What better way to get kids interested in biology at an early age than to make them their very own plush cell? Instructables has all the info you need to make your very own cuddly block of life.

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Instructables has a detailed set of how to’s to let you convert your computer case into a taxidermy beaver. Nothing says quality technology like dead animals. It’s pretty easy, just look at step one:

Purchase a beaver of your very own
There are lots of old taxidermy mounts out there – garage sales, antique stores, ebay are all good sources for older pieces. You’ll probably want a high quality mount since you’ll be removing the bulk of the internal structure, so better quality (ie not falling apart) probably means stronger.

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I made these plastic milk bottle lights by embedding LEDs in the caps, hanging them from a bent section of pipe and hooking them up to an Arduino microcontroller.

Not happy with an on-off switch, I thought they might look mesmerising with a rotary control knob turning them on in sequence. It works! They make great low lighting to wind down for sleep, and they’re great to hang in the hall for parties too.

There are complete build instructions on Instructables.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Nachimir.

If you’re confounded by Neatorama’s Upcoming Queue and can’t make heads or tails out of the submission process, Instructable user DIYJosh has got you covered.

Here’s the step-by-step instruction on how to use the Upcoming Queue feature of the blog, in the typical Instructable way:

In this instructable I will outline the steps to get started using the Upcoming Queue along with some common mistakes that keep your post from reaching the front page.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by StuckeyJ.

# I wish I were some other chair
about 15 hours ago from web

# He farted right on me again
about 17 hours ago from web

# allow me to repeat… ppppfffffffffftttttttttttt
about 18 hours ago from web

# Ugh. That was a gross one
about 18 hours ago from web

Link to instructions. Link to Twitter feed. -Thanks, Emily Farris!

Link via Geekologie

Instructable user arcticpenguin unraveled the mystery behind various screw types (what? You think that there are only Phillips and slotted screws?). Take for example, the history of the Phillips screw:

This cross drive screw story starts when Henry Phillips purchased a crude form of a cruciform-recessed screw head concept from an Oregon inventor named J.P. Thompson.

Henry F. Phillips (1890 to 1958), a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon, has the honor of having the Phillips head screw and screwdriver named after him.

The cruciform shape can be considered to be a cruciform design with their 90 degree shapes as most have similar physics properties.

Phillips developed Thompsons invention screw into a workable form. Phillips had come up with a recessed cross screw designed for efficiency on an auto assembly line. The idea was that the screwdriver would turn the screw with increasing force until the tip of the driver popped out, called camout. When tightening a Phillips screw with a Phillips screw driver you will notice that when the torque gets to be too strong, the screw driver winds itself out of the screw so the screw head would not be ruined or brake off.

Phillips also founded the Phillips Screw Company in Oregon in 1933, but never actually made screws. He had called on every established screw manufacturer in the US and was told simply that the screw could not be made. Screw makers of the 1930s dismissed the Phillips concept since it calls for a relatively complex recessed socket shape in the head of the screw; as distinct from the simple milled slot of a slotted type screw.

Phillips then called on the American Screw Company, a newcomer to the industry whose new president, Eugene Clark, personally became interested in the new product, despite the opposition of his engineers, who like others in the industry had insisted it could not be made. According to one printed report, the president of American Screw Company said: "I finally told my head men that I would put on pension all who insisted it could not be done. After that an efficient method was evolved to manufacture the fasteners and now we have licensed all other major companies to use it." (Source)

Link – via Make