Let’s pretend like Agent MacGyver!
Movies about secret agents are shown on all platforms. But of them only “MacGyver” found a place in the Oxford English Dictionary. The name of the hero has become a verb thanks to his passion for creating improvised solutions using only the materials he has. Our hero has been inspiring inventions and DIYers ever since.
Contrary to the usual, MacGyver needed neither a weapon nor conventional tools. According to the progress of the story, he made up something with what he had.
The first version of the series, published between 1985 and 1992, and the new version that started to be published in 2016 are different. In the new episodes there is more of a family atmosphere and our heroine interacts with more people.
In some episodes, it may be necessary to brainstorm the entire team to get out of certain situations the authors have stated. Some projects are found and removed from the internet. They are particularly inspired by DIY moves. The team aims to make as plausible as possible what MacGyver has uncovered using the quibbles. To this end, Lenkov and the writers of the series are working with Rhett Allain, a technical consultant. He is also a physics professor, blogger and writer.
Here are some good MacGyver inventions that amateurs can repeat as well. Some of these are safe enough to be made at home. Others can cause death, destruction, limb loss, etc. if not done correctly. Get your inner secret agent out.
Laser Microphone
Do you want to eavesdrop on your neighbors? In a similar situation, MacGyver has developed a remote sensing laser microphone. The conversation that goes on in a room creates vibrations in the air. These vibrations are carried over the glass of a window. At this stage, anyone who wishes to eavesdrop needs a laser window aiming the beam; it bounces off the glass and returns to hit the photocell. The photocell detects fluctuations in the laser beam – and if you are connected to that photocell with a speaker, this speaker converts the vibrations of the window into sound waves.
In the show, MacGyver takes out the laser of the CD player and uses sunlight as a photocell to do something like this. The laser must be extremely stable, so our agent uses chewing gum to attach the laser to the vehicle. These are the basic materials used to make a laser microphone, but it is not possible to make precise devices with this kind of rough-and-ready methods of our hero. For more detailed instructions: (http://lucidscience.com/pro-laser%20spy%20device-1.aspx)
Making Fire
As any scout knows, it’s harder to start a fire using branches than it seems, especially if you’re dealing with wet wood. MacGyver, who lands in the forest, has a simple as well as an effective solution: adding pine extract. The sticky substance that leaks from pine bark is quickly ignited. MacGyver sets the fire by dipping the sap extracted from a tree trunk into its kindling.
For detailed information, you can take a look at https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/how-to-make-charcoal-ze0z17nzmit
You can also make a fire by slicing the “wood tar” of the green tree into sticks and using their protruding pile splinters. But remember that playing with fire can be dangerous, and if you use too much essence your sparks can get bigger and out of control.
Gas Mask from Soda Bottle
In the third season of the series, MacGyver protects his own lungs with a gas mask he made from a soda bottle to defeat his enemies, leaving his enemies with the chemical smoke soup he creates. She cuts the bottle to fit her face, lifts it and attaches it to her skin using the inner cables of a bicycle wheel. This leaves a little space for breathing, while covering the rest with wet newspaper.
The wet paper used is filtering the air. This works for some gases. However, it does not apply to all gases. So if you want to make your own soda bottle mask, don’t expect this mask to protect you from, for example, tear gas or pepper spray. For detailed information https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Gas-Mask/
Do It Yourself – Eye High
Seeing the earth through birds’ eyes allows you to assess the situation more clearly and attack your enemy more effectively. To meet these conditions without a satellite or drone, MacGyver designed a primitive hot air balloon. First of all, he prepared the aluminum foil platform, which he obtained from a dry cleaning bag, as a hanger. Under the platform, he tied a mobile phone broadcast live off the ground and placed a Sterno (canned food brand) box on top of the platform. When our hero lit the fire, the bag began to fill with hot air and rise, allowing the phone to serve as a flying scout.
But there is a problem! Hot air, although it will rise higher than cold air, cannot bear much weight – a cell phone and a container filled with fuel will pull the balloon to the ground.
Instead of MacGyver’s design, you can try the fire balloon made by William Gurstelle. This example also has a dry cleaning bag filled with hot air, but the balloon is heated with a small amount of jelly alcohol, not a Sterno can. Please follow the Gurstelle recommended rules and tie your fire-bearing balloon to the ground. (For details: https://www.popsci.com/re-create-first-intercontinental-weapon/)
Battery from Leyden Jar (Electricity Storage Container)
It can be a complete disappointment for many of us when our valuable phones run out of battery. In one episode of MacGyver, our staggered hero is so desperate that he takes a ride in the lightning storm. Its purpose is to charge a leyden jar.
The Leyden is one of the earliest scientists who studied electricity – below you can see one of the jars used by the 18th century Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. Electricity can be stored in this jar. However, this container is larger than what you see on radios or electronics. It consists of metal on one side and conductive brine on the other. You plug the charge into one of the sides and the jar stores it.
To fit a Leyden Jar in the wild, MacGyver fills a plastic water bottle with salted water with walnut roots. He clamps the electrodes around the bottle and sticks a piece of metal left over from the helicopter that fell into the water. The bottle is charged by the electricity in the air when it points the piece it stuck against the lightning storm. He then uses this part to charge his phone.
Leyden jars can be dangerous – electric shocks can cause injury or death if you make a very large one – but with safety precautions, you can definitely make a Leyden jar in your home. Some DIY versions even use salt water like MacGyver did. Just protect yourself against the possibility of electric shock while charging.
Car Battery from Welding Machine
Here is one of those DIY tricks that are very dangerous to try at home. In the second episode of the series, McGyver is connected to a car battery via spark plug wires. When the coins come into contact, the electric current flows between them and creates an extremely hot spark that MacGyver cuts through a metal door.
With a car battery, you can actually make a welding machine that softens and melts metal, as documented by Popular Science. Above, you can see contributor Chris Hackett’s project on this topic. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could burn yourself, get an electric shock, and cause anything from house fires to dreadful injuries that lead to death. For this reason, the mentioned number is one of the numbers you should stay away from.
Termite Spear
MacGyver doesn’t need a car battery to stand up to steel. Trapped in a runaway train, he decides to sever the metal that connects the engine to other parts of the car. To do this, he stacks magnesium and rusty shavings into a long metal rod. He sets it on fire with a torch. Termite burns up to an altitude of 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. This improvised termite spear is hot enough to cut not only steel but also other solids and materials.
Termite can be useful – workers use it to solder road links – but this is a trick that is not suitable for novices. “Termites can be so damn hot – if you have a container it will melt it across. It shines a lot of light, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can melt yourself. ”says Allain. Therefore, you should skip this number.
