Tales From The Lab

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I'm Back!

September 15th 2009 14:10

I know I haven't written for a long, long, time. I was so busy moving that for awhile I completely forgot about my blog

. But now that I'm done and settled, I have a lot more time for my blog. Since I am still in school, I need to go and do some more work. I just wanted to let you know that I will be posting some more soon, and to get my blog off the inactive list.

Till next time,

Michael

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A Really Cool Project!

July 17th 2009 22:40

These past few days, I've been "experimenting" with an interesting project I found on the net. Of course, it happens to involve acid and explosions

so it is kinda dangerous. I have a video, which I plan to post soon, but for now, I am going to post instructions on how to do it yourself.

Disclaimer: While I will tell you how to conduct this project fairly safely, I am not responsible if you hurt yourself making, or using, this pressure bomb.

Step 1. Gather materials: 1. Bottle with tight cap, preferably made of hard plastic, like an apple juice bottle. 2. Aluminum foil. 3. The Works toilet bowl cleaner. (Drano should work). 4. Safety goggles. 5. Rubber or chemical proof gloves.

Step 2. Find a fairly large area to "detonate" the bomb.

Step 3. Take the aluminum foil and ball or roll it up loosely, placing it inside the bottle until it covers the bottom.

Step 4. Go to your detonation site.

Step 5. Set the bottle with the aluminum foil on the ground, then slip on the gloves. With the cap in one hand, and the bottle of toilet bowl cleaner in the other, quickly pour in enough cleaner to cover the aluminum foil and tightly cap the bottle. Then, shake the bottle and retreat to at least 30 feet away. (Just to be safe).

Step 6. Wait for the bottle to explode. At first it will appear to do nothing. Then, you will start to see white smoke filling the bottle. From that point, you probably have about 10 seconds until the explosion. After the white smoke fills the bottle, the bottle will swell like a balloon to an unbelievable size before popping with an ear-shattering noise and cloud of white smoke.

Step 7. Clean up: After the detonation, take a hose and rinse out the mangled bottle. If you don't have a hose, then carefully pick up the bottle (with your gloves on) and dump the liquid in a safe place where it won't be ingested by animals. (It's hydrochloric acid). Make sure to pick everything up and dispose of it appropriately. If any of the cleaner gets on your skin, make sure you rinse it for several minutes, or else it will start to burn.

Note: I should mention that the liquid in the bomb will kill grass, so be careful.

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A Post for All Gamers!

July 5th 2009 17:31

Well, I'm back and settled from my vacation, so now I can write my first blog post in awhile. Also, in taking advice from my own blog post, I now am the proud owner of a captivatingly cute pet rat named Abby. My little brother also has a pet rat named Allie living with her. I'll probably talk more on them later

The reason I said this post was especially for gamers is because I thought I would recommend an amazing free racing game called TrackMania. It comes in many versions, but the newest free version of the game is called TrackMania Nations Forever. For forty dollars, you can upgrade to the full version, TrackMania United Forever. I would highly recommend you download the free version and try it out. Honestly, as far as free games go, this one is the best. You can race against others online, create your own track, or complete a series of courses of increasing difficulty, all in an environment of incredible graphics. If your interested, follow This link to TrackMania's website and click the button that says "Download The Game".

I would also like it if any readers that decide to try it out would leave comments and let me know what you thought.

Also, since I mentioned this games great graphics, tomorrow I will try to post an article on how exactly computer graphics work.

I hope you enjoy!

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No, I Didn't Die

June 29th 2009 12:07

I just want to let all my readers know that I haven't died or anything, I've just been on vacation at summer camp, and now Virginia with my grandparents. So my next post will probably be four days from now. But I'll try to use this vacation as an opportunity to get subject matter for my next post. Also, I hope all you readers are having a happy summer as well.

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The World Wide Web

June 18th 2009 21:32

For awhile, I've been wanting to do a short article about the world wide web. But unfortunately, it would have been nearly impossible to write a short article that gave any readers a proper understanding of how the web works. Then I found this video by CommonCraft. I don't know if you'll care for this particular style of video, but it does a good job of explaining exactly how the web works. I hope you enjoy!

The World Wide Web in Plain English

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Wait; Pet Rats?!

June 15th 2009 00:12

Yep, you read correctly. All over, there is a growing popularity of keeping rats as pets. These are not the wild rats that cause those nasty holes in your cereal boxes. These are domestic rats bred for companionship and longevity. But why rats, not some cuter rodent like a gerbil or hamster?

Well, unlike other small rodents, rats absolutely love being handled. And since they are so intelligent, they can be taught to come when called, fetch, etc. Sometimes rats will even litter train themselves. A rat will be content to sit on your shoulder and enjoy the view, or to explore the room or your sweater. They're smart enough to complete obstacle courses you set up, and loving enough to melt your heart

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Just a little update...

June 12th 2009 01:30

I know I haven't posted for a long time; I've been out of town for a few days, and since then quite busy. But I will try to do better. Unfortunately, since it's late, I don't have time for a proper post. But I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive

. And I would still really appreciate if my readers would comment about topics or questions they would like me to cover.

Thanks

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Roller Coasters

June 6th 2009 00:30

Well, I've been promising to cover the topic of roller coasters for awhile, and now, here it is! First, a little history.

The first "Roller Coaster" type rides were descended from "Russian Mountains". "Russian Mountains" were custom-made hills of ice, reinforced with wood, on which the rider would sled down a 50-degree drop. These early coasters were constructed during the 17th century, especially around St. Petersburg

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I Need Input!

May 31st 2009 20:47

Yes, I'm still planning on talking about roller coasters, but today, I decided to do something a little different. I need all my readers to let me know what topics they would like me to cover. I would love some comments on how I could improve my blog! I would also like you to tell me what things I've covered so far that you've specifically enjoyed. I want to see lots of comments, okay? The more input I get, the better the blog gets. Thanks in advance! I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks.

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Firework Displays

May 28th 2009 00:56

Like I promised, I visited Disney and decided what to post on. Since I love fire and explosions, the obvious choice is fireworks. This may not seem like typical "engineering", but once you think abut it, you can see that pulling off a display is quite an engineering marvel. But I will try to cover a more "common" engineering feat, such as a roller coaster, later. I have seen Disney's firework displays before, and they are quite impressive. But how do they work?

Let's start with the actual firework shell. A very basic, typical ariel shell is a container made of cardboard or the like, with a tube in the middle filled with black or flash powder. Around this is stars, pea or dime sized circles or cubes made of a sparkler-type material. Filling in the space between the stars is more black powder to help ignite them. In professional displays, these shells can be about the size of cantaloupes

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September 2009

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June 2009