Hey Sean, getting any ideas?
June 18, 2010
Uh oh, what about Trebuchets?
Bad news: Sean’s homeowner policy won’t cover hovercraft any more.
May 20, 2010
April 18, 2010
March 6, 2010
My Hero
This guy is my hero. When faced with a workplace lunchtime argument (you know, the kind we all have every day) of whether or not a lava lamp would work on Jupiter, he went home and built himself a 100 pound centrifuge, attached his accelerometer-equipped Android phone, and answered the question.
Now where is my giant treadmill and jet plane?
from his website:
The centrifuge is a genuinely terrifying device. The lights dim when it is switched on. A strong wind is produced as the centrifuge induces a cyclone in the room. The smell of boiling insulation emanates from the overloaded 25 amp cables. If not perfectly adjusted and lubricated, it will shred the teeth off solid brass gears in under a second. Runs were conducted from the relative safety of the next room while peeking through a crack in the door.
Give this guy an award.
January 14, 2010
Rocket Man
Steve Jurvetson on his awesome rocket hobby. Don’t miss the 3 minute TED talk short at the bottom. Fantastic pictures.
January 12, 2010
December 18, 2009
Supersonic Rocket Car Crash
Did four more beautiful words ever exist in the English language?
December 7, 2009
Ex Libris
I may have posted this a while back, but it’s worth a re-post. The ultimate Geek Library.
September 14, 2009
Edge of Space
Two MIT students shoot pics from the edge of space using off-the-shelf stuff. And a budget of only $150. Cool!
September 3, 2009
August 21, 2009
August 19, 2009
August 13, 2009
July 18, 2009
June 18, 2009
June 17, 2009
June 4, 2009
Mad Scientist Extraordinaire
Theo Grey, on why dangerous science at home may be the savior of science education.
Sports, especially at the high school level, are extremely dangerous. So many children are injured on a regular basis that you don’t even hear about it. Many of these injuries are relatively minor, just a broken bone or perhaps a torn ligament that puts the child in a cast for a few months. But a substantial number cause permanent disability and death.
This carnage could easily be avoided by switching to video football. Graphics are very realistic these days; students could study tackles from all angles in complete safety. Gymnastics students could do their routines on a Wii Fit board, and video screens are readily available for exercise bicycles, eliminating open-road bicycle riding, a major killer of children.
You know I’m kidding. No one can seriously deny the value of actual physical education and exercise, and unfortunately, no matter how safe you try to make it, accidents, including bad accidents, happen. That’s part of life.
But this is precisely what has happened to science education. Precisely. Virtually all experiments involving chemicals more dangerous that cabbage juice have been eliminated from the curriculum. And, yes, they have been replaced by elaborate video simulations that let you choose which of two beakers to mix together, then show you what happens.
This is all very safe, but there is a price to pay: death and misery for millions. And this time I’m not kidding. We have turned science, which should be the most exciting, the most engaging, the most relevant hour of the school day, into a deathly boring series of lectures and video games. Is it any wonder kids would rather become accountants, when chartered accountancy is made to seem like a more exciting profession than science?
When students enter a science classroom, they should see things they cannot imagine in their wildest dreams.