video on SLA printed circuits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z228xymQYho Favorite copper plating bath recipe: Heat 250ml deionized water to 60*C in a 300ml…

Photosynthesis photography: Making images with living plant leaves

From Applied Science. How to make photographs using plant leaves: the technique, examples, f/0.5 camera lens construction, and tips & tricks that I learned along the way. Inspiration for this project came from a 1970’s video made by The Royal Institution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2JTiAASdyw Starch formation refs: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/329993 https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/50820500/GPRG/2022PulicationsandSummaries/2022_Photosynthetic%20responses%20of%20greenhouse%20ornamentals%20to%20interaction%20of%20irradiance%20CO2%20and%20temperature.pdf Video describing inkjet printed photomasks: https://youtu.be/bR9EN3kUlfg?si=k9RU6EwM5-pKx2tr&t=643 A different…

Temperature-sensing RFID tag in magnetic stir bar

From Applied Science. I describe an old project in which a few friends and I designed an RFID tag that fits into a magnetic stir bar and measures temperature wirelessly. We decided to open-source the project, and you can see the PCB design and tag firmware at the github repo below. I don’t think I…

Identify chemicals with radio frequencies – Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (MRI without magnets)

From Applied Science. How to build and test an NQR spectrometer, which is similar to MRI, but uses no magnets. NQR frequencies are unique among all tested compounds, so detecting a resonance indicates a near certainty that a specific chemical is present. Tektronix 2-series oscilloscope: https://www.tek.com/en/products/oscilloscopes/2-series-mso Video capture was done via VNC client Zeeman effect…

High speed X-ray video: jumping beans, wind-up toys and more!

From Applied Science. High-speed X-ray video captured with a Dectris photon-counting detector. I show how the process works and how this detector is different than normal camera detectors. https://www.dectris.com/ https://media.dectris.com/Technical_Specification_PILATUS_100K-S_V1_8.pdf Mexican jumping beans: https://www.amazingbeans.com/ Geiger counter: https://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/ X-ray timelapse video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-FHbHoiwNk ImageJ image format converter: https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/ (the NIH’s SSL cert expired?) Flipping through images fast…

Drawing on a plasma display with a laser pointer

From Applied Science. An orange plasma display will retain an image caused by incident near-UV light. This is an interesting visual combination of photoelectric, hot carrier injection, plasma, and charge trapping effects. Correction: The orange display is running at 700Hz, 130V in the video. Also, the laser emits no 365nm light. I measured some as…

Silver nanoprisms grown into structural colors by high power LEDs

From Applied Science. How to chemically synthesize silver nanoparticles, then grow them into triangular nanoprisms with light from a variety of LEDs. Each color LED creates a different size nanoprism, which has its own characteristic color. CMDITR video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agD5jfXua-o Multispectral LED driver on Github: https://github.com/benkrasnow/MultiSpectLED Chemicals sourced from Amazon/eBay LR-1 spectrometer: https://www.aseq-instruments.com/LR1.html Micropipette set: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XJY82N3/…

Olestra (zero calorie cooking oil) – chemical synthesis and taste test

From Applied Science. I synthesized olestra from biodiesel, sugar, and soap with a sodium metal catalyst. I also describe some of the history of olestra’s development. Procedure that I used (Example 1) https://patents.google.com/patent/US3963699A/en Other resources: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20060047109A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US4611055A/en https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1021/ed068p476 Biodiesel: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/egee439/node/684 https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/biodiesel-production-techniques.html Epogee fat substitute: https://www.epogee.com/the-technology https://healthsmartfoods.com/products/sweet-nothings-low-fat-chocolate-covered-caramel Potassium oleate soap synthesis: https://lipidlibrary.aocs.org/documents/LipidsLibrary/Book%20II_ch03.pdf Studies on gastro distress…

X-ray timelapse of fluid movement in plants, stop-motion animation, sensor teardown/repair

From Applied Science. I repaired a large digital x-ray detector and used it to record timelapse and stop-motion animations of plants, a clock, and a camera lens. Applied Science X-ray backscatter imaging system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ldYhzKAp4 Applied Science CT scanner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF3V-GHiJ78 Geiger counter: https://mightyohm.com/blog/products/geiger-counter/ Linistepper motor driver: http://www.massmind.org/techref/io/stepper/linistep/lini_use.htm Potassium iodide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JKJWXBK GE Rhythm user guide: https://www.bakerhughesds.com/sites/g/files/cozyhq596/files/2018-07/rhythm_rt_manual_english_rev_e.pdf Octave…

The best projects from 10 years of Applied Science

From Applied Science. It’s been a very fun 10 years, and there’s more to come! Ask your questions in the comments (as always). Liquid oxygen BBQ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bjvj5FjUPE Fondant cake making – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IhibizyrtU Scanning Electron Microscope – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdjYVF4a6iU Transcranial magnetic Stimulation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_olmdAQx5s Supercritical CO2 chamber – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCTKteN5Y4 LED in a contact lens – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHECpEhJdB8…