Kid Videos

This is the place where I collect cool videos for visitors to Science on the Brain.

Friday, August 31, 2007

The WASP (Williams Aerial Systems Platform)



Description from video:

The Williams X-Jet, created by Williams International, was a small, light-weight Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) system powered by a modified Williams F107 turbofan aircraft engine. It was designed to be operated by and carry one person and controlled by leaning in the direction of desired travel and adjusting the power. It could move in any direction, accelerate rapidly, hover, and rotate on its axis, staying aloft for up to 45 minutes and traveling at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). It was evaluated by the U.S. Army in the 1980s, and was deemed inferior to the capabilities of helicopters and small unmanned aircraft.

Other VTOL systems developed by Williams International included a jet-powered flying belt developed in 1969, which was powered by a Williams WR19 fanjet, and the WASP (Williams Aerial Systems Platform) developed in the 1970s, which was powered by the more powerful WR19-9. This vehicle was nicknamed "The Flying Pulpit".


Photos and links: Williams X-Jet

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Can sharks detect a drop of blood?

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

D30 material



Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Making fluorescent light bulbs

Monday, August 27, 2007

Supercooled water experiment

The water has been "supercooled" so that it is below the freezing point of water. When you por it out, it freezes instantly:



Same idea:

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Easy DIY CNC Mill

A "CNC mill" is a computer-controlled machine that can cut materials into new shapes. Lots of manufacturers use them to create parts, and "real" CNC machines cost as much as a car. This video shows a very simple, very inexpensive CNC machine so that, at a basic level, you can see how one works.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Very fast Smart

A "Smart car" is one of the smallest cars on the road today. When you buy one it has a small engine and can't really go that fast.

The Ferrari is one of the fastest cars on the road today.

So how can a Smart car beat a Ferrari?



As you can see in the following video, looks can be deceiving. Because the Smart is so small and light, if you give it a powerful engine and totally modify the frame to handle that engine, it can go very fast:



You can see the same thing here - if you put a powerful engine in a light car, the car can go very fast:

Friday, August 24, 2007

This bulb

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Telescope camera

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Lego gun



Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Cell phone can antenna

Monday, August 20, 2007

How to hit a home run

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Make Your Own Catapult Out of PVC Piping!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

400 Way Skydiving World Record



not as easy as it looks:

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

World's best tricks volume 1

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Making The Broken EP

Saturday, August 11, 2007

High speed reel

Friday, August 10, 2007

How to do green screen (Chromakey)

These 3 videos explain how to do "green screen" effects:

- How to make awesome green screen

- Part 2

- Windows Chroma Key How To

Thursday, August 09, 2007

First man In Space - Skydiving from the edge of the world

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Invisible Water Effect

If you use a really heavy gas like sulfur hexafluoride, it is so heavy that it acts like water:

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Indoor skydiving in Las Vegas

paper airplane

Monday, August 06, 2007

Singing Tesla Coil



If you read the video description, it looks like this: "This is a solid-state Tesla coil. The primary runs at its resonant frequency in the 41 KHz range, and is modulated from the control unit in order to generate the tones you hear.

So just to explain a little further, yes, it is the actual high voltage sparks that are making the noise. Every cycle of the music is a burst of sparks at 41 KHz, triggered by digital circuitry at the end of a "long" piece of fiber optics.

What's not immediately obvious in this video is how loud this is. Many people were covering their ears, dogs were barking. In the sections where the crowd is cheering and the coils is starting and stopping, you can hear the the crowd is drowned out by the coil when it's firing.

This Tesla coil was built and is owned by Steve Ward. Steve is a EE student at U of I Urbana-Champaign. He and Jeff have been going to Teslathons, which is where they met."

From this description, you might go explore in Google and find links like this: How to build a simple solid state Tesla Coil. You might also go learn more about Teslathons, which I had never heard of before.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Bridge collapse

Bridge collapses are very rare, so when this one happened in Minneapolis it shocked the nation. A big part of bridge design today is to build in lots of redundancy (extra strength) to prevent this kind of thing from happening. It is still unclear what caused this bridge to collapse:



Saturday, August 04, 2007

Jake Brown falls 40+ feet & walks away

You watch the video and wonder how it is possible. The physics of the fall are just amazing:

Friday, August 03, 2007

Dinosaur hunters secrets of the gobi desert

Thursday, August 02, 2007

42 Inch Box Jump

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Backyard roller coasters