A DIY Guide to Collecting Radioactive Rocks Gets Glowing Reviews
Check out this awesome DIY guide from Alysson Rowan, recently featured on Atlas Obscura.
Called Here Be Dragons, the free PDF covers what radiation actually is, how “hot” minerals appear in nature, and how to safely collect and store them. It’s become a go-to resource for the radioactive rockhound community. “It’s just so comprehensive and relevant,” says Aaron Van Alstine, a medical student who founded the /r/Radioactive_Rocks subreddit, where people share macro photos of specimens, swap collection spots, and show off scientific equipment.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.