DIY

Remember the classic NES Zapper, as used in games like Duck Hunt? Well, an intrepid tinkerer at North Street Labs hacker space in Portsmouth, Virginia, has taken that same harmless toy and retrofitted it with a powerful laser. While not quite deadly enough to take out a real life mallard, you wouldn't want to point the NES Zapper Laser toward a TV either, as it's capable of doing considerable damage to whatever it shoots.  Read More

Well, Patrick Priebe might have outdone himself with this one. In the past, the German cyberpunk weapons-maker has brought us such creations as a wrist-mounted mini-crossbow, a laser-sighted rotary-saw-blade-shooting crossbow, and a flame-throwing glove. His latest nasty futuristic device? A video game-inspired electromagnetic weapon, called the Gauss Rifle.  Read More

3-D modelling is maturing fast. Increasingly affordable solutions are not only raising general awareness of 3D workflows but revolutionizing design, engineering and manufacturing processes. The case in point is German-based David-laserscanner - a system that lets users turn everyday objects into 3D models at a low cost.  Read More

We've been hearing quite a few rumors about what the anticipated iPhone 5 will look like, which is no surprise. But if a set of photos from Japanese repair shop iLab making its way around the web is to be believed, someone has gone a step further and attempted to assemble what the new iPhone could look like based on the leaked parts we've heard about so far.  Read More

We got to do some fun things at last month’s Go Further With Ford conference, such as test-driving the new Mustang and the purpose-built Police Interceptor. On the final night of the event, however, us conference-goers really got to enjoy ourselves – we got to make stuff, at the Detroit branch of TechShop. In business since 2006, the company now has five shops located across the U.S., all of which provide inventors and other people with access to advanced tools and know-how. We spoke to CEO Mark Hatch to learn more about what the group has to offer, and to whom.  Read More

Ben Katz has spent the last few months ripping apart and reassembling an old kick scooter to build what he describes as an all-terrain electric scooter. He's mixed in bits and pieces from robotics projects and mountain bikes, supersized the wheels, created custom shocks, built a novel disc brake, and added lots of aluminum to make a pretty sweet ride. He still has a few finishing touches to add but it's ready to roll, as you can see in the video after the jump.  Read More

Children generally love to create art and are fascinated by robots, so what if there was a way for them to turn their art projects into robots? Well, there is. Carnegie Mellon University spin-off company BirdBrain Technologies has introduced the Hummingbird kit, which contains everything kids (or adults) need to add powered movement and interactivity to their dragons, kitties or spaceships.  Read More

While it might not be the world’s largest solar boat or the fastest, this modest home-built solar-powered boat does the job and comfortably accommodates six passengers. Dubbed “Firefly,” it was built by Canadian eco-enthusiast Dan Baker for an impressive CA$2,900 (US$2,845).  Read More

The gentle orange glow of a Nixie display tube has held a special place in the hearts of DIY device builders for as long as I can remember but they seem to be undergoing something of a mainstream revival of late. Many are used as clock displays (as evidenced by our recent coverage of the Ramos alarm clock and ThinkGeek’s DIY Nixie Tube Desk Clock kit), due to the most common tube featuring a stack of numerical cathodes. Some display scientific symbols, of course, and its these Nixie tubes that have been used in the creation of the gorgeous chess board you see above. Developer Tony Adams (otherwise known as Lasermad) has received such a positive response to his design that he's decided to sell a limited number as self-build kits.  Read More