Tag: shapes
Magnet-connected pyramids that transform into different shapes
Hypercubes are geometric art toys made by Andreas Markus Hoenigschmid. Their shapes can be reconfigured from a single cube or brought together with other cubes to build larger structures. From Hoenigschmid's site: ...
Numberphile: The Scientific Way to Cut a Cake
This "scientifically correct way" to cut a cake will not work for birthday parties, where the cakes are often consumed too quickly by kids and adults alike, but it may be absolutely perfect for the "mathematical loner...
Why do honeybees love hexagons?
What is it about the six-sided hexagon that makes it such a perfect shape for storing honey? It's an efficient design! Just ask a bee, one of nature’s finest mathematicians, or watch this TED Ed by Zack Patterson and ...
Modular, self-assembling robots from EPFL and MIT
"Furniture that changes functionality completely depending on the needs of the person..." Like life-size LEGO pieces, these robot modules can gyrate and reconfigure in order to create furniture or move furniture in an...
The Dragon Hedge
Retired fan maker John Brooker was bored with his plain hedge in East Rudham, Norfolk, and so he decided to shape it into something more interesting. Note to self: it takes around 10 years to sculpt a hedge into a 100...
Pen Point Percussion and Dots: Norman McLaren
Pen Point Percussion (1951), a behind-the-scenes introduction to the sound visualizations and drawn-on-film animation of film pioneer Norman McLaren, from the National Film Board of Canada. And below, another playful...
PancakeBot: Drawing a Sea Horse
PancakeBot is a machine that Miguel Valenzuela made for his daughters Lily and Maia out of LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO bricks and two ketchup bottles. He has since toured Maker Faires around the globe, hoping to inspire kid...
A Straight Rod Passing Through a Curved Hole
Imagine how you might pass a straight metal rod through a curved hole. How does that work if neither bends? Is it impossible? This demonstration at the Science Museum in Valencia, Spain shows that it's absolutely poss...
Unwinding the Cucumber Tendril Mystery
Watch plants grow (with time lapse)... or specifically, learn more about cucumber plant tendril coil movement and why it was confounding to scientists for so long. From 2012, this is Science Friday's Unwinding the Cuc...
Mercury Hz
From “science on a budget” YouTuber Nick Moore, watch this drop of mercury being vibrated from ~120Hz down to ~10hz. We’ve seen resonance demonstrated before in Chladni Pat...
Amelymeloptical Illusion
Amelymeloptical Illusion, a seemingly simple yet enthralling rings performance from French juggler Lindzee Poi. Next, watch French “magic” champ Yann Frisch and Sylvain’s b...
SHAPE
Shape, a film about design and how it can change our experiences in the spaces that we live. “If for one day you had the power to make your world work better, what would you change?R...
Dance on the circle: wet clay patterns on a spinning potter’s wheel
Wet clay on a spinning potter’s wheel transforms with every turn in this improvisational form of art. The video runs a bit long at 15m24s, but the kids still wanted to include it here thanks t...
Angelica Bongiovonni rides a Cyr wheel
Circus performer Angelica Bongiovonni rides a Cyr wheel in Cirque Éloize. According to their site, Bongiovonni is one of around 100 acrobats that practice the Cyr wheel in circuses, street pe...
Greek Legacy: How the Ancient Greeks shaped modern mathematics
Travel back in time to Ancient Greece where revolutionary thinkers – from Thales, Pythagoras, Democritus and Aristotle to Euclid, Archimedes, and Hypatia of Alexandria – helped define the rule...
Mathematica: A World of Numbers… and Beyond
In 1961, an interactive exhibition called Mathematica: A World of Numbers… and Beyond inaugurated the new science wing at Los Angeles’ California Museum of Science and Industry. Spo...
How to make a rolled Japanese omelette
How to make a rolled Japanese omelette, Dashimaki Tamago, with a square frying pan. In related news, my kids want a square frying pan. In the archives: more eggs. via swissmiss.
Reversing Arrow Illusion
We just tried this super easy Reversing Arrow Illusion, and it is, in fact, super easy. Draw two left-pointing arrows on a piece of paper and then put a clear, empty glass between you and thos...
