Monthly Archives: August 2011
10Aug/111 comment
The History of the Musical Bench
Posted by Ryan
One of the exhibits currently in the Tinkering Studio is a musical bench. Nicole and I made it last year by sawing into a normal museum bench and adding a cricket computer to measure resistance and turn that value into … Continue reading
Tagged as: cricket computer, exhibits, history, making of, musical bench, ohm, tinkering
9Aug/11No comments
How pencils are made
Posted by Luigi
It’s often how we start a sketch for an idea, a drawing, or just something to chew on while you puzzle a problem in your head. But how are those iconic hexagonal pencils actually made? Pretty cool to observe the … Continue reading
7Aug/11No comments
pop-ups+ in progress
Posted by Ryoko
(Yay! So far everyday blog updates in this month!!) As we posted yesterday, we had the second pop-ups prototyping activity in the Tinkering Studio. I was happy to see that some High School Explainers came back after our first trial … Continue reading
6Aug/111 comment
Pop-up+
Posted by Luigi
We have just started experimenting with pop-up paper folding, and in addition to the basic folds and shapes, we’re trying to incorporate circuits and switches into it. Once again, instead of carrying out our prototyping behind the closed doors of … Continue reading
Tagged as: circuits, electricity, folding, paper, paper folding, pop up, popup, Video
5Aug/11No comments
Tinkering Moment of Zen: Magnum or Le Tigra?
Posted by Luigi
Also a sneak preview of the upcoming, super-cool, Tinkering t-shirt! For the record, I thought Ryan was snapping photos, not filming…
5Aug/111 comment
Summer Camp Session Two: Homopolar Motors
Posted by lianna
For the second session of our work with the Exploratorium Summer Camp we tried a new activity, homopolar motors. Sebastian tried this activity at Maker Faire with a range of people from kids to adults, and we wanted to find … Continue reading
4Aug/11No comments
Summertime Environment Updates
Posted by Ryan
As one facet of the Summer of Tinkering , we have been working on testing out ways to communicate with visitors why we have chosen the exhibits currently in the tinkering studio. As well we have been thinking about ways … Continue reading
Tagged as: design, maker faire, nicole catrett, norman tuck, oscylinder scope, QR codes, signs, tim hunkin, walls
3Aug/11No comments
They’ve done it again: world’s largest stop-motion animation!
Posted by Luigi
After making the world’s smallest stop-motion animation, the fine folks at Sumo Science and Aardman Animation now present the world’s largest: Gulp! After watching the movie, watch the making-of below, to get a peek into the enormous effort and care … Continue reading
Tagged as: aardman, animation, gulp, stop motion, stop motion animation, sumo science, Video
2Aug/114 comments
And now…Your Tinkering Studio Moment of Gross
Posted by lianna
What happens when your play doh sits, uncovered, for over a week? This: We suspect the speckles are salt crystals forming where the water has evaporated, but nobody is brave enough to lick it to be sure. But then, it … Continue reading
1Aug/112 comments
Homopolar Motor Sculptures at Maker Faire
Posted by Sebastian
Maker Faire was a great opportunity to prototypehomopolar motors, an activity we discovered earlier this year for the Tinkering Studio after a visit by Tim Hunkin. Since visitors had so many things to try at the Exploratorium Booth , I … Continue reading
