Others have remarked about the serene beauty of a complex mechanism precisely engineered to perform a single task, that would be simple for a person, just for the purpose of delighting its operator and/or audience. Witness Air Sculpture, by Japanese automatist Kazu Harada, case in point.
Continue ReadingOne of the coolest things I saw at the Bay Area Maker Faire this year was a group of people using a simple string-and-sticks tool to blow enormous soap bubbles. Toni at Design Dazzle has a wonderful tutorial for creating your own giant bubble set for your kids. It includes the recipe for the soap […]
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I held off on “giant,” because, well, there’s really big, and then there’s giant. And, as cool as your Arduino-brained bubble blowing robot is, Instructables user zvizvi, the bubbles it blows are not truly giant IMNSHO. Check out zvizvi’s and the other winning entries in Instructables’ recent Microcontroller Contest.
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Isaac couldn’t stomach the $1.25 price tag of his daily ginger beer habit so he decided to make his own home carbonation system from a few old soda bottles, a snap-in valve stem, and a CO2 pump. If you’re picky about the quality of carbonation, this method “produces bubbles of a very fine character,” according […]
Continue ReadingI’m completely enamored by Tom Falconer’s gorgeous bubble photography, and he was nice enough to share his tips and tricks with us. Tom is a Tahoe resident, so he’s blessed by beautiful surroundings and cold temps that make shots like the one above possible. When I asked about shooting frozen bubbles, he said: “Frozen bubbles […]
Continue ReadingYou don’t have to spend a lot to find a fantastic gift! Just take a moment to reflect on the recipient. Thoughtful gifts that show you know the person are worth much more than expensive-but-bland gifts. Suspenders ($14.50 – $19.95)Rainbow suspenders! Unexpected, fun, and occasionally practical. These rainbow bad boys from Suspenders.com are heavy duty, […]
Continue ReadingNo photos yet. That’s a homework assignment for the bubble chemists in the audience. But I couldn’t resist sharing my excitement over this paragraph from US patent 5246631 for glowing soap bubbles:
An example of practice of the present invention involves using a liquid dish such as LEMON JOY available from Procter & Gamble Company (Cincinnati, Ohio). Although the LEMON JOY may be diluted with varying amounts of water, it is preferred that the dishwashing liquid be used at full strength. Approximately 9 milliliters of CYALUME solution made in accordance with the manufacturers instructions are added to approximately 120 milliliters of the dishwashing liquid. Although this particular mixture may be used to produce adequate self-illuminated bubbles, it is preferred that 3 to 4 drops of glycerin be added to the solution as a bubble hardener. The solution is then ready for use to form self-illuminated bubbles.
I’ve never actually measured how much Cyalume (wikipedia) is in a standard glow-stick, but I’m betting you could come up with 9 mL of the stuff by cutting open two or three at most.
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