Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 31

Book excerpt: Why are so many kids (and adults) like you bored by science? Simple: you’ve had no real contact with it. You might read about incredibly expensive scientific projects, but your hands-on experience is probably limited to the same tired experiments—like baking soda and vinegar "volcanoes." Not any longer. Make Magazine’s "Punk Science" issue (volume 31) shows you how you can become a real, cutting-edge amateur scientist. Find out how high school and college students can get an introduction to modern biology research through affordable biotech labs provided by Otyp, a small Michigan-based biotechnology company. And learn how a cooperative network of schools and research groups, called PEER, enables students to learn science by working on real projects with people in the field—including the DECA (Distributed Electronic Cosmic-Ray) Observatory that uses Android phones to generate a real-time cosmic-ray flux map of a large area. This issue also shows you how to create these fascinating projects on your own: RoboRoach—Surgically modify a cockroach with a wireless electronic circuit so that you can control it to turn left or right by micro-stimulating its antenna nerves. Lord Kelvin’s Thunderstorm—a little-known, classic science experiment that generates high-voltage "lightning" sparks by dripping water through metal rings. An automatic Ball/Toy Launcher for Dogs that will keep your pet entertained and exercised while you’re away. A True Mirror, which shows what you look like to other people. Pick up a copy of Make today and get involved with real science.