Wizard of recycling lures kids to science

At the Mama Tierra workshop in Mexico City, a kid's wistful 'I want a remote-control boat' is a plan, not a dream.

from the May 14, 2007 edition

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Some of his work is more complicated. One challenge for more advanced students is making a hydrogen engine, which to Macias is a perfect way to combine science education and environmental consciousness. "It's one of the most abundant elements in the universe, so what could be better than developing this type of energy?" he says.

Some projects he won't do: a model of a nuclear plant, for instance, which he feels would promote a dangerous type of energy. Others, like a remote-control submarine, require too much time and concentration for the modern child. "I've realized that for this generation of children, everything needs to be faster. They don't have the patience to do things kids did 30 or 40 years ago," he observes.

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Macias's interest in science began with observing everyday objects. Magnets, with their inexplicable attraction and repulsion, and the light-bending capacity of simple eyeglasses made him want to understand.

"These things always seemed magical to me," he says. Inspiration aside, the boy's inventions didn't always go as planned – at age 9, he decided to make a formula to take out ink spots, but instead he stained the floor. "That was the invention of the indelible spot," he says mischievously. His mother ended up finding out about the spot after reading his notebook, where he recorded each day's work.

Another time, he filled his house with smoke by mistakenly lighting the entire contents of a bomb he made from ingredients bought at the local pharmacy.

He didn't exactly have a cheerleader for his inventions, he says, but his grandfather's work operating radio telegraphs on oceangoing ships sparked his curiosity. Macias would ask him for tools, and the man would hand over what he needed or explain how a process worked.

Later, at Mexico's Del Valle University, Macias studied accounting and philosophy, far removed from the scientific workshop he would found in his 30s. But during that time, he fed his inventiveness by making rockets equipped with parachutes and selling them to an model airplane store.

But these days, Macias guides kids toward safer projects than he undertook as a child.

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