I built a $40 theremin to annoy friends and learn circuitry fundamentals

There’s nothing spookier or more haunting than the soaring sounds of a theremin, an instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to produce various pitches when you move your hands around it. You’ve probably heard one in your favorite science fiction flick. It’s one of my favorite instruments of all time. I tend to gravitate towards the weirder things in life and the theremin is definitely one of the most bizarre instruments out there. That’s why I decided to put together a theremin on a breadboard. Not only did the high-pitched sounds annoy both my dog and husband (much to my wicked delight), but it also helped me better understand circuitry. If you’ve got little ones, this is a fantastic project to do with them. It’s easy to assemble and the price is surprisingly affordable. Read on to learn more. Like tinkering with your PC? You should pick up these 10 must-have items. Where the heck do you even get a breadboard theremin? I purchased the $39.95 Theremin Kit from MicroKits on a whim one evening. The price is reasonable, as it comes with all the bits and bobs you need. MicroKits is run by David Levi, an electrical engineer and toy designer who wants to inspire the next generation of engineers. I love finding affordable, accessible products and the small businesses that make it happen. The company also sells a tiny synthesizer that serves as a great introduction to analog sound synthesis. You can even hook the touchpad up to a couple of bananas... Continue reading at 'PC World'

[ PC World | 2023-02-24 17:00:00 UTC ]

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Muriel Jaeger, a trailblazing science fiction author, deserves a new look

Jaeger’s 1920s novels, ‘The Question Mark’ and ‘The Man With Six Senses,’ are H.G. Wellsian works of love and science. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-24 16:24:26 UTC ]
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Sci-Fi Writer or Prophet? The Hyperreal Life of Chen Qiufan

As China’s science fiction authors are elevated to the status of oracles, Qiufan’s career—and his genre’s place in society—have gone through the looking glass. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2021-03-09 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How Octavia E. Butler Reimagines Sex and Survival

The parasites, hybrids, and vampires of her science fiction make the price of persisting viscerally real. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-03-08 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Octavia Butler's legacy celebrated at Barbican feminist literary festival

The legacy of science fiction author Octavia Butler is to be explored at the Barbican's New Suns feminist literary festival this month. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 07:24:31 UTC ]
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Isabel Wilkerson, Jacob Soboroff, Akwaeke Emezi among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists

The awards recognize outstanding literary achievements in 12 categories, including the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, with winners to be announced April 16. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-02 15:00:14 UTC ]
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Flying taxis are coming. Here are 5 ways they’ll differ from air travel as we know it

This new form of mobility will be very different from our current reality, which provides some unique design opportunities. The future of urban air mobility is often represented in utopian images. A wealth of fanciful renderings show flying vehicles taking off and landing vertically from... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2021-02-24 08:00:33 UTC ]
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Let’s talk about ‘Starship Troopers’ and other science fiction and fantasy novels that wowed us on screen

Many of our favorite books are better as films. Other times, it’s better to stick with the book. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-23 17:17:00 UTC ]
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A History of Cyberpunk Comics

MANY HISTORIES OF CYBERPUNK emphasize its literary precursors — its borrowings from hard-boiled detective fiction, for example, or the proto-cyberpunk elements in the science fiction of writers such as Alfred Bester, John Brunner, Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, James Tiptree Jr., and others.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-20 16:00:16 UTC ]
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Space Force sounds like a joke thanks to pop culture – that could be a problem for an important military branch

Science fiction has often had an inspirational and positive relationship with space endeavors. But the new US Space Force is struggling with a pop culture public relations problem. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2021-02-19 13:20:06 UTC ]
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Meet the bookstore owner behind National Black Literacy Day.

Chicago’s only Black woman-owned bookstore opened in the summer of 2019. Over the past two years, Semicolon has served as a vital and vibrant cultural hub and gallery space. Last summer, as the coronavirus began to tear through our country and small businesses had to close their doors, Semicolon... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-12 16:25:48 UTC ]
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James Gunn, Prizewinning Science Fiction Author, Dies at 97

In short stories like “The Immortals” and novels like “The Listeners,” Mr. Gunn helped prepare readers for the future. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-02-11 17:10:44 UTC ]
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‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is a bestseller, but its author, Walter Tevis, was hardly a one-hit wonder

Tevis wrote science fiction greats like “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and the overlooked “Mockingbird.” Also, “The Hustler.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-03 17:15:28 UTC ]
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8 Great Queer Science Fiction Books

Find some immersive, out-of-this-world stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters in these excellent queer science fiction books. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-02-02 11:32:00 UTC ]
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Mystery Boxes and Budding Loves: New Science Fiction and Fantasy

“The Absolute Book,” by Elizabeth Knox, takes on a number of genres, while “Winter’s Orbit,” by Everina Maxwell, stays true to one. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-01-29 10:00:04 UTC ]
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The Best Funny Sci-Fi Books

Do you love your science fiction with a heaping side of humor? You’ve come to the right place! Pick up these funny sci-fi books, including Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-01-28 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Today in cool internet passion projects: the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

If you’re on the hunt for new literary rabbit holes, today is your lucky day. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, created by lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower (a former editor of both the OED and Random House Dictionaries) is “a comprehensive quotation-based dictionary of the language of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-27 16:14:09 UTC ]
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A New Way to Trace the History of Sci-Fi’s Made-Up Words

The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction turns a century of neologisms (and neosemes!) into a redefintion of the genre. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2021-01-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Tracking the Vocabulary of Sci-Fi, from Aerocar to Zero-Gravity

The new online Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction probes the speculative corners of the lexicographic universe. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-01-26 12:01:06 UTC ]
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The Unruly Energy of Ursula K. Le Guin

At the London Review of Books, Colin Burrow reflects on how Ursula K. Le Guin‘s narrative prowess flourished within the constraints of science fiction and children’s literature. “Fiction needs the unruly energies of indeterminacy,” Burrow writes, “of being partly inside the mind of the reader,... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-01-20 21:30:12 UTC ]
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Let’s talk about fantasy and science fiction books that have fallen off the radar

“Vellum” by Hal Duncan, “Mockingbird,” by Walter Tevis, the works of Tanith Lee and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-13 14:00:00 UTC ]
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