Orbiter: Delux Button Buzzer
Hard to find but avilable here:
From Star Majic: BUY NOW: Orbiter Whirlygig Buzzer
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Deluxe Button Buzzer: the classic spinning button on a loop of string with an added elastic ribbon assembly. The bulge of the ribbon is proportional to the centripetal acceleration- the faster it spins the more the ribbing bows outward. A classic button buzzer can reach 20,000 rpms in normal play, even at 240 fps the ribbon is just a blur. Sold as the Orbiter by Rainbow Products toys.
Ambiguous Suits & Hearts
Get this ambigous object illusion here:
From Grand Illusions: BUY NOW: Heart Metamorphosis by Kokichi Sugihara
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See other: ambigous object illusions in my collection
Ambiguous Suits & Hearts: I first discovered and posted the work of mathematician Kokichi Sugihara’s amazing ambiguous object illusions in 2017. Here is one more really nice example of his original work that was sent to me by my good friend Tim Rowett.
Diffraction Grating Suncatcher
Get one here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Diffraction Grating Suncatcher
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Diffraction Grating Suncatcher: a radial mosaic of thin plastic diffraction gratings produces a starburst of rainbows. Constructive and deconstructive interference, via the tiny slits in the grating, sorts and spreads out the continuum of wavelengths within the white sunlight. A wonderful piece for any sun facing window by Rainbow Symphony designs.
Natural Fiber Optic Condiut (TV Rock)
Samples of Satin Spar that will demonstrate this property available here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: TV Rock: Satin Spar Rod
Get samples of Ulexite here
From eBay: BUY NOW TV Rock: Ulexite
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Natural Fiber Optic Conduit: a special crystalline form of the mineral gypsum acts as a natural fiber optic image conduit. I found this rectangular cut and polished sample in a new age crystal shop in Sedona AZ. Morocco seems to be the main source of this fibrous form, called satin spar gypsum, which exhibits pearl like luster and chatoyancy along two axes and transparency along the direction of the fibers. Each natural crystal microfiber extends the length of the rod and acts like a man made glass fiber where the index of refraction is just right to allow internal reflection to propagate light from one end to the other.
Arch Balance Toy
Get this elegant toy here:
From Ludus Ludi in Spain: Nivana Balance Toy
Note: this site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Arch Balance Toy: this elegant sculpture toy seemingly defies gravity- a careful placement of the pendulum will locate the center of mass of the arch + pendulum system directly above the 1cm wide foot of the arch, creating a state of unstable equilibrium. No magnets used or needed for this physics! Hang and balance your favorite object from this arch. Made in Spain by Pico Pao, the Nirvana balance toy come with an old fashioned throwing top as the pendulum bob.
Jansen's Linkage Walker
Get this device here:
From engineDIY: BUY NOW: Jansen's Linkage Walker
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Jansen’s Linkage Walker: a mesmerizing motorized sculpture that features Jansen’s linkage- a unique leg mechanism which converts rotary motion of a crackshaft into smooth walking motion. The linkage used here was invented by artist Theo Jansen for his “strandbeest” creations which are usually a couple meters high and walk the beaches of the Netherlands powered by the wind. This kinetic sculpture is powered by two AAA batteries and comes with complete with display stand.
Daruma Otoshi
Get this traditional physics toy here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Daruma Drop Toy
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Daruma Otoshi (Dropping Daruma): a traditional Japanese physics toy. Use the hammer to knock out pieces, but without tipping over the stack. Newton’s 1st Law as seen in slow motion- a mass at rest tends to stay at rest.
"World's Tiniest" Plasma Globe
This tiny one is produced by Playmaker Toys, available here: World's Tiniest Plama Light
Inexpensive plamsa globes available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Plasma Globe Lights
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“World’s Tiniest” Plasma Globe: an amazing scaled down and USB powered version of the classic high frequency/voltage Tesla coil based physics toy. The sphere contains a mix of low pressure noble gasses that exhibit colorful glow discharge in the plasma filaments that rise upward due to heating. This version by Playmaker Toys
The Klein Bottle
The best Klein Bottles are made by Cliff Stoll, astronomer, mathematician and artist. Every one-sided, zero volume bottle is packaged and shipped by Cliff himself. Get one today!
From ACME Klein Bottles: Buy NOW Klein Bottles by Cliff Stoll
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Wikipedia has great details on the Klien Bottle, and the amazing Cliff Stoll.
The Klein Bottle: 3D representation of a four dimensional mathematical object with one side, no edges, and zero volume. Kind of like a Möbius strip with no edges.* Math meets glass art! Many thanks to Cliff Stoll for this kind gift and a great visit including a wonderful tour of his collection of mathematical oddities. *only achievable in 4D.
Spin Flux Vision
Get this precision made tactile fidget here:
From FeelFlux.com: BUY NOW: Spin Flux Vision
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Spin Flux Vision: a very strong neodymium magnet ball is embedded within a doughnut shaped chunk of copper resulting in a uniquely tactile fidget toy- when one tries to spin the magnetic sphere the copper surroundings seem to fight back depending on the orientation of the magnetic poles (made visible via colorful magnetic viewing film). The changing magnetic field from the moving magnet produces electric currents in the copper- these 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
Cubic Holoscope
Order a holoscope from the artist's gallery here:
The artwork of Gary Allison: BUY NOW Holoscopeworld.com
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Cubic Holoscope: a cube of mirrors creates a geometric universe within. A type of kaleidoscope based on truncated Platonic solids by artist Gary Allison @holoscope2000. Through the symmetry of the reflections, these triangles appear as an infinite array of repeating stellated octahedrons. Each holoscope has stained glass on the exterior and front surface mirrors on the inside which create the amazing and seemingly impossible spaces.
Drop & Pop
Available from these fine sources:
From Educational Innovations: BUY NOW Dropper Popper
From Amazon: BUY NOW Drop and Pop Toys
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Drop & Pop: stored elastic energy. The elastic potential energy of the inverted rubber is released upon impact sending the half-sphere to hit the ceiling. Upon impact the popper reconfigures back to its original shape in the blink of an eye, shown here recorded at approximately 480fps.
Moon and Earth Globes- to scale!
This moon globe is available here:
From globemakers.com: BUY NOW: 3.3" Moon Globe
Check out too this amazing lunar globe
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Moon and Earth Globes: to scale! In anticipation of the upcoming solar eclipse here are two of the participants. This moon globe is special, measuring 3.3 inches in diameter- the size it would be in proper proportion to a 12 inch Earth globe. Using this same scale, the Moon globe would be orbiting 30 feet away from the Earth globe. To scale 3.3 inch Moon globes are hard to find, this one was made by Greaves & Thomas.
Moon Rock: Lunar Meteorite
Lunar Meteorite sampels are now quite affordable.Some are listed on Etsy:
From Etsy BUY NOW: Lunar Meteorite Sample
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Here is the offcial data on this particular meteorite: Tisserlitine 001
How do we know it's from the Moon? Here's a good overview of the science.
Moon Rock: an actual chunk of the lunar surface, a piece of regolith breccia that was splashed into space long ago when an asteroid cratered into the Moon- a process not too uncommon as the escape velocity of the Moon is quite small. This piece went into orbit around the Earth and finally fell from the sky to land in Mali Africa. The lunar origin of this meteorite (found in 2019 and designated Tisserlitine 001) is well established: it is made of the exact same minerals as the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions, importantly it has zero content of any of the most common Earth minerals, and the internal structure of the grain size distribution is fractal unlike any rocks formed on Earth (which feature geological sorting from erosion and stronger gravity- processes that don’t happen on the Moon). These and many other chemical and physical tests confirm the lunar origin of this sample. Of the 65000+ classified meteorites in scientific databases, only 436 are known to have come from the Moon. Amazingly, small pieces of these meteorites, like this sample shown here, can be purchased.
Moon Globe with Raised Relief
Get this incredible globe here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW: Terrainian Space Globes
Moon Globe with Raised Relief: explore our Moon in your own hands with this incredibly detailed lunar globe where all surface features have been rendered in 3D topographic relief- where the mountains and craters actually cast shadows. Note how the selenography of the far side is radically different from the familiar near side- with no flat maria plains- and craters stacked upon more craters. Humanity has only known what the far side looks like since 1959 when the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 took the first photos, and the Moon’s full map was completed via NASA’s Clementine orbiter in 1995- the data upon which this globe was made. Shown also are the six Apollo landing sites where humans have left footprints in the lunar regolith. This globe is made by Jeff Hobbs of Terrainian Space Globes by a process of precision CNC machining and cold casting techniques, complete with space-age look base stand.
Nova Plexus Interlocking Puzzle
Precision machined and available in brass or stainless steel:
From Eureka Puzzles and Games: BUY NOW: Nova Plexus Puzzle
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Nova Plexus Puzzle: 12 identical brass rods can create 4 interlocking triangles in a perfect symmetry- look carefully and you can see that each rod is in an identical configuration with the 5 others that connect with it. Precision machined notches on the ends of the rods allow them to interlock with elastic tension such that vector sum of the 5 forces on each rod is zero- creating this astonishing geometry as the equilibrium state. Unlock the ends of any two rods and the system instantly disassembles (swipe to view process in slow motion). Invented/designed by artist and computer scientist Geoff Wyvill in 1978, this puzzle has just recently been made available for sale with a limited production run.
Crossed Helical Gear Fidget
Get this inexpensive fidget here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: helical gear fidget
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Crossed Helical Gears Fidget: rotation turning a 90 degree corner- such a gear arrangement functions through a sliding motion between cogs along with rolling as standard gears would mesh. A fun 3D print!