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New Rube Goldberg-esque Device created in
Central New York
provides smiles and science at the MOST
Humor, fun, noise, science, chaos wheels and moving parts…are all rolled
up into the newest major exhibit. Joining the Earth Science Discovery Cave and
the Science Playhouse, which opened in December, is a unique Rube Goldberg apparatus
called “Technotown.”

Rube Goldberg devices are typically mechanical and extremely complex sculptures
with moving parts, rolling balls, noise and whimsy. They are known for being
particularly complicated in attempting to accomplish ordinary feats, such as
switching a light on. The new audio-kinetic exhibit at the MOST has been designed
by George Rhoads and fabricated by Bob McGuire of Rock Stream Studios, Ithaca,
NY. It engages people of all ages in learning about the scientific principles
because it is so entertaining and intriguing.
“Rube Goldberg” -- the name for these kinds of devices -- stems from
the late American cartoonist and comic strip artist, Ruben Lucius Goldberg. Goldberg’s
comics were extremely popular and well known for their depiction of eccentric
and multifaceted devices that completed the simplest of tasks.
Part of the MOST’s $6.5 million exhibit revitalization project, this newest
exhibit encompasses a variety of basic machinery elements and physics. It’s
not only amusing and amazing; it’s also a chance to learn about science.
Spectators will witness the conservation of energy, as one object collides with
another, bringing one to a halt and sending the other in motion. Visitors also
have the opportunity to interact with the exhibit and decide how certain things
take place. Sections of the exhibit allow the guest to hold back the balls and
then release them almost like a pinball machine.
View some of Rube's Inventions:
How
to Keep Shop Windows Clean
Simplified
Pencil Sharpener
Dodging
Bill Collectors
Keep
You From Forgetting To Mail Your Wife's Letter
Picture
Snapping Machine
Safety
Device for Walking on Icy Pavements
How
to Keep the Boss from Knowing you are Late for Work
How
to Tee up a Golf Ball Without Bending Over
Our
Special Never-Miss Putter
Golf
Inventions
“Symphony of the Spheres, a video about
George Rhoads’ sculpture
http://www.barrieaudiovideo.com/component/option,com_ezcatalog/task,viewcategory/id,3/Itemid,27/
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