Over 100 Followers!

I'm happy to announce that yesterday I finally got 100 followers. I'm glad you're interested in what I post on my blog. I'd like to thank you all for your support and I hope that soon I'll get close to 200. Expect a new update tomorrow, or even today!

Question for today: Have you already known/seen any of tricks I've shown you here? If yes, when/where was it? Did they look good, or rather not so amusing?

Optical illusion #1: The Ball

This time I'd like to show you an amazing optical illusion I've recently found.

Here's the link to it: CLICK ME!

First, take a look at the ball. It will appear to fall straight from top to bottom.
Then look at the blue circle in the top right part of the page. The spinning disc will seem to change
its fall direction and "fall" leaning towards the left side.
To be honest, I think that it's about tricking your brain into thinking that the ball is constantly moving, while it's not. What is your opinion about the way this illusion works?

Paper planes #1

As the number in post's topic implies, this is just the first part of quick tutorials showing how to build various paper planes

 So far I've tried out both gliders, they fly well, but there certainly must be some better ones.

Dorodango

Recently, I came across a video showing how to make something potentially useless, made entirely of mud and dirt. Such thing is called Dorodango.

Wikipedia says that it's an art form in which earth and water are molded to create a delicate shiny sphere which looks simmilar to a marble or billiard ball. It originated in Japan.

Here you can find the video I've seen, just keep in mind that you have to skip through some sort of an advertisement first to watch it.

For those who would like to see what am I talking about without having to deal with some polish website, here you go:

1. First, we're going to need some mud, some dirt you used to make the mud in the first place, some close-to-powdery sand, a plastic bag or two and a LOT of patience.
2. Now, shape a ball with the mud, squeezing as much water out as it's possible.
3. Sprinkle the dirt onto it, keep rolling it with your hands. Repeat untill no more can stick to the sphere.
4. Do the same thing as in point 3, except that this time you need to use the sand.
5. After you're finished, rub your creation with your bare hands to get rid of whatever was left of the powder
6. Put the sphere in a plastic bag and place it in a fridge for about half an hour
7. Polish its surface with some soft material untill it becomes shiny!

That's it, I think I'll give this thing a try in a couple of days, because I'm going away on the 23rd July. I'll be back on the 2nd August. I'll write about it later.

Update: I fixed some typos I made, sorry for those...

Rude Goldberg photography

To be perfectly honest, I think that it took at least few weekd to set everything up. These guys put a LOT of effort to make this short video. Enjoy :)

Smoke grenade with a pull ring

First you have to make a mix of an oxidiser and sugar. After you're done, put such a mixture in a paper tube or desired size. The next thing you're gonna do is to make a pull ring for it.

1. Straighten out a paper clip.
2. Bend it in a circular shape.
3. Now, the tricky part. first, take a matchbox and cut out the part against which you rub matches to light them. Then take just a few inches of fuse (preferably 1 to 1,5mm in diameter), 6 to 8 matches and use duct tape tomake them stick together, with the fuse in center and matches around it.
4. Fold the piece of matchbox you've cut out earlier and put it on match heads and secure it with a rubber band.
5. You're done. if you attatch this device to a smoke grenade, you're gonna have a few seconds to throw it somewhere before it is actually ignited.

Zippo Lighter trick #1

I've tried it out myself. Looks great, but sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tried to get it working.