LegoSnapper

thekidshouldseethis: Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner works...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:26:29 -0400

Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner works with the intersection of art and science. He takes perfectly-timed photos of brightly-colored paint being spun at high speeds. From the artist:

“Black Hole” is a series of images, which shows paint modeled by the centripetal force. The setup is very simple: Various shades of acrylic paint are dripped onto a metallic rod, which is connected to a drill. When switched on, the paint starts to move away from the rod, creating these amazing looking structures.

The motion of the paint happens in a blink of an eye, the images you see are taken only millisecond after the drill was turned on. To capture the moment, where the paint forms that distinctive shape, I connected a sensor to the drill, which sends an impulse to the flashes. These specialized units are capable of creating flashes as short as a 1/40000 of a second, freezing the motion of the paint.

We’d love to watch high speed, slow-mo video of this project. See more of Fabian’s images here, and then check out his painting in magnetic ferrofluid project.

via Colossal.

Paint spray pictures

thekidshouldseethis: This mind-bending and water bending viral...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:24:56 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

This mind-bending and water bending viral video is another experiment from Brusspup (featured previously on this site). Here’s the zig zag DIY:

Run the rubber hose down past the speaker so that the hose touches the speaker. Leave about 1 or 2 inches of the hose hanging past the bottom of the speaker. Secure the hose to the speaker with tape or whatever works best for you. The goal is to make sure the hose is touching the actual speaker so that when the speaker produces sound (vibrates) it will vibrate the hose.

Set up your camera and switch it to 24 fps. The higher the shutter speed the better the results. But also keep in the mind that the higher your shutter speed, the more light you need. Run an audio cable from your computer to the speaker. Set your tone generating software to 24hz and hit play. Turn on the water. Now look through the camera and watch the magic begin. If you want the water to look like it’s moving backward set the frequency to 23hz. If you want to look like it’s moving forward in slow motion set it to 25hz.

And if you want to see it with your eyes and no camera, a strobe light, set to 24hz in a light-controlled environment should do the trick.

We love illusions and experiments. Another great video on tricking the eye at the right frame rate: Pixar’s Zoetrope and how animation works.

via Colossal.

Water play

thekidshouldseethis: Youtube user Hknssn built a paper...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:17:23 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

Youtube user Hknssn built a paper airplane-making machine using legos. As a last step, it launches the airplanes — a compressor shoots them about 2-3 meters off-camera — but you might have to watch the launch more than once. It happens fast!

via Dvice.

Lego airplane maker

thekidshouldseethis: NPR’s Human-Powered Helicopters: Straight...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:08:38 -0500

thekidshouldseethis:

NPR’s Human-Powered Helicopters: Straight Up Difficult!

How difficult? The Sikorsky Prize from the American Helicopter Society has promised $250,000 to anyone that build’s a human-powered helicopter that can “hover for a minute, reach a height of 3 meters (about 10 feet), and stay in a 10-meter box.”

No one has claimed this prize in 30 years. And not for a lack of trying.

But students at the University of Maryland, Team Gamera HPH, are now closer than most to reaching this goal. Watch the video above and read more about them on NPR.

via Kottke.

Not a problem. Just a challenge.

thekidshouldseethis: Britain’s longest-serving blacksmith is...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:55:38 -0500

thekidshouldseethis:

Britain’s longest-serving blacksmith is still forging iron in his workshop - at the age of 84. Hardy Fred Harriss, 84, first picked up a hammer and tong aged ten in 1938 and is still working every day 74 years later.

via Vimeo.

Never stop. http://flpbd.it/LPB5k

I’m at a crossroads By Cary Tennis, salon.com Dear Cary,I am in...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:48:16 -0400

I’m at a crossroads
By Cary Tennis, salon.com

Dear Cary,
I am in the moment of my life journey whereby I have to decide whether to pursue A or B.
First, I have been an obedient individual, an always-stick-to-the-rules type of guy. I am not trying to be arrogant b…

Pursue your passion. http://flpbd.it/Nvhqh

thekidshouldseethis: What do we have in common with wildlife?...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:07:58 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

What do we have in common with wildlife? What do we share with nature and the landscapes of our Earth? From the World Wildlife Fund: We Are All Connected.

via Most Watched Today.

thekidshouldseethis: Four skydivers do a choreographed dance...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 20:35:40 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

Four skydivers do a choreographed dance in the Skydive Arena wind tunnel in Prague, Czech Republic.

The kid keeps asking to watch this classic viral video. I’ve explained about how the wind tunnel allows them to “fly” but i’m not sure it’s all so clear. And frankly, I don’t completely understand how they do it either. But I know we’d both love to try. Here’s another video with a lesson in action!

http://flpbd.it/XHlUh
Get flipped.

thekidshouldseethis: How cool would it be if your hot wheels...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:03:59 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

How cool would it be if your hot wheels cars were life-sized and could drive on massive looped tracks?! At the 2012 X Games in Los Angeles on Saturday June 30th, Team Hot Wheels professional drivers Tanner Foust and Greg Tracy made hot wheels come to life by driving two specially-designed, 3000lb cars through a six-story (66-foot tall) double vertical loop. At the needed 48-52mph, they each experienced up to 7gs of acceleration. Then they both make jumps!

Not only did their team use an understanding of physics and engineering to do the stunt successfully and safely, but they set a Guinness World Record. Do not miss Tanner’s interview about jump testing and absolutely watch the behind-the-scenes ESPN Sports Science video that explains exactly how they did it!

h/t Devour.

From the archives: a 2,000 foot long hot wheels track!

Hot wheels lifesize. http://flpbd.it/lZB9l

thekidshouldseethis: Melvin the Traveling Mini Machine is two...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:39:48 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

Melvin the Traveling Mini Machine is two suitcases filled with a wonderfully detailed Rube Goldberg Machine, all to put a stamp on a postcard.

Besides doing what Rube Goldbergs do best – performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction – Melvin has an online identity as well, which he uses to connect to and interact with his audience. Melvin the Mini Machine uses a smartphone and bespoke code and software to determine its location, write messages and recognize the people around him…

Once a picture is uploaded after it’s been processed, the data and the picture are published to Facebook and Twitter… Melvin’s travels page runs the Google Maps API with a custom layout… In short, this new Melvin is a Rube Goldberg machine specifically built to travel the world… Information on how the new Melvin works, its different parts and how to contact us can be found here.

My guess is that after it’s traveled for a while, we’ll have a whole map of photos taken by the machine that show happy audiences watching Melvin as intensely as this.

via This Is Colossal.

Chain Reaction http://flpbd.it/MfRgT

thekidshouldseethis: In April 2012 Copenhagen Phil (Sjællands...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:33:49 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

In April 2012 Copenhagen Phil (Sjællands Symfoniorkester) surprised the passengers in the Copenhagen Metro by playing Griegs Peer Gynt. The flash mob was created in collaboration with Radio Klassisk. All music was performed and recorded in the metro.

via The Awesomer.

Must listen. http://flpbd.it/buavh

thekidshouldseethis: The Hidden Beauty of Pollination. You’re...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:52:42 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

The Hidden Beauty of Pollination. You’re seen this video before. It was a part of Louie Schwartzberg’s TED Talk in 2011, but frankly, it’s so amazing that it’s worth watching and posting again on its own!

This video was shown at the TED conference in 2011, with scenes from “Wings of Life,” a film about the threat to essential pollinators that produce over a third of the food we eat. The seductive love dance between flowers and pollinators sustains the fabric of life and is the mystical keystone event where the animal and plant worlds intersect that make the world go round.

via Boing Boing.

Amazing.

http://flpbd.it/VNUvL

thekidshouldseethis: From Science Friday, behold A Spacesuit...

Fri, 18 May 2012 20:21:31 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

From Science Friday, behold A Spacesuit Ballet:

Of the suit he wore on the moon, Neil Armstrong wrote, “it was tough, reliable, and almost cuddly.” But that cuddly suit, made by the company Playtex, had some stiff competition (literally) from rival rigid, metal designs. This video features archival NASA footage of mobility tests for several spacesuit prototypes. Music is from the band One Ring Zero’s album “Planets”.

http://flpbd.it/UhblV
Iteration at its best.

thekidshouldseethis: Nine year old Caine Monroy made a...

Mon, 07 May 2012 20:22:51 -0400

thekidshouldseethis:

Nine year old Caine Monroy made a super-detailed cardboard arcade in his dad’s used auto part store. His first customer happened to be filmmaker Nirvan Mullick, who was inspired by Caine’s inventiveness and decided to get Caine a flashmob of customers one Sunday. This is a film about that day.

We loved this video immediately. And when the video ends, it’s always good when my kid says, “I want to see it again.” If you’re inspired by Caine and his cardboard arcade, too, you can follow @cainesarcade on Twitter and visit CainesArcade.com to donate to his college fund (which is happily climbing)!!

via @Veronica.

Other kids makin’ it happen: Audri and his Rube Goldberg Machine, and Milah and Korben sing Depeche Mode with their dad.

Flat out awesome. http://flpbd.it/lFWzT

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The iPhone - 2007 It’s...

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:43:14 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The iPhone - 2007

It’s quite a device. It’s a hair taller and wider than a Treo but thinner, sleeker and of course much more beautiful (4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46). The front is glossy black; the back is brushed silver. There’s not much on the front but a 3.5-inch touch screen with incredibly high resolution—160 pixels per inch (320 by 480)—and not much on the brushed-silver back except a two-megapixel camera lens. (Only the Apple logo is mirror finish; it doubles as the self-portrait mirror.)

And a touch screen that lets you perform two-finger gestures—for example, you pinch your thumb and forefinger to shrink a photo, or widen them to enlarge it.

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The MP3 Player - 1998 A...

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:40:00 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The MP3 Player - 1998

A popular way to buy, trade and download music on the Internet may now become even more popular. The Rio PMP 300, created by Diamond Multimedia Systems of San Jose, Calif., is a portable music player that is about the size of a pager and does a lot more than beep. A departure from Walkman-like music players that use cassette tapes, compact disks or mini-disks, the Rio can store up to 60 minutes of digital-quality music directly into its 32 megabytes of memory…A major feature of the Rio, which is expected to ship to retailers next month with a suggested price of $200, is that it cuts the tether that has previously tied MP3 music listeners to their computers.

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Internet - 1990 There...

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:38:31 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Internet - 1990

There are large collections of computer networks, like the Internet, with an estimated two million members, and Usenet, with more than a million users, that now form the backbone of an emerging international system. These big groupings are partly paid for with Federal funds and fees paid by companies…. Networks advertise in computer magazines usually, but also in some newspapers. Still, most people who join networks learn of them from friends or colleagues at work or school. Users can sign up in a variety of ways, from writing in to to calling a designated toll-free telephone number.

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Cell Phone -...

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:29:00 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Cell Phone - 1982

Cellular radio is a relatively new technology, developed over the past two decades by Bell Labs and others, that will provide an improved form of mobile and portable telephone service. The F.C.C. later this year will approve franchises to offer the new phone service in localities around the country…

Unlike conventional mobile telephone systems, which have one large sending and receiving antenna, usually near the center of town, cellular systems have multiple antennas, with each serving one small geographic section or cell. As a vehicle moves through the city, its receiver obtains a signal from the closest antenna, handing off the customer from one cell to another as it moves through the streets.

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Walkman - 1980

Wed, 02 May 2012 21:25:00 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Walkman - 1980

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Personal Computer - 1977

Wed, 02 May 2012 15:18:00 -0400

The Old Ways We Explained New Tech: The Personal Computer - 1977