Think you can capture greenhouse gases? Can you explain how quantum solar cells might work? Looking for an excuse to put together a homemade fuel cell or a water bottle desalinator? All you tinkerers, tree huggers, and students with lab kits shared your ideas with the world and some even won hundred of dollars in prizes by entering DISCOVER and Instructables.com's Science Fair For a Better Planet.
More than 200 entrants took their planet-saving ideas to the lab (some people call it a "garage") and then published their detailed build or experiment online at instructables.com. Some entrants' missions included building a new or improved green product (like a wind-power device without the turbine or a bike/generator) or documenting an experiment that deals with climate change and sustainable living (like finding out how biodegradable different products are). But that's just a tiny slice of what was possible.
For more details about the entries, as well as a list of the winners, check the contest's page on Instructables.com.
Here are the prizes that were awarded:
First Prize (1)
Celestron Skyscout:
use advanced GPS technology with point and click convenience to
identify thousands of stars, planets, constellations and more. Plus
Instructables Robot t-shirt, patch, and stickers.
Second Prize (2)
Sansa Express 1GB MP3 player, Instructables Robot t-shirt, patch, and stickers.
Third Prize (5)
Eton FR150 Microlink : Solar-Powered, Crank-powered Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger
Runner-Up (10)
20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything, a book from the Editors at Discover magazine
First 10 Good-Quality Entries (10)
DISCOVER magazine T-shirt
