This hidden camera adventure through the postal system, From A to B, began when Ruben van der Vleuten wanted to know, ”What happens when you send something by mail?”

So instead of sitting back I started a simple project to actually see it myself. I put a small camera in a box, build a timer circuit using Arduino and shipped it.

That’s as simple as it is. The timer circuit was set to make a 3 sec video every minute and make longer videos while the box was movin: to not miss on the ‘interesting’ parts.

…like conveyor belts! We love videos like this, not only because we get to see from a perspective that we’ve never seen before, but because it would make a great DIY project.

Check out van der Vleuten’s site to see more about the box, its innerworkings, and a highlights video with some real time clips.

Thanks, @kvetchup.

And now it’s time for 3+ minutes of jazz and tiny hailstones. From Aatish Bhatia at Empirical Zeal, “The Universal laws behind growth patterns, or what Tetris can teach us about coffee stains.”

As I watched this miniature world self-assemble on my windshield like an alien landscape, I wondered about the physics behind these patterns. I learned later that these patterns of ice are related to a rich and very active current area of research in math and physics known as universality. The key mathematical principles that belie these intricate patterns lead us to some unexpected places…

Observe this quiet, growing collection of ice particles on its own, or read on for a much deeper discussion of universality that includes diagrams, videos, and animated gifs.

Related quiet particle observation: Dust particles dance to a Radiohead cover. 

Lindy Hoppers Al Minns and Leon James have been seen dancing to the Charleston in a viral Daft Punk version, but this is the original that shows what it would have been like to watch them perform on television in the 1950s.

Minns and James were a well known for their performances at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom in the 1930s and 40s. You can watch them break down the Shim Sham here and the Shimmy, Snakehips, and the Lindy Hop here on the DuPont Show of the Week in 1961: 

A short clip from Italian television in 1960, I Can’t Get Started + Manteca by Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Leo Wright on alto sax, Junior Mance on piano, Art Davis on bass and Teddy Stewart on drums.

The cheeks make their first appearance just after the 50s mark and really get going at 2 minutes and again at 4m50s.

USAWALTZ, animation and music by Tokyo-born Asami Ike.

Both kids were laughing as they watched the rabbits journey across all of the animals that floated by, and we’ve been humming the music ever since. Clearly we loved this video. If you do, too, you might also enjoy one of our favorite books, Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu, a Tinybop recommendation.