Hack a day

The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded. In September 1859, auroras were visible as close to the equator as Columbia and some telegraph stations were severely damaged by current induced in the lines. If a similar event occurred today, with a lot more more wiring to pick up current than just an embryonic telegraph network, the results would al...

As simple of a concept flow batteries are, the used chemicals can still be somewhat problematic in the context of a school experiment. To this end [Markus Bindhammer] decided to implement a flow battery version that uses compounds from green tea for its electrolyte, based on ...

Ever since the early web, people have been streaming video with inexpensive webcams, and since the advent of the Raspberry Pi and its dedicated camera slot we’ve really seen how easy it can be to build security cameras or any other webcam and get it online quickly. But these cameras notably lack defensive capabilities if anyone tries to break into an area they shouldn’t be, a...

If you’ve ever taken a close look at a vacuum tube, you’ll have seen the seals around the pins that keep everything air-tight while providing the the device’s electrical contacts. As [maurycyz] finds out, it’s not an easy process to get right.

The problem is one of both che...

Let’s stop for a moment and pause to consider the smart bulb. Imagine going back 20 years and telling yourself that people will be putting computers capable of acting as web servers into light bulbs just so they can control them from their telephone instead of hitting the switch. The whole thing seems crazy — but its great, because it enables hacks like this one where [RickOO...