Styrofoam tomatoes

 

The original tweet with the above image said "We found this tribute to polymer chemistry on our honeymoon to France"

The follow-up post included the two images below and this text, "So @Tim_H pointed out that these

s look like polystyrene and now I cannot unsee it."

See, it's funny because Tim_H is correct.

The tomatoes on the vine do look like polystyrene with its benzene functional groups on a polyethylene chain.

The very hungry radical

 

That's so cute...and it explains polymerization pretty well (initial creation of radicals via UV exposure, radicals breaking C=C bonds to create more radicals, eventual termination by 'meeting' another radical)...and it references Eric Carle's classic book.

Thanks to @diflourine for creating this and allowing it to be shared in classes.

Lambert Glass (part 2)

Just more mesmerizing glass videos from Lambert Glass today. (Check out more Lambert videos yesterday.)

Above they make rolled table glass, similarly to how they make glass in Kokomo, Indiana.

Below they make traditional rondels and crown bullions.

Lambert Glass (part 1)

This is both confusing and fascinating to me.

I know there are more efficient, modern methods to make flat glass like the above video makes.

The Lambert Glass website, however, states that...

Lamberts-Glass is glass with a soul. We are the only manufacturer in Germany who still uses traditional methods to produce window glass: Mouth-blown glass is worked into flat panels in a complex procedure. We even manufacture coloured glass, so-called ‘streaky glass’ or ‘flashed glass’, by hand. Our manufacturing methods result in glass with a specific structure, making it particularly suitable for use in historic preservation or glass art.

So I guess they use traditional methods because it produces traditional glass with all the beauty and flaws that would create.

Whatever their reasons, the results are stunningly beautiful, especially in their standard and unique flashed glass panels.

I am, admittedly, thoroughly enamored with the beauty of the Lambert glass. If anybody wants to drop a few bucks, I wouldn't reject a gift of the Lambert sample box with 250 samples of their glass. I don't have any reason to own it, and I have no idea what I'd do with it other than pull the samples out and hold them up to a really sunny window from time to time. But I want it.

I'll throw a few more videos after the jump. Today we'll focus on their handblown plate glass. Tomorrow I'll come back with videos of their craftsmen making other products.

Forged - Making a Rogue Barbell - 4k Extended Cut

Pretty...so pretty...

This video takes full advantage of gorgeous images of fire and smelting from a steel refinery - even timed and slo-mo'ed to match the pace of the accompanying music - then follows that steel through the factory as it's turned into a barbell. 

Honestly there's not much teaching going on here. It's just really nicely edited footabge of manufacturing.

The Genius of 3D Printed Rockets

There's a part of me that looks at this video's tour guide like he's from the Parks and Rec Grizzyl offices. I know he's probably brilliant - his wikipedia article certainly suggests so - but it's like Dr Derek is getting a tour around a rocket factory from a teenager. 

This is another video where I spent much of the time with my mouth agape once I realized how revolutionary this method of production could be if they get all the hiccups worked out. The process seems like an extreme of the 'build it fast and wrong, then build it again and better' style of prototyping and manufacturing.

If you have the time, compare this video in which rockets bodies and engine parts are 3d printed from aluminum and alloys to the old-school rocket manufacturing tour from Smarter Every Day. I don't know which is better, but they show radically different approaches.