And you can watch it happen in this literally awesome video from the BBC’s Bang Goes the Theory. I wonder how much that lens cost? I’ve got a shed out back, wouldn’t be too hard to cut a hole in the roof… [via Boing Boing]
When I was in graduate school, I took a seminar class from a chemist whose work in developing self-healing polymers was widely admired. I had seen these self-healing cutting mats in the MicroMark catalog, and always wondered what they were made of. So I asked him, in class. He looked at me like I’d grown a second head: “You mean to tell me you’ve seen self-healing polymers on the market? In a consumer product?” Later I brought him the catalog, and showed him the listing. He was stumped, and more than a bit dubious.
The Brookstone Beer Bulletin tipped us off to the fact that brewer Trumer Brauerei of Berkeley, CA, has created a fun video featuring a Rube Goldberg device made from Trumer product and paraphernalia. The Trume Pils Rube Goldberg Machine! Inspired by the Rube-Goldberg-Machine we were able to recreate the brewing process in a new way. […]
Our post from three weeks back about Instructables user mikey77’s “Oogoo” formulation generated some really great discussions in the comments. Now, reader Iceman086 has reported some successful experiments combining caulk, cornstarch and a solvent to make homebrew silicone with a pourable consistency. Perhaps we can call it “Ooze-oo?”
The listing also claims that “the tallest piece measures 3″,” which, unless an oversize penny is actually part of the set, seems like a slight exaggeration. Majorl awesomesauce, anyway. ]via Neatorama]
The work started a few weeks before my appearance. A phone call, after seeing the piece on my book in USA Today: “Would you be interested in being on The Today Show?” Of course. Then there’s a flurry of short emails: “What can you show our viewers in five minutes? Something fun, visual, and interesting?” They had a copy of the book and suggested “Brownies In An Orange.”
I love it when people get really, really serious about the preparation of drinks. Beverage and spirits writer Camper English is such a person. He has done some interesting experiments with freezing large pieces of crystal-clear ice at home (He reports boiling it first does not work), and freezing bottles of liqueur inside large blocks of it. His latest brainchild is this ice cube with a pocket of food color frozen inside, which is slowly released as the ice melts. The potential permutations on this trick are numerous: different colors in different cubes, different colors in the same cube, colors that react with citric acid in the drink and fade awhile after being released, etc., etc. [via NOTCOT]
