Similar to Tornado Spheres
TetraTop Light Show: a tetrahedron of four spheres can spin like a top. Shining three colored LEDs on these spinning orbs produces an illusion of entwined floating rings. Produced for a short time around 2001 by the Duncan YoYo company.
This device was made possible by this Spirok Kickstarter Campaign
Spirok products available here: Spirok Ferrofluid Devices
See my video of the amazing BT Speaker Display
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Magnetic Sand Disk Display: a unique combination of suspended ferromagnetic grains and rheoscopic platelets create this artistic interface to allow visualization of magnetic fields. Here the field of a multipole ring magnet from a motor is revealed. This disk is yet another wonderful creation from my friend Tim and the Spirok team.
This device was made possible by this Spirok Kickstarter Campaign
Spirok products available here: Spirok Ferrofluid Devices
See my video of the amazing BT Speaker Display
Rosetta Ferrofluid Display: this innovative design constrains the fluids within a flat cylinder which reveals the amazing interplay between surface tension and magnetic forces, and intricate patterns emerge when a permanent magnetic is brought near. Ferrofluids are colloidal suspensions that are challenging to contain in a non-chemically reactive environment, the fluid and engineering that went in to this device are truly amazing. Another wonderful creation from the Spirok team.
Get a similar affordable version here::
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Levitation Top
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Levitron Magnetic Top: spin stabilized magnetic levitation- this top will fly for about 3 minutes or more per launch with no batteries or circuits of any kind needed. The spin rate of the magnetic top must be just right for flight, not too fast or too slow. Air resistance and dissipative interactions between the magnets gradually slow the spin rate and the top then falls. Interestingly, trapping the top requires precision- the weight of the top must be adjusted (with adding or removing washers) to within about one gram to achieve equilibrium between the pull of gravity and the magnetic repulsion from the large magnet in the blue base, and the strength of the magnetic fields are temperature sensitive, so adjustment is required upon each setup. This affordable version is produced by Toysmith Inc. for the Smithsonian and the design includes four white knobs to adjust and level the base to the precision needed for flight.
The Collector's Edition Periodic Table with 85 element samples and the exact version in video:
From Etsy store ProtoshopLLC : BUY NOW Heritage Periodic Table
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Alert: only this brand I know of that is guranteed to have the real elements embedded- beware that many very cheap fakes are being sold under $100 US.
The Heritage Periodic Table: Collector’s Edition- a comprehensive collection of the chemical elements that can fit in the hand. Embedded in acrylic are actual samples of 85 of the 118 elements- including pure gasses and reactive alkali metals in glass ampules- and represented by 80 high purity samples (including a Gold nugget and liquid Mercury) and 5 compounds. Radium is included in the form of an antique watch hand, and the bead of Mercury rolls back and forth within its glass container. This spectacular table and collection is the creative work of Tim and Cory Marriott of Engineered Labs Protoshop LLC
Get this amazing Galton Board probabutly demonstrator here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Galton Board (comes with an wonderful fact filled booklet).
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Mini Galton Board: 4280 steel balls (and one gold bead) fall through 14 levels of branching paths and always end up matching a bell curve distribution. Another elegant design by Philip Poissant, this device is a modern version of the Galton Board, invented by Sir Francis Galton(1894) to demonstrate the Central Limit Theorem and show how random processes gather around the mean. Each ball has a 50/50 chance of going left or right at each branch such that the balls are distributed at the bottom by the mathematical binomial distribution. In addition the number of balls in each bin can be predicted by Pascal’s triangle, where the number on each hexagonal branch point represents the number of possible paths to reach that point from the top. See if your eyes can follow the path of the gold bead (representing a single random path) in the 240fps slow motion segment of the video. Made and distributed by Four Pines Publishing Inc. and IFA.com the device can also illustrate fluctuations in market earnings.
Get this precision made device here:
From MetMo: BUY NOW: Eddy Copper Magnet Fidget
Eddy: an everyday carry fidget made of high purity copper and a powerful neodymium magnetic sphere which glides mysteriously from end to end. The moving magnetic field from the falling magnet produces electric currents in the copper- these “eddy” currents then produce magnetic fields that oppose the motion of the moving field, a specific application of Faraday’s law of induction called Lenz’s Law. A fun new physics toy from the team at MetMo @metmo.eng
This early version is hard to find, but many new and vintage versions available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Newton's Cradle Desktop Toy
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Vintage Early Newton’s Cradle Design: produced in 1969 and patented in 1971 this early design of the famous desk toy featured 3 balls instead of 5, and hanging from plastic struts instead of string. Sold as “Knock It To Me” out of Covina California by Brutoco Development with design patent by Jean Pierre Abba. A piece of physics toy history- where conservation of momentum and conservation of kinetic energy combine to describe the motion of this famous desk toy.
Similar devices available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mirascope
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Mirascope: two parabolic mirrors create a 3D image above the actual object. This is the vintage original 12 inch diameter Mirage by Optigone, with high quality front surface mirrors. The image of the toy car made here is not a hologram and is produced solely by reflection of light rays between special concave mirrors. Discovered circa 1969 by Landry and Elings at UC Santa Barbara.
Samples available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Silica Aerogel Sample
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Silica Aerogel: a solid with extremely low density, approximately 20 milligrams per cubic centimeter (as compared to 1.2 for air). Light as a feather, a bent post-it note can support the weight of this chunk. Used as insulation and for catching the tails of comets (see NASA Stardust mission).
Learn more about this art form here:
Zintaglio Arts: Holography by Matt Brand
The full details of the math in this process are described in this paper by Brand.
My freind Steve Mould has this excellent videos describing the science of scratch holography
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Specular Hologram Knot: this complex 3D image is created by etched grooves that reflect a point source of light as glints, and each eye sees a slightly different pattern such that, via stereopsis, the shiny points appear to float above or below the surface. Complex mathematical equations must be solved to compute the shape of the thousands curves that are scratched into the surface of the metal plate. The artwork featured here is a creation of Matt Brand of Zintaglio Arts.
These Manifestations Inc, vintage art pieces are widely available on eBay and Etsy-- get one today!
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Manifestations Inc. Vitage Foil Op Art
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Embossed Foil Optical Illusion Art: two vintage foil art cards circa 1985 produced by embossed grooves on thin foil by a special Dufex type process. These tiny impressions (hundreds of grooves per inch) create controlled specular reflections that produce the illusion of motion as the viewer moves in relation to the source of light. Vintage art by Manifestations Inc out of Carlsbad CA
Get this inexpensive tool here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Magnetic Field Probe
The magnetic viewing film can be purchased here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Color Magnetic Viewing Film
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Magnaprobe: visualizing the invisible- a small bar magnet on a gimbal mount demonstrates magnetic field direction for points in space around a magnetized object. Red indicates the north pole and blue the south pole of the Magnaprobe dipole- the red end is attracted to any other magnet’s south pole like a 3D compass. Magnetic viewing film reveals a cross section of the magnetic field where colors correspond to intensity, but can’t show the direction of the field like the magnaprobe device can. Together these devices give us insights about the existence of magnetic fields that our five senses cannot detect.
Learn more: Tempo Duo Kineic Sculpture
Tempo Duo Kinetic Mobile: a sublime kinetic sculpture of two equally sized cubes with one seemingly floating in air. Simple physics of balance is employed but the mechanism is not immediately obvious. A sculpture by Drill Design studio out of Tokyo.
These vintage holograms are still available (and afordable):
From Etsy: BUY NOW: 3D Shakespeare Hologram
See other holograms in my collection.
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Shakespeare Motion Hologram: this 3D motion image from 1988 is perhaps the best example of an embossed, color-tuned, Benton type hologram ever made. Remarkably the image is produced only by the interference of light waves bouncing off tiny grooves pressed into metallic coated plastic (on the scale of 0.5 µm apart and 0.2 µm deep) and all contained on a plastic sheet thinner that a piece of paper. A limitation to the rainbow hologram technique (which is similar to those now found on credit cards) is that the 3D and motion effect is only produced from changing side to side viewing perspective, changes in vertical perspective only alter the color. This astonishing piece of art was produced by Craig Newswanger and his company Applied Holographics.
Get this vintage offcial US Postage space hologram here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: US Postage Hologram
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Postage Hologram: simple but effective 3D motion observed by moving the light source over this space themed embossed Benton type hologram. This is the first ever hologram stamp issued by the US Postal Service in 1989. Remarkably such images are produced only by the interference of light waves bouncing off tiny grooves pressed into metallic coated plastic (on the scale of 0.5 µm apart and 0.2 µm deep) and all contained on a plastic sheet thinner that a piece of paper.
Get this special mirror here:
From Arbor Sci: BUY NOW: Spherical Mirror
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Spherical Mirror and Pendulum: the curious inverted reflection from a concave spherical mirror. Despite a bit of distortion, the reflection sometimes seems to orbit the sphere.
Get one, expertly printed and assembled, here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Magic Portal Illusion Desk Toy
Or print it yourself: 3D Print Files: Magic Portal Desk Toy
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Magic Portal Illusion: this astonishing design utilizes the famous barber pole illusion to make it appear as though these colorful strands are passing in and out of a 4th dimension. The mechanical principle employed is similar to that of a lead screw and slider type actuator, except here translating the slider up and down rotates the helical strands at just the right rate to produce the illusion. An amazing 3D print creation of Ada Cohen, printed and assembled by Alex L. Kling.