This Kerosene Lantern Becomes A Compact Bioreactor

A bioreactor is a useful thing to have in any biology lab. Fundamentally, it’s a tank in which biological activity can be nurtured and controlled. [The Thought Emporium] needed a visual aid for an upcoming video on bioluminescent bacteria, but figured a single test tube full of the little critters just wasn’t visually striking enough. Thus began the build to turn a kerosene lantern into a full-featured bioreactor.

The ideal bioreactor for the project needed to be visually appealing, biologically safe, and to have the possibility for continuous operation. First, the lantern’s base was sealed with aluminium plate and silicone …read more

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Lamp’s Ghostly Glow Benefits From Happy Mistake

[cyborgworkshop]’s youngest sister is a fan of a character in a popular video game (Thresh from League of Legends) who wields an iconic lantern with a mystical green glow. He resolved to make a replica of that lantern. Perhaps as a gift for the cherished family member? Certainly not! [cyborgworkshop]’s goal was the simple joy of having something “to lord over her.” Ah, ain’t siblings grand?

There were some interesting things learned in the process of making the ghostly green lamp. The first part of the build log is all about post-processing the lantern model, which was 3D …read more

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IKEA Lantern Houses Full-Featured Weather Station

From plain and utilitarian to the sleek and professional, there are a lot of ways to build a multifunction weather station. We’d thought we’d seen it all here, but building a weather station into an IKEA lantern is a pretty unique presentation.

There’s  an active community over at ikeahackers.net, and the variety of IKEA hacks they’ve come up with is pretty astounding. For this weather hack, [Richard Stevens] chose the Borrby, a $15 candle lantern. While it doesn’t exactly scream “weather station”, the form factor makes sense – plenty of room for electronics, easily replaced windows, and a nice cupola …read more

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