Starting a home lab has been an adventure that completely changed my life. If I did not fall in love with science, my life would have been very different, and I would certainly not be writing this blog today.

For me, science is about solving problems. Not just for the fun of it but to accomplish something. That something can be anything from flying a rocket in the air to developing a kick-ass 3D video game from scratch. Nothing beats the thrill associated to seeing something work that only first existed in your mind!

Today, I have a 15 yr+ experience in engineering, had the chance to work on instruments that went into space, helped pushing the boundaries of medical instruments, started my own company and met amongst the most brilliant people on earth – way beyond anything I could dream of 20 years back! And all of it started because one day I decided *I wanted to know*.

I hope this blog will help you grow your own interest in science, whether you will be doing this just for fun or because you want to change the world…

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Why a science blog?

Since my childhood, I have always been experimenting with all sorts of science experiments. But I wasn’t very good at keeping notes and I lost most of my early work. Working on thepulsar.be helped me keeping accurate notes on how to reproduce my own experiments but also forced me pushing the boundaries. So the blog was made “for me” in the first place but kept growing with time and gained some international traction!

Who is this site for?

This site is dedicated to all people who love science. Although you do not need to be graduated to follow our work, some good understanding of basic physics, chemistry and math is required to take full benefits of the website. I hope my posts will help you understand some of the concepts better by taking a different approach than classical textbooks.

Do you offer support for the experiment?

Yes. You can either obtain free support by asking your question on the community bulletin board where I go as often as I humanely can, or you can get paid support if you struggle with your projects. Currently, paid support is restricted to universities and startups who would like to set their own optical lab.

Do you sell pre-assembled experiments?

We do sell off-the-shelf pre-assembled instruments for a limited number of projects. Please visit each project individual website, found in our index page, for buying instructions. Alternatively, if you are a university and would like us to provide you with a customized experiment, feel free to contact our paid consultancy service.

How do your instruments compare to commercial systems in terms of performance and accuracy?

Our goal is not to compete with every premium commercial instrument on the market, but to provide reliable scientific tools that offer satisfactory performance for research and teaching at a fraction of the cost. We carefully design, validate and characterize every instrument to ensure that it delivers meaningful, reproducible measurements while remaining transparent and fully maintainable.

Can I distribute modified versions of your experiments?

Yes/No. Unless specified, our experiments are under copyright law and you cannot copy them without our consent. That being said, we are true advocates of open-source and most of our mature projects are then released under an open-source license which let you redistribute and modify the hardware and software. Check each individual project specific license. Eventually contact me directly if you need a license for a specific experiment.

Are your experiments safe?

Most of our experiments can be considered « safe » when operated properly, unless otherwise mentioned on the experiment page. That being said, something that can be safe for a trained person will not be for one without training. Generally speaking, we recommend you to have an in-depth understanding in laser, high-voltage and chemical safety before conducting any of our experiments. We will not take liabilities for damage caused by the reproduction or reproduction attempt of our experiments.

I would like to contribute to your projects

Feel free to join us on our bulletin board to let us know!

What is ZZZ OPTICS?

ZZZ OPTICS is our official partner to integrate and distribute our open-source instruments. ZZZ OPTICS aims at making open-source available to everyone and is the main contributor in our open-source projects.

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