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.
Aperiodic Monotile
Learn more about this recent math dicovery here: An aperiodic monotile (arXiv)
Althogh the math says they can tile the plane, getting them to do so is more challenging than one might think!
Get a set of laser cut hat tiles here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: "the Hat" monotile set
See other aperoidic tilings in my collection.
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Aperiodic Monotile: this newly discovered 13 sided shape, named “the hat”, will tessellate a plane to infinity, similar to how squares or hexagons can tile out with no gaps. However the hat tiles the plane aperiodically- if one tries to shift a part of a hat tiling, the shifted part will not align or match up with any other part of the same tiling- all the way out to infinity! The fact that aperiodic tessellations exist at all is pretty amazing, and Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel prize in physics 2020) is also famous for discovering a pair of regularly shaped polygons that tile in this aperiodic way. However it was not clear until a few weeks ago if a single shaped tile could tessellate aperiodically when the hat was described in a paper by Smith, Myers, Kaplan, and Goodman-Strauss uploaded to arXiv March 20.
Symmetry Sculptures
These amazing scluptures from Bathesheba Grossman available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Math Sculptures
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Symmetry Sculptures: the Quintrino with 12 identical interlocking starfish, and the Metatrino with 6 identical connected four armed stars- based on the symmetries of the dodecahedron and the cube. Two examples of the amazing work of artist Bathsheba Grossman, a pioneer in creating such intricate mathematical forms.
Turner's Cube
Get this well made small version here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Turner's Cube
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Turner’s Cube: made from a single piece of aluminum this piece of metalworking art has a long tradition in the training of apprentice machinists. Amazingly this can be made, or “turned”, on a lathe.
Density Column Key Fob
Avialable here: Totoro Drift Bottle Keychain
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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.
Manganese Dendritic Fractal Crystals
Similar specimens avialable here: Nature's art!
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Dendritic Manganese Specimen
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Manganese Dendritic Limestone: more fractal patterns found in Nature- and few are in as pure a fractal form as these manganese dendrite inclusions which grow within the thin cracks and layers of limestone formations. These crystals look so much like impressed plant life that they are sometimes called pseudo fossils. The fractal dimension of these delicately branched structures is about D=1.8 as estimated by the famous “box counting” algorithm.
Hula Hoop Top
Often avaiable from this shop:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Specialty Top Shop
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Hula Hoop Top: a stack of wooden rings are dropped on to the shaft of a spinning top resulting in surprisingly organized motion as the rings position themselves with a bit of lag as a function of height. This interesting behavior results from the transfer of rotation kinetic energy from the top to the rings, where the rings do not rotate about their symmetry axis. One of more than 100 unique spinning tops in my collection, received as gift from my friend and fellow collector Tim Rowett, and a product of KreiselArt (Ulrich Büker).
Mag Flip Inverted Pendulum Fidget
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Mag Flip Desk Toy
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Mag Flip Inverted Pendulum Fidget: three embedded neodymium magnets provide tactile repulsive forces in this simple but intriguing system. Pressing down on one side increases the magnetic potential energy that will then send the pendulum into frantic motion until the kinetic energy is damped out after a series of oscillations. This fidget can also be used as a random coin flip with respect to which side it will land.
Rainbow Obsidian
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Rainbow Obsidian Carvings
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Rainbow Obsidian: natural volcanic glass with multicolored iridescent layers. When cut and polished at just the right angle with respect to the layers, a pattern of concentric hearts is revealed! The color and iridescent sparkle is due to light interacting with different concentrations of nanoparticle crystals of the mineral hedenbergite in the glass. This carved piece is from a famous quarry near Jalisco Mexico.
Dendritic Quartz
Available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Dendritic Quartz
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Dendritic Quartz: Fractal patterns are found throughout Nature- but few are in as pure a fractal form as these manganese dendrite inclusions, found in quartz and other mineral compounds where they grow along the cracks and joint planes of crystals. The fractal dimension of these delicately branched structures is about D=1.8 as estimated by the famous “box counting” algorithm. I picked up this beautiful fractal quartz freeform cabochon from @rareearthminingco (thanks Curtis!) at the Tucson gem, mineral, and fossil show.
Convection Turbine Candle with Elephants
Get similar candles here (many themes to choose from):
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Spinning tea-light candle
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Convection Turbine Candle: pachyderms on parade via this whimsical tea-light candle holder which is actually a simple turbine heat engine where rotational motion results from the convection of hot air from the candle flame. All moving parts are of thin stainless steel with some assembly required. Energy transfer: chemical bonds- to heat- to kinetic energy of the rising air- to rotational kinetic energy of the turbine and elephants.
Precision Machined Haptic Fidget
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From Etsy: BUY NOW: Precision Fidget Devices
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Precision Machined Haptic Fidget: four identical stainless steel components precision manufactured to 15µm tolerances via wire EDM (electrical discharge machined) and embedded with magnets to produce a stepped locking mechanism for a haptic sensory experience. The rainbow finish is due to a very thin layer of oxidized titanium produced by a process called physical vapor deposition (PVD) where a molecule thin coating is created under vacuum. So much interesting physics in the many production methods used to make this everyday carry fidget.
Thermomotor Curie Point Engine
Available in limited supplies here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Thermomotor Candle Engine
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Thermomotor Carousel: this decorative and dynamic centerpiece is actually a Curie point heat engine! Two tea light candles continually chase two magnets around a magnetic ring in this truly unique design by @violet__revolution. When the portion of the magnetic ring over the flame heats up to a particular temperature (the Curie point) its magnetic field is temporarily lost until it cools, so the magnet near the candle is now pulled toward a cooler portion of the ring- which then heats up and the process continuously repeats creating the steady rotation. Swipe to see the full design (complete with a laser cut forest mantle) in operation. Many thanks to artist and inventor Darragh Hewat for this fantastic addition to my collection.
Vintage Hologram Glasses
These vintage novalty glasses can still be found here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Hologram Novelty Sunglasses
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Spooky Hologram Eyeball Glasses: this pair of vintage novelty Halloween spectacles feature true photopolymer holograms which create some of the best 3D images- these spherical eyeballs look as though they are hovering right behind each lens! Unlike photographs, holograms are recordings of the interference pattern of light waves, and incredibly what you see is created by information encoded in a layer thinner than a piece of paper.
Fluorescein v. Laser Frequency
Need a laser pointer? Incredibly, you can get 3 (one of each color) for under $20 (including S&H):
From Amazon: BUY NOW Red+Green+Purple Laser Pointer
Make you own fluorescent solution with this powder:
From STEMCell Science: BUY NOW: Fluorescein Powder
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Fluorescein v. Laser Frequency: exploring how this famous fluorescent dye reacts to three frequencies of laser pointer using this unique liquid filled paperweight. Under Green (532 nm) we see some mild yellow fluorescence as the beam transmits through the liquid, under Red (635 nm) the beam transmits with no reaction, but under near UV Blue (450 nm) the beam is completely absorbed near the liquid surface and re-emitted in bright green with a peak at 515nm. A fun home experiment to explore quantum physics phenomena with inexpensive apparatus.
Nautilus Spiral Gears
Get this inexpensive 3D printed set here:
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Nautilus Spiral Gears: an extreme example of non-circular gear sets. This set is based on the famous Fibonacci spiral and evokes the cross section of nautilus shell with internal chambers. If one gear of this set is turned at constant speed, the other will turn with an varying speed. A 3D print of Misha Tikh and the research of Balint et al.