Despite the rain, yesterday's test launch in the park was an impressive success. The only modifications to a 2-litres plastic bottle were a tennis ball taped to the front and four small, stiff fins attached with Gaffer (Duct) tape. Adding weight to the front makes a huge improvement to stability in flight. The fins must be stiff and 'swept-back' or they will be ripped off during the launch. The bottle accelerates to a measured 100 miles per hour - 160 kilometres per hour - in a small fraction of a second. (I once calculated the velocity by analysing video frames.)
No special 'nozzle' is needed for this design, if a suitably tight-fitting bung can be found for the tube from the air pump. It means that children can build and launch their own rockets.
Notice the important safety feature: the rocket is launched at a child's head-height. It must NOT be possible for it to hit anyone on it's way up...
Two nice exhibits nearly finished...
One that inflates and deflates plastic nappy bags to show how our lungs work, and one that gives you a magnified view of your eye with a pushbutton-controlled light to make your iris contract. Slightly larger than our standard Mini-interactives, these have 60cm diameter bases.
I especially love how the 'lungs' model whistles and wheezes asthmatically as it breathes...
Science Communication in the Post-Truth World
This thought-provoking and rather startling article shows how a limited focus on improving people's scientific knowledge and understanding can actually increase their resistance to scientifically validated truth. The author concludes that we must cultivate curiosity as an end in itself, not merely as a useful aid to 'learning'.
http://www.ecsite.eu/activities-and-services/news-and-publications/digital-spokes/issue-27#section=section-indepth&href=/feature/depth/ear-candling-trump-science-communication-post-truth-world
My live microscopic creatures at the Ecsite Conference
I have just set myself the challenge of taking living cultures of microscopic creatures to this year's Ecsite Conference in Portugal and setting up a microscope with a video camera and screen, to present some demonstrations from my Blown-up Biology Show. This will be at the so-called 'Grand Bazaar' session.
Christmas bauble fractals
Christmas greetings! Take four shiny Christmas baubles and stack them in a tetrahedron arrangement. Look closely at the reflections where three balls touch, with a fourth ball behind the gap. Be amazed at the Wada Basin fractal patterns.
After dark Pirate Parade in Buxton
The after-dark Pirate Parade last Saturday in Buxton was delightfully weird and wonderful. I contributed bubbles.
Astronomy session with New Mills Scouts
With New Mills Scouts last night: I sat for a long time answering astronomy questions from a hushed circle of visibly awestruck young people
The SAASTEC Conference, South Africa
In this photo, my evening science show at the annual conference of the Southern Africa Association of Science and Technology Centres is being introduced by, er, our conference host.
The ghost hand
This is an interactive exhibit I shall be sending out shortly. The hand is being reflected by the shiny inner surface of a hemispherical black acrylic dome. You can see something similar if you look at the reflection on the concave top of a very shiny metal spoon. The reflection appears to float IN FRONT of a concave mirror.
My trebuchet launches a water bomb
Here's a photo of my tebuchet, showing rather beautifully how it releases a latex-balloon water-bomb. The range with a fully loaded counterweight is about 60 metres. It can be operated safely by teams of children as young as seven and has proved itself able to keep them happily engaged for at least a week on a family campsite. By all means place your orders here...
Made in England
'Made in England', proudly written on this exquisitely perfect Kinetrol rotary damper that was delivered to the workshop today. The words aroused sudden pangs of nostalgia...
The original Xperiment! exhibits
These are the original Xperiment! interactive science exhibits from the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, photographed back in 1988. You can see most of them by clicking on this Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/…/interacti…/albums/72157672916866023
They remained in service for over ten years until the space was completely redesigned. Shortly afterwards, they were rescued by the Unizulu Science Centre in Richard's Bay, South Africa, where I was delighted to see many of them still in constant use nearly thirty years later!
Stress patterns
Nearly finished today, this really is one of the prettiest interactives we've made recently. It uses light polarised by the material used in the lenses of Polaroid sunglasses to show coloured stress patterns in the same kind of plastic used for making soft drink bottles, when a gentle sideways force is applied.
WissensNacht Ruhr
Creating a human circuit at WissensNacht Ruhr in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, last Friday.
Smoke Ring Thing
Here's a lovely little movie clip of my Smoke Ring Thing at our New Mills Festival Lantern Procession.
Art...
Art like this deserves a category of its own. Watch until the end to see how it works.
A human cheek-cell 'selfie'
A Sunday afternoon 'cellfie': so awesome to contemplate that a single cell nucleus contains a person's entire genetic code, written on two metres of DNA. She scraped these cells from the inside of her cheek using a teaspoon
My Bubble Fest
My Bubble Fest today in High Lea Park, New Mills, was amazing. We estimated that about 5,000 people came and traffic was seriously gridlocked at times in the centre of our town.
Blasting a water-filled 2-litres plastic bottle into the sky at the Einstein Island science festival on Lake Trasimeno, Italy.
The meaning of 'life'...
Local friends, please don't miss my microscopic marvels this Thursday evening at St Georges Parish Hall: New Mills Festival has never seen anything like this before!