In order to create a shadow, you need three things: light, something blocking the light, and a surface for the shadow to fall on. A shadow is an area where light is being blocked. You see your shadow ...

Make a truth teller for light. Turn an old CD into a spectroscope to analyze light—you may be surprised by what you see. Try pointing your CD spectroscope at the fluorescent light in your room, sunlit ...

We have been prototyping a new automata activity called “Cranky Contraptions” using simple materials such as wooden blocks, wire, and foamies. Now that it’s been about a month that we have been ...

The free version of the Stop Motion Studio application will let you quickly take and combine multiple photos into an animation. Download the Stop Motion Studio app for iOS or Android to try it out!

Happy National DNA Day, which commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953. Published sixty-four years ago in the journal ...

Bring a drawing to life in just two pages! Animated videos are usually created by showing thousands of images very rapidly — which means they take a LONG time to make. But you can make a scene or ...

1. What’s the claim? 2. Who says? 3. What’s the evidence? 4. How did they get the evidence? 5. Is there anything (or anyone) to back up this claim? 6. Could there be another explanation? 7. Who cares?

Obviously this is a gross oversimplification of how a stadium wave actually works. An actual stadium wave simulator was created by professor Tamás Vicsek of Eötvos Loránd University in Budapest. He ...

What do plants know about numbers? A certain spiral pattern commonly seen in sunflowers, pinecones, and many species of cacti contains some surprising numerical properties. In this brisk talk, Paul ...

Over the past several years of doing automata, we've developed some "classic" motion examples for participants to check out as they are starting to design their creations.

Fireworks may be a really fun way to celebrate the Fourth of July, but we know they are more than a little dangerous. The solution? Grab a friend and make your own liquid fireworks with this simple ...

Like a lot of people right now, my workspace looks a little different. I prototype on the kitchen table instead of in the Tinkering Studio, and I’ve essentially stopped ever taking out the recycling ...