By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics This four inch diameter ball is a two-layer geodesic sphere. It has an outer layer of triangles connected with an inner layer of pentagons and hexagons, which is the structure of geodesic domes such as the Montreal Expo67 dome. The above design is unique, however, in that […]
We covered these clever Petri dish soaps from Cleaner Science back in March. Now, we’re very pleased to have her on board as a Makers Market seller. Her soaps are available in many colors and varieties, including some with glow-in-the-dark “colonies,” and none of them will set you back more than $10.
Rich Olson has a posted about his Peltier cooler based cloud chamber. He’s tested Americium, Carnotite, and Autunite samples in it. Peltier Cooler Based Cloud Chamber More: HOW-TO: Make a cloud chamber Inward-pointing scanner, cloud chamber from FMCG
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Here’s a challenge for you. Make the coolest thing you can from a bucket of old golf balls. It might be hard to beat this Sierpinski triangle and Sierpinski tetrahedron! These are both made by Dale Seymour. And in case you are wondering if is is solid […]
By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Cellular automata are mathematical systems that can generate surprisingly complex patterns from very simple rules. Camilla Fox worked out a way to knit cellular automata patterns by using two colors of yarn. One of the two colors is brought to the front for each stitch according to […]
Hubble turns twenty today. The orbiting space telescopes — they grow up so fast. One day, it can barely focus its little lens, and seemingly, the next, it’s exploring dark energy (let’s call it its Goth phase). Happy birthday, Hubble. Spaceship Earth is so proud of you. NASA writes on its Hubble page: Space shuttle […]
We’ll call it Math Wednesday. Marc de Vinck turned me on to these amazing fluid-based polygons and polyhedra: When a vertical water jet strikes a circular horizontal impactor, the water is deflected into a horizontal sheet. At sufficiently high speeds, the flow results in a circular water sheet, whose radius is set by a balance […]
