For the budding young scientist or someone looking for something different to make, check out this project by Instructables user "raht". An electrostatic field mill is a device that can measure the amount of electrostatic potential that exists around you. It's a fascinating project that's bound to either puzzle or interest others, and requires a simple variety of easily-obtainable parts. With the included code the levels of potential can be sent to a pc and graphed in processing for easier display - for example:
If this is of interest, the instructions can be found here. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're new to Arduino and want to join the fun, the first step is a solid board for your projects - our Freetronics Eleven - the Arduino-Uno compatible with low-profile USB socket, onboard prototyping space and easy to view LEDs:
