* Illustration: Jason Lee * ...Mix an Exploding Drink

You've seen the YouTube clips demonstrating the riotous effect of dropping Mentos into Diet Coke. Why not turn the fizzy fun into an epic party prank of your own? Here's our recipe for a little cocktail we call the Manhattan Project.

— Daniel Dumas

1 // Shop

Buy the ingredients at your corner store: 2 liters of Diet Coke (warm), one pack Mentos candy (mint), and some rum (cheap).

2 // Prep

Fill an ice tray with water and stick it in the icebox. Just before the liquid solidifies, drop one candy into each cube. Freeze.

3 // Mix

Combine four cubes and 8 oz. of Diet Coke. Top with 2 oz. of rum. Garnish with a naive smile and serve. Wait five minutes.

4 // Flee

When the ice melts enough to expose the dense candy's gum arabic to the cola, it'll erupt like a fifth-grade science project.

Illustration: Jason Lee...Rev Up Your Vintage Speakers

Some good news in a bad economy: You don't have to spring for a luxury audio rig to get luxurious sound. At AudioKarma.org, a hi-fi hacker known as Zilch led the open source development of this DIY project for upgrading yard-sale-worthy speakers.

—Chris Becker

Scavenge Boxes. Make sure you choose speakers with bumping bass.

Elevate the Highs. Replace each of the old tweeters with a compression driver (Selenium D220Ti, $80 a pair) and a horn (JBL Pro waveguides, $20 a pair).

Start Soldering. You can make your own circuit boards, but it's easier to order them from Zilch ($20; i_am_zilch@att.net). For step-by-step instructions, see audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150939.

Hook It Up. Connect the woofer wires, horns, and amp to the new boards.

Play Music. Listen to those audiophile-quality highs you've added to the already solid bass!

Illustration: Jason Lee...Flirt With Confidence

For most computer geeks, writing code is easy. But trying to compose an amorous email may cause night sweats. At Germany's University of Potsdam, Phillip von Senftleben teaches IT students the subtle art of pitching woo. Some notes from Flirting 101: Do it digitally. Messaging gives you a chance to be charming without the palpitations caused by face-to-face contact. Hooray for technology! Avoid sending lame texts like "hey, how r u?" Go for: "nothing compares 2 u." Forget Star Wars. Don't spend 20 minutes on Wookiees unless your crush sports a Princess Leia 'do or a lightsaber. Maybe not even then. Express interest. "Bibliometrics, huh? Tell me all about it!" Don't dance. As every '80s nerd movie shows, it's just too risky.

—Sabrina Crawford

Start Previous: What's Inside Palmolive Ultra: Killer Bubbles Next: Fathers of Invention: What Muslims Gave the Scientific World