Moisture can alleviate discomfort from dry skin, nose, throat and eyes, and prevent winter nuisances such as static electricity, peeling wallpaper, and paint and furniture cracks. Relative humidity measures the ratio of moisture present to the moisture that a particular air mass can hold. The rati

Crystal balls have been used by mystics and charlatans for centuries to "foresee" future events. Crystal balls are not only beautiful in their own right, but also have a rich and mysterious history. Whether you want to gaze into the future or add a decorative touch to your home, a crystal ball is in

Dovetail joints are prized for both their strength and their beauty. They involve a series of tapered, interlocking cuts, and because of their precise nature, are very difficult to create by hand. With the advent of the router and the dovetail jig, dovetails have become easy to make with power tools

Routers, used for a number of tasks in woodworking, utilize a high-speed motor installed in either a fixed--or stationary--base or a plunge base. The plunge base allows the spinning router bit to be plunged directly downward into the wood, then locked into position to complete a cut. Using the locki

A barometer is a scientific instrument that measures ambient air pressure. Early barometers were a U-shaped glass tube, with one end sealed, partially filled with mercury. As atmospheric pressure increased, the mercury was forced into the sealed end of the tube, compressing the air trapped there. At

If you want to take to the air, you can do it with nothing more than a sheet of paper. By making paper airplanes, you can reach for the sky---and experiment with different designs that will test your aeronautical skills. Below are instructions for making four different paper-airplane designs and som

Curved mirrors have a variety of uses, from photography in replacing glass lenses, to security and safety, to the whimsical, like fun-house mirrors. Chiefly, they either provide wide-angle views or concentrate light, as needed.

First-day covers are prized by stamp collectors, and cachet is a term used for the artwork printed on a first-day cover. Gateway cachets have a special niche in the stamp collecting and sports memorabilia worlds in that they commemorate persons, events and milestones in the sporting and political wo

Cuckoo clocks are popular novelty clocks. A small cuckoo emerges each hour, on the hour, to call the current time of day. Cuckoo clocks are pendulum clocks. As the pendulum swings, it slowly advances a series of internal gears. These gears move the hands of the clock. If the pendulum is missing, the

Raw clay occurs almost anywhere and is extractable quite easily. Most clay deposits, though, are not pure enough to be used raw. Before you can use it for pottery, you need to filter and temper clay in order to remove impurities, control shrinkage and improve the clay's ability to withstand thermal

Generators use magnets to create electrical current, which is measured in amps. You can use magnets to demonstrate this effect for a science project or craft. A simple electric generator is little more than a coil of wire with magnets mounted on an axle sitting inside the coil. When the axle is turn

Rolled-up televisions are in development in 2011, thanks to organic light emitting diodes. OLEDs are semiconductors that produce light and come in two varieties: small molecule and polymers. Researchers are considering them for use in commercial products that need very small, flexible lights, such a

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun and it completes about four orbits of the Sun by the time Earth finishes just one. For this reason, the ancient Romans named it after the swift messenger of the gods.

Changing radio stations on Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games for the PC allows you to customize the auditory experience during gameplay. You can control the radio stations at any time while your game character is inside a vehicle. The controls for changing radio stations vary depending on whether you are

Kids can make a Dora the Explorer backpack craft using recycled materials. For added fun, make a compass just like Dora's, and a rolling map. If you can sew or wing it with a hot glue gun, then you can make a child-sized Dora backpack from a lavender T-shirt.

Throughout the years, lighters have evolved from flint or ferrocium and steel-sparking models to electric ignition models. Once using more unstable and unreliable naptha as fuel, lighters today use clean-burning butane as fuel. Piezo electric ignition utilizes a small quartz crystal to produce a spa

Dirt, Air and WaterEarly pioneers built houses out of sod for its insulating properties.Because of their physical properties, some materials transmit heat better than others. Water is a liquid, a fairly compact collection of hydrogen and oxygen that absorbs heat readily. Since it absorbs...

Whether you're crafting wood arrows to direct people on a treasure hunt, mark the way on an intricate hiking trail, point in the direction of your house or a special event or want to use them in a project, you can take advantage of a few tools and supplies that may already be in your garage or works

Graphing an ordinal variable requires you to have a basic knowledge of quantitative research methods. Such knowledge is important for anyone interested in the social sciences. Ordinal variables are similar to categorical variables, but distinct because they can be ranked. Gender (a categorical varia

Creaking chairs will drive you crazy; if they don't drive you crazy, they will drive someone else crazy. Creaking sounds mean loose joints on your chair. If it's a metal chair all you need to do is turn it upside down and spray it with lubricating oil. But real creaking -- creaking that comes from d