When Life Gives You Lemons, Make A Rube Goldberg Machine

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. At least that’s what the [Sprice Machines] thought when they decided to turn a house into the set of a 9-minute long Rube Goldberg machine to make lemonade. (Video embedded below.) The complex chain reactions runs across multiple rooms, using everyday objects like brooms and even a vibrating smartphone to transfer energy across the complex contraption.

While the team professionally builds Rube Goldberg machines for clients, the Lemonade Machine looks surprisingly organic, like something a family might decide to do for fun over a long weekend (although there area few moments that make you question just how they were able to perfectly time every sequence in the chain reaction). Even though the actual lemonade making only takes up a small fraction of the machine, watching marble runs, weights dashing across a clothesline, and random household items repurposed into energy transfer mechanisms is really entertaining.

The [Sprice Machines] have been making Rube Goldberg machines for quite some time, posting the videos of their final runs on YouTube. Other builders for the Lemonade Machine included [Hevesh5], [DrComplicated], [DoodleChaos], [TheInvention11], [5MadMovieMakers], and [SmileyPeaceFun].

If you’re into Rube Goldberg machines, check out some of the other awesome projects that we’ve featured over the years on the blog.

Continue reading “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make A Rube Goldberg Machine”

Irène Joliot-Curie And Artificial Radioactivity

When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered the natural radioactive elements polonium and radium, they did something truly remarkable– they uncovered an entirely new property of matter. The Curies’ work was the key to unlocking the mysteries of the atom, which was previously thought to be indivisible. Their research opened the door to nuclear medicine and clean energy, and it also led to the development of nuclear weapons.

Irène Joliot-Curie, her husband Frédéric, and many of their contemporaries were completely against the use of nuclear science as a weapon. They risked their lives to guard their work from governments hell-bent on destruction, and most of them, Irène included, ultimately sacrificed their health and longevity for the good of society. Continue reading “Irène Joliot-Curie And Artificial Radioactivity”