Science hobbyist website since 1994 | Hacker News Reader

Science hobbyist website since 1994

amasci.com

149 pointssudobash118 comments

It's always a joy when I randomly feel the need to check and see if amasci is still up and running and am greeted with the comforting display of good old mid-90s HTML text and links offering all manner of interesting content.

What a dichotomy to the current "all pages must be apps/infinite scroll and optimized for ads" design that has reigned for the last decade or two.

https? We don' need no stinkin' https. We are from BEFORE GEOCITIES! Usenet Newsgroups forevah.

See amasci.com 1995 timeline: http://amasci.com/news.html#older

Also, see much recent activity on: https://www.quora.com/profile/William-Beaty?sort=views

I tip my hat to you sir, for providing 25 years of the pleasure of pursing the scientific method and experimentation, even in areas that would be often dismissed by Those Who Know Things(tm). If a claim is made, well then roll out the experiments and demonstrate it works or it's false.

In the 90s I actually thought you were responsible for the Scientific American Amateur Scientist column but after a year or so of regularly browsing your site I realized you were simply what Amateur Scientist SHOULD have been in the 90s, reflecting the zeitgeist of the prior decades of SciAm AmSci.

I spent plenty of time kicking it on usenet circa 1990 and later, but as a content creator you have to bust out your gopher links for proper cred. ;)

One of the first websites I ever could get to. I was in high school at the time, and feeling pretty alienated. This kept me sane and gave me a hobby that then turned into my career. I'm grateful.

Check out the guy's youtube channel, too, cool mechanical levitation stuff.

When learning electronics as a hobbyist, amasci had some really nice non-textbpook explanations of voltage, current and transistors. Really made you think deeply about the subject. Here is an example about transistors. http://amasci.com/amateur/transis.html

I went to one of the monthly meetings in the 90s. It was a hoot. The overton window had blown open and was flapping in the vacuum of space.

Monthly meetings, Tesla-worshippers only. Also some UFO abductees and orgone-believers. Also Boeing engineers and radio hams. http://amasci.com/freenrg/oldmeet.html

Some past threads:

Scratch Holograms FAQ (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26887689 - April 2021 (10 comments)

Why is electricity so hard to understand? (1989) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26362492 - March 2021 (145 comments)

What is Electricity? (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23442181 - June 2020 (46 comments)

Why Three Prongs? (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20378852 - July 2019 (232 comments)

“Invisible Electrostatic Wall” at 3M adhesive tape plant (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16299441 - Feb 2018 (104 comments)

Why is electricity so hard to understand? (1989) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12894192 - Nov 2016 (202 comments)

Drawing Holograms by Hand (2003) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12250657 - Aug 2016 (18 comments)

Why is electricity so hard to understand? (1995) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10558622 - Nov 2015 (6 comments)

How transistors really work (1995) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10558206 - Nov 2015 (22 comments)

Holography without Lasers: Hand Drawn Holograms (1995) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9052375 - Feb 2015 (17 comments)

"Invisible Electrostatic Wall" at 3M adhesive tape plant (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5387052 - March 2013 (23 comments)

Why three prongs? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4058834 - June 2012 (146 comments)

"Invisible Electrostatic Wall" at 3M adhesive tape plant (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3274335 - Nov 2011 (46 comments)

Science Misconceptions in Textbooks and Popular culture - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1771101 - Oct 2010 (23 comments)

Holography without lasers: hand-drawn holograms - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1464625 - June 2010 (9 comments)

How transistor really works, an alternate viewpoint - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1462524 - June 2010 (14 comments)

Right angle circuitry - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1460631 - June 2010 (10 comments)

How electricity doesn't work - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1237484 - April 2010 (21 comments)

Fingernails on Blackboard - Possible Explanation - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=623504 - May 2009 (8 comments)

Great vibe!

To add to the mix: As a teen when I first started frequenting the interwebz, one of my favorite sites was personal website with a lot of great science content, with a very hand-crafted vibe (which continues to this day!): https://fourmilab.ch/

Little did I know that it is the personal website maintained by John Walker, the founder of Autodesk!

It continues to be a pleasure to browse, say, on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I have to plug this similar laser science FAQ, maintained by Sam Goldwasser http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm .

The "Electricity" misconception pages are golden http://amasci.com/miscon/elect.html

One of the few webs which renders lovely in Links.

For a second I thought this post referred to sciplus (1), another science hobbyist website since forever ago.

1. science surplus: sciplus.com

This is a cognitive hazard.

Refreshing

I love the 90s aesthetic but that "toil girl" link is twelve kinds of "wtf".

I was curious so I checked it out. It's the website of an artist who makes pin-up style portraits. Some of the images might be considered mildly NSFW if you are in a very conservative environment. It seems the author promotes the concept of body acceptance/positivity. Not sure why the site would deserve the "WTF" reaction.

https://www.toilgirls.com/

"anesthetic" is a great malapropism, although more suited to the "modern" sites that try to make your brain numb with little content and much whitespace...

"Slightly NSFW and not PC" is definitely a trait of 90s personal (and even some professional) sites, and personally I prefer that in comparison to the sterile, boring, excessively-inoffensive stuff today.

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