DIY

In the desolate environment of Antarctica, when mechanics Bob Sawicki and Toby Weisser weren’t at their jobs maintaining a fleet of snowmobiles at the U.S. logistics hub there, they passed the time by building a motorcycle-like snow vehicle out of junked parts and trash. As government employees, they were forbidden to use any new equipment on their side project. Instead, they got the engine and track from a totaled 1981 Ski-Doo Elan and, with the exception of nuts, bolts and fuel hoses, everything else from savvy dumpster diving.

There are more efficient and complex power supplies in the world. There are easier ways to get a simple power supply like this one (re-using a wall-wart, for instance). But if you make a power supply like this at least once in your life, you will have a much better understanding of how alternating current becomes regulated DC power. There will be many other power supplies like it, but this one will be yours.

Do you have an invention you KNOW will someday change the world? Have you been toiling for years in your basement, building prototype after prototype to PROVE that your idea works? If so, tell us about it! Enter the fourth annual PopSci Invention Awards.

Even with the huge number of mobile apps already available, cellphone screens are always awaiting new ideas from innovative developers. If you have your own idea for the perfect app, whether for a wide audience or just your own use, you’re in luck—you no longer need to be a deft programmer to produce it. There are now a number of app-generating tools on the Web that will enable you to bring your concept to life by clicking instead of coding.

I had a 1970 VW Super Beetle that had outlived its usefulness. I had a stop watch and some tools of destruction. I had a friend with the same name as mine. In this TE Labs video, we find out that the shape and structure of the Beetle's domed roof is a pretty amazing piece of engineering.