Summary: Welcome once again to the Citizens of Tech podcast! It’s late spring – June 12, 2015 to be precise, and on this day we sat down to discuss: Electronic Legos, Quantum Encryption, Solar Powered Flight, and more. So kick back and ready your ear holes to delve into the nerdfest that is the Citizens of Tech Podcast! Present Microduino mCookie: The smallest electronic modules on LEGO®https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/microduino/microduino-mcookie-the-smallest-electronic-modules What is Arduino?Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your desktop computer. It’s an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking inputs from a variety of switches or sensors, and controlling a variety of lights, motors, and other physical outputs. Arduino projects can be stand-alone, or they can communicate with software running on your computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP.) The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled; the open-source IDE can be downloaded for free.The Arduino programming language is an implementation of Wiring, a similar physical computing platform, which is based on the Processing multimedia programming environment.Microduino and mCookie brings powerful, small, stackable electronic hardware to makers, designers, engineers, students and curious tinkerers of all ages to build open source projects or create innovative new ones.The Microduino mCookie series is Arduino-compatible open source hardware. It can be programmed in an Arduino IDE development environment and integrated into existing Arduino sketches.Microduino mCookie snaps together magnetically with four magnets inside four corners, makers can connect mCookie modules quickly and correctly with a satisfying snap. The modules will reject each other if they are not angled correctly, so you can’t get it wrong – making it easier for makers of all ages to work and play, and eliminating the need for soldering.Built with two raised circular fixators on each side, mCookie can be stacked with all LEGO series products. With LEGO compatibility, we’re making it easier than ever for beginners and children to get started with DIY electronics!Stackable pins can be easily bent during usage. New spring pins inside mCookie provide rugged surface-to-surface connection between circuit boards for a longer usable lifetime.Experienced and professional makers can write their own programs in the Arduino IDE and transmit their code to the hardware via USB, while beginners can use the Scratch graphic programming tool to drag and drop components to bring their application to life.Quantum Encryption: Oh Boy!http://m.phys.org/news/2015-05-team-key-quantum-network-solution.html Amazon Echo: Alexa, what’s the weather like in Seattle?http://amazon.com/echo Dragonfly is an innovative, multi-lens array designed for ultra-low surface brightness astronomy at visible wavelengths.http://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/instrumentation/dragonfly/ Evidence of small galaxy mergers into l
