Magnetic Levitation using an Induction Cooktop

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=i5uTs67MwlU

Adding another item on the list of things you probably shouldn’t be trying at home, we got [Brainiac75] giving magnetic levitation a shot using an unmodified induction cooktop and aluminium foil. Although not ferromagnetic, it turns out that aluminium can be made to do interesting things in the magnetic field created by the powerful electromagnet that underlies the induction principle.

Interestingly, although there’s a detection circuit in these units that should detect the presence of an appropriate (ferromagnetic) object, it appears that even a thin sheet of aluminium foil can completely deceive it. The effect is that of a force pushing...

2026 Hackaday Europe: First Round of Speakers Announced!

Hackaday Europe is the continental version of the Ultimate Hardware Conference, taking place May 16th and 17th, and you need to be there! We’ll continue to announce speakers and workshops over the next couple weeks, because we got so many more great talks than we had anticipated that we’re negotiating for extra time.

This year, we’re moving to a new venue in Lecco, Italy, and it’s sure to be fantastic. Get your tickets now before it’s too late. And stay tuned for another round of talk reveals next week!

Every...

Thermostat? Do It With a 555!

It is a running gag around here that whenever a project posts, someone will inevitably point out that it could have been done with a 555 timer IC. [Stephen Woodward] went the opposite way and built a simple thermostat using the ubiquitous chip.

To be fair, this isn’t some sophisticated PID controller — it’s basically a bang-bang controller. Since the device has a comparator and the circuits use a thermistor, it seems like a clever but simple idea on the surface. However, there are some neat tricks. For example, if you tie the 555 threshold pin to Vdd, then the trigger...

CCA Ethernet Cables: Not Up To Scratch, But Are They Dangerous?

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=RfnHX61wvRQ

If you’ve ever bought a suspiciously cheap Ethernet cable from an online listing, there’s a decent chance you’ve encountered Copper Clad Aluminum. Better known as CCA, it’s exactly what it sounds like—an aluminium conductor with a thin skin of copper deposited on the outside. Externally, cables made with this material look largely like any other, with perhaps the only obvious tell being that they feel somewhat lighter in the hand.

CCA is cheaper than proper copper cabling, and it conducts signals well enough to function in an Ethernet cable. And yet, it’s a prime example of corner-cutting that keeps standards bodies...

Foenix Labs A2560Me Brings MC68LC060 CPU, FPGA Graphics, and PCIe Expansion

Foenix Labs’ A2560Me is a Mini-ITX motherboard built around the Motorola MC68LC060 processor and designed as an updated version of the earlier A2560M platform. The system combines a legacy 68k CPU architecture with FPGA-based subsystems and more recent interfaces such as PCIe and DDR3 memory. The A2560Me uses a 32-bit MC68LC060RC66 processor alongside a Xilinx […]

The Heat Island Effect is Warming Up the AI Data Center Controversy

There’s been a lot of virtual ink spilled in environmental circles about the cooling water requirements of data centers, but less consideration of what happens with all the heat coming out of these buildings. Naturally, it’s going to warm the surrounding environment, but how much? Around 2 C (3.6 F) on average, and potentially much more than that, according to a recent study on the data heat island effect.

It’s common sense, of course: heat removed from the data center doesn’t go away. That heat might go into a body of water if one is available, but otherwise it’s out into...

934 MHz: When The Government Really Doesn’t Want You To Have CB

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=poit_QRN89o

In the mid 1970s there were a spate of movies depicting the romance and lifestyle of truck drivers in the southern half of the United States. Over on the other side of the Atlantic these were naturally received not as works of drama but as documentaries, and thus began a craze for British drivers to do up their Ford Capri so in the right light and with your eyes nearly closed, it almost looked like Burt Reynolds’ Pontiac Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit.

Such a fine automobile was of course incomplete without a CB radio, highly illegal at the...

Rescuing a Pokémon off a Pokéwalker After Losing the Game Cartridge

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=lbTG2NYnzPQ

Cloning a Snickers. {Credit: Etchy, YouTube)

The Pokéwalker is a gadget that was sold alongside the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver games for the Nintendo DS, using which you could take a Pokémon of your choice with you on a walk. Not only would you earn points while walking, but you’d be able to find items, battle wild Pokémon, etc. The Pokémon inside the device is however linked to the game cartridge. This fact turned into tragedy when [Etchy] found his old Pokéwalker with a treasured Pokémon still on it, but was forced to erase the device as he had lost the...

NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 – An ESP32-S3-powered, NASA-inspired wearable kit for education

CircuitMess NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 is a programmable, NASA-themed smartwatch based on an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth module and a 1.14-inch monochrome display. The watch also features an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a buzzer, an RTC, a button, several LEDs, and a USB port for programming and charging the built-in 600 mAh battery. NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 specifications: Core module – ESP32-S3-MINI-1-N4R2 SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB QSPI flash PCB antenna Display – Built-in 1.44-inch display USB – 1x USB Type-C port for charging and...

AAEON Intelli TWL01 Edge fanless mini PC features up to Core 3 N355 Twin Lake CPU for kiosks and digital signage applications

AAEON Intelli TWL01 Edge is an industrial mini PC with dual 4K display support powered by an Alder Lake-N/Twin Lake processor up to the Intel Core 3 N355 CPU and designed for kiosks, video conferencing suites, video walls, and interactive billboards. The fanless computer ships with up to 16GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC flash, offers M.2 sockets for NVMe storage and WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity, and features two Gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 3.2 ports, an RS-232/422/485 COM port, and more. The company also provides DIN rail, wall, and VESA mounting options for the mini PC. AAEON Intelli TWL01 Edge...