Slashdot Mirror
Photographing Exploding Edibles
Isaac Skibinski writes "Remember gawking at photos of bullets going through apples (and the pretty fruit gibbage)? We've recently built an apparatus to capture similar results, using a BASIC controller stamp, a disposable camera flash, an air compressor, an electronic sprinkler valve and some pipe. Considering the cost of the device, it has allowed us to take suprisingly crisp photos of high-velocity objects."
Considering the cost of the device, it has allowed us to take suprisingly crisp photos of high-velocity objects.
Funding for this research was provided by porn co.
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In London? Need a Physics Tutor?
American Weblog in London
How many times he heard his mom screaming "STOP PLAYING WITH THE FOOD!"
If you want any of these pictures in a larger format, take a look here You really are just begging and pleading for a ./ing aren't you?
A button is hit, telling the micro-controller to open the valve, thus releasing the pressure and sending the waiting bolt hurdling forth at around 150 m/sec
His ping times suck!
Sent from your iPad.
There's got to be a research project in here somewhere... "Citrus Fruits and Their Implosion Properties". Maybe Apple would sponsor it.
SCO, Microsoft, P2P, what's your hot button?
using a BASIC controller stamp, a disposable camera flash, an air compressor, an electronic sprinkler valve and some pipe
MacGyver got a new hobby....but where's the duct tape???
Gesundheit!
I can see it now..
"Ok, We'll need a disposable camera flash, an air compressor, an electronic sprinkler valve, and some pipe. This is gonna be a killer bong, man! Oh wait... look what else we can do with all this stuff!"
'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.' -HST
This has potential - kebab-making for the extreme sports enthusiast.
...to put it in their own words, the bolt could "go across the room, bounce off of various objects, and become swiftly lodged into our soft brains".
Sure, but they'd have a perfect photo of it!
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
I know it's dumb, but I sometimes I wish I could go back to those days of having such little responsibilities and being entertained so easily ...
How to REALLY defend yourself against an attacker bearing fresh fruit!! Using a bolt gun is cool, but I wonder if they could rework the system to be used with a cannon...
~~ Everyone run! All has been found out!
I just viewed ALL the photos on the site BEFORE it got slasdotted! Where's my award?!
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Maybe tidy up the "lab" a little next time? You are being /.'d after all.
Watching an exploding lemon, caught endlessly in the throes of passionate destruction, well...it feels a little pornographic, doesn't it?
I *SO* hope my son ends up doing stuff like this when he gets older. At least this project produced some cool arguably scientific evidence. We only ended up with messes or trying to figure out good alibis.
1. 8 year old male
2. All-syrup squishee. Add caffeine to taste
3. Hand the kid the camera.
That should be enough for the kid's reflexes to match this elaborate setup.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
Cartman: No, Marvin, those are not for eating, they are for making photos while we make them explode!
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
I decided, at my 8-year-old's insistence, to build a tennis ball thrower for my 2 year old Yellow Lab. I went and found some parts - basically two 2-foot lengths of 2" PVC, some various PVC connectors, a switch box with a 9 volt battery, all wired to a sprinkler valve between the two pieces of PVC. It looked like an awkward "U" of PVC and electronics taped together.
One of the PVC tubes had an endcap with a welding pressure guage threaded into it, along with a brass air valve. The PVC was rated at something like 400 psi. But, I figured, for my test, I would stick to something low, like around 35 or 40.
So, I'm out in the garage, dog anxiously at my side, filling up the pressure tube to about 45 psi. I let it sit, stood back, and everything seemed to hold well for about 60 seconds, so I thought, "Yeah, this is safe. Cool!"
I started looking around for the tennis ball I've brought with me to take it outside and try it. I turned around to pick it up off the floor, and there was this HORRENDOUS BOOM!!! followed by some crashing around and various things falling off of shelves.
I collect my thoughts, and after making sure all my limbs and digits are still on, I look over at the garage door. There is a large, pumpkin-sized dent in the door - about 5 inches deep - with a beautiful hole about the size of the $40 pressure guage at the center of it.
I looked around for the dog, who'd been at my side, and found nothing but a cute little urine trail off into the corner of the garage where the dog was cowering.
Jesus. What the hell happened?!? Apparently, the glue wasn't quite dried on the PVC - it was only about an hour old, and the end of the pipe blew off, putting a huge dent in my garage door, and blowing the rest of the contraption back across the shop, knocking down canning jars and various stored things.
So, I coaxed the dog out of the garage for a few minutes, and walked out into the sunlight to shake my head and give up on this, and hear, "Hello?!? Everyone OK?!" It was a COP!
Apparently several people had called about the shotgun/explosion/whatever and the cop was highly concerned. Nothing like seeing a cop, gun drawn, coming aroudn the corner of your house.
Anyway, I was told in no uncertain terms that it was illegal to play with any of this stuff (yes, even only compressed air) within city limits, and...well...I can see why.
Poor dog. I just throw the ball, these days.
Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
Lets see, I was about 7 years old, playing in the field behind our house setting ants on fire with a magnifying glass. It was a dry summer and at some point the field itself caught fire. All the neighborhood came from all around to put out the fire with hoses and shovels and blankets. It burned about 2 acres before we finally got it all out.
Lots of angry people marched me to my door and told me to go inside and tell my mother what I had done. It turns out that even though she was sitting by the window, she was on the phone with the TV on and never noticed. When I tried to tell her she laughed and to this day doesn't believe it ever happened.