SCIHOUSE INC.

Plasma is by far one of the weirdest states of matter that we regularly interact with. It’s made of a soup of charged particles that behave like a fluid but can be manipulated using both electric and magnetic fields. Under the right conditions it can be used for everything from nuclear fusion to semiconductor manufacturing. What most people don’t realize is that building a system that can use plasma is actually very easy. We strive to demystify the technology behind these processes so that more people can get excited about it, and also to show what’s possible even on a very low budget.

When we learn about biology, it’s often in the abstract. Memorize these pathways, know these structures, etc etc. But biology doesn’t need to be so cut and dry and learning the basics can actually be really fun! Easily the best way to get used to the techniques required to do microbiology is to try brewing wine. To brew properly you must learn most of the same techniques that you’d need to work with almost any other microorganism, but it has the benefit of requiring only cheap starting materials and working with an organism that’s neither picky nor dangerous. Learn how to brew and some simple microbiology here:

Something that’s very important to us here at Scihouse is bioremediation. Our planet is in a sorry state thanks to the activities of our species and so we’ve made it one of goals to help in any way we can. One way we’re doing that is through the development of new bioremediation techniques. Some of the most powerful bioremediation tools are the thousands of fungal species that live in the ground. They’re capable of breaking down all sorts of pollutants and can sometimes even be used as food. They also play a vital role in rebuilding soil and helping plants to grow. So where better to find interesting species to experiment with than the Brazilian rain forest! The biodiversity there is immense and almost everywhere we looked there were dozens of plant and fungal species. Here’s a quick look at that trip:

When we think of astronomy, we usually think of telescopes made from lenses and mirrors that are used to focus the visible light emitted or reflected from distance objects. But this is far from the only option for astronomers. Almost any part of the electromagnetic spectrum can be used for astronomy. One part of the spectrum that’s particularly interesting are the radio and microwave frequencies. Thanks to a quirk of quantum mechanics, these frequencies allow astronomers to see where particular elements and molecules are clustered in the sky. However a radio telescope is very different from an ordinary visible light one. Since the wavelength of radio waves is very long, radio telescopes can’t form a picture all at once. Instead their function is more akin to looking at the world through a straw. Only by moving the straw around and recording the details of each “pixel” can you build up a full image. Building a simple radio telescope is actually fairly straightforward though and we build one that could “see” satellites in geosynchronous orbit, over 35,000 km away! Check out our build video to see it in action and how we built it:

Everyday, thousands of objects pass overhead as they fly through space. Some of these are satellites used to monitor weather patterns around the world. Many of these stallites are set up so that curious amateurs can receive their transmissions and see the images they’re capturing. The 4 most common for this are the US satellites NOAA 15, 18 and 19 and the russian METEOR- M2. The transmissions can be received with some simple and inexpensive hardware that’s very readily available. Check out our video on the process to learn more: