Jacob's Ladder Image Flip
This item came to me in my Fall 2023 Curiosity Box subsciption:
Get (or give!) a Curiosity Box subscription here: JOIN NOW: The Curiosity Box
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See my other versions of the Jacob's Ladder
Jacob’s Ladder Image Flip: this Curiosity Box Inq the Octopus themed toy flips between two famous aperiodic tilings- Penrose rhombs on one side and the recently discovered einstein hat on the other. The earliest description of the ribbon hinged “Jacob’s Ladder” mechanism that creates this kinetic illusion of cascading blocks dates back to a magazine article from Scientific American magazine in 1889.
Color Spirit Kaleidoscope
Avalible in a number of colors from these sources:
From Nellie Bly's: BUY NOW: Color Spirit Kaleidoscopes
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Color Spirit Kaleidoscope: a side lit kaleidoscopic with sparkling and kinetic mandala. The intricate patterns seen come from shiny trinkets that flow in oil, and two mirrors that are precisely aligned at a 60 degree angle to produce the sixfold symmetry. This affordable yet top quality kaleidoscope is from the Color Spirit line of artist Karl Schilling.
Luna Kinetic Illusion
Available in a number of colors and configurations:
From KickStarter: Pledge NOW: Luna Kinetic by Mezmoglobe
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Luna Kinetic Illusion: precision machined and crafted kinetic desk toy with helical motion illusion. A metal sphere seemingly defies gravity as a coil spins around it in this astonishing design by Kristoph Krisjans and the Mezmoglobe team.
Symmetric Sticks Puzzle
Geometry as art and play-- get this affordable puzzle here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Symmetric Sticks Puzzle
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Symmetric Sticks Puzzle: 30 identical pieces, each with two notches as shown, can create 12 interlocking pentagons in a perfect symmetry- look carefully and you can see that each rod is in an identical configuration with the 4 others that connect with it. Precision notches on the rods allow them to interlock with elastic tension such that vector sum of the 4 forces sum to zero in this tensegrity type equilibrium. The dodecahedron, with its 30 edges and 12 sides, is the basis of this puzzle sculpture.
Cubendi Dissected Cube Puzzle
Thie new dissection puzzle is available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Cubendi Cube
Get the sister cube puzzle here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Shashibo Cube
From Art of Play: BUY NOW : Shashibo Geometric Art
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Cubendi Puzzle: Dissect a cube into 4 equal irregular tetrahedra + 8 equal irregular triangular pyramids, connect these 12 pieces symmetrically with hinges and add 48 magnets to create the Cubendi cube. This assembly can make a number of surprising symmetrical forms including this rectangular prism with a square hole. More math fun with this second hinged dissection cube puzzle from the makers of the Shashibo Cube.
UFO Spin Top
Get this fun and well made top here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: UFO Spin Top
or collect the whole set: UFO Spin Top Collection
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UFO Spin Top: this whimsical flying saucer shaped top is made of stainless steel and features a ceramic sphere to reduce friction at the contact point, allowing this heavy and well balanced top to spin for more than 5 minutes with a good snap of the fingers (start up and final seconds of wind down shown here). Spin tops- classic physics toys of antiquity!
Mirror Anamorphic Lenticular Cup & Saucer
Now available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Anamorphic Wavy Cups & Saucers
See all the amazing illusions and art avaialble from Luycho: Luycho | A New world on Mirrors
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Mirror Anamorphic Lenticular Cup & Saucer: a flamingo sits in a nest of flowers, revealed when the cylindrical mirrored cup is put in place. This beautiful design by Luycho uses both mirror anamorphic reflection and an accordion type lenticular dual image (turning the plate 180 degrees trades images). Art meets math and physics once again!
Ambiguous Circles and Squares
Get these and amny other designs here:
From Shapeways: BUY NOW: 3D printed Illusions
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Ambiguous Circles and Squares: two more examples of the Sugihara ambiguous object illusion, with “impossible” mirror reflection. Thanks to Gerardo Ortega for sending me these 3D prints of his designs.
Sonic Photonic Visualizer
This item came to me in my Summer 2023 Curiosity Box subsciption:
Get (or give!) a Curiosity Box subscription here: JOIN NOW: The Curiosity Box
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Sonic Photonic Visualizer: a laser reflects from a small mirror mounted on a stretched rubber membrane which allows the projection of complex curves produced by the deformation of the membrane from sound waves. Yet another amazing kit from the VSauce team at @thecuriositybox which uses a balloon as the membrane for the top of the “drum”. The membrane is most sensitive to sound waves in the bass and midrange frequencies and I got the best reaction with my Bluetooth speaker playing Moon Flower by Tahüm- a snippet of which is featured here.
Ventifact Stone
Specimens aviualable here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Ventifact Specimen
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Dreikanter Ventifacts: stones that have been shaped by abrasion of wind blown particles are called ventifacts, often found in desert environments, and dreikanters are a common type of ventifact that shows a characteristic uneven pyramid structure. The shaping of stones this way takes a long time but exact details of this physical process are still an area of active study. Shown here are dreikanter specimens from Patagonia Argentina (black) and Mojave California (dark red) and both feature the characteristic polish and triangular ridges.
Low CoM Balancing Beasts
Get these and similar balancing toys here:
from Amazon: BUY NOW: Balancing Beasts
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Low CoM Balancing Toys: weights in the wing tips create a center of mass below the heads of these cute mythical creatures, making systems that are in stable equilibrium. Just like the famous balancing bird toy, no magnets used, instead the magic comes from engineering the center of mass to be outside the body of the object and below the balance point.
Kinetic Wonder Rings
Assorted colors to choose from:
From Sling True: BUY NOW: Kinetic Wonder Rings
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Kinetic Wonder Rings: a skill toy that features small rings that “roll” down a thicker steel ring while producing a distinctive ringing chatter sound as they go. Swiping the small rings gets them spinning and gives them angular momentum. Centripetal acceleration then keeps the inside of the small rings in contact with the steel ring so that they roll around as they descend (seen here in 240fps slow motion). The challenge is to rotate the large ring fast enough to keep the small rings in motion. A new take on the “Jitter Gyro Ring” 1990s skill toy craze, produced by Sling True toys.
Neon Flicker Flame Night Light
Similar old fashion flicker bulb lights available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Flicker Flame Neon Bulb
Get this diffraction grating here to explore light source spectra:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: 500 line/mm diffraction grating
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Neon Flicker Flame Bulb: this charmingly designed night light evokes a theme of an old fashioned gas street lamp- however there is no flame, but instead the light is due to emission spectra from excited neon gas as a result of a discharge electric current from the 120V house mains. The flickering effect comes about because the current flow will increase the temperature near it, which raises the pressure and affects/raises the breakdown voltage near the current- so the glow from one area can only last as long as it takes to heat up and raise the breakdown voltage which then briefly kills the current in that area. In other physics, a diffraction grating shows that the gas is indeed neon, which only emits light at specific emission wavelengths- mostly reds with some bright yellow lines (and a clearly visible green line) at AC house voltages.
Density Column Key Fob
Avialable here: Totoro Drift Bottle Keychain
Get similar liquid key fobs here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Liquid Key Fobs
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Liquid Key Fobs
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Density Column Key Fob: lots of physics in the design of this ridiculously cute key fob— two immiscible fluids are sorted under gravity by density with the densest on the bottom and the lightest on top (often kerosene and mineral oil). The plastic animal (best guess: rabbit?) has a density between that of the two liquids so it stays at the boundary layer, and the critter is weighted to be bottom heavy so it keeps a vertical orientation with help from Archimedes law of buoyancy. The most recent versions of this toy have interesting opaque colored liquids, such as the gray fluid featured here.
1 mole Carbon Block
Avialable exclusively from:
STEMCell Science Shop: BUY NOW: 1 mole Carbon Block
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1 mole Carbon Block: by Avogadro’s famous number there are 6.022×10^23 atoms contained within a mole of substance- a very large number because atoms are very tiny. This chunk of graphite is precisely cut to weigh 12.011 grams, and hence when you pick it up you will have, in your hand, 6.022×10^23 Carbon atoms (to better than 1 part per thousand). That’s 602.2 billion, times a trillion, atoms! Such numbers are a challenge to conceptualize, so in collaboration with STEMCell Science Shop we introduce our specially cut and engraved “1 mole of Carbon Block”— to put an Avogadro’s Number of atoms on your shelf.
You might also like: our Earth Mass Blackhole Replica