Discoveries in the Physics & Astronomy shop | Science, curiosities, and surprises
Welcome to Olin Science 181, the Physics & Astronomy department’s machine shop. As the department’s support team, we regularly discover, design, and build all sorts of curiosities. This blog is just a small sample of the fascinating things we come across every day.
They’re interesting. Sometimes strange. Sometimes oddly charming.
Always worth sharing.
Pretty sure we can decipher these:
All set!
Welcome back! It’s a new year, soon to be a new semester, and who knows what surprises await us all in 2026? Maybe door repair?
Proceed with cautious optimism!
Phew. It’s been a real 2025, if you catch our drift.
By this time next week, we’ll be on break. Get some rest, and we’ll see you all again in January!
Ah, the annual astronomy craters lab. Lots of sand, lots of color powder, a handful of marbles and ball bearings and slingshots. And a mess that’s really something to behold.
It’s definitely a “don’t wear your good clothes” sort of lab session.
And an “all hands on deck” cleanup effort.
There are times when you just can’t find the right tool for the job. So you take the closest candidate, shape it to size, and get to work.
3mm allen keys run about thirty cents apiece. Just remember to toss a few in the shopping cart next time.
Is that a Dalek in the loading dock, cleverly disguised as tiny TARDIS?
The stick figure logo is clearly intended to convey the idea of “keep out of reach of children,” but the vibe is definitely “play keepaway with children.”
It wasn’t unbreakable, but didn’t claim to be. Definitely didn’t shatter.
What to do when a battery-powered device would function better with fewer batteries? In our case, a dead-simple DC motor that gives better results when operating at 4.5 V instead of 6 V – but the holder that completes the circuit is sized for four AA batteries.
The answer: a battery-shaped slug of aluminum, which happily conducts current, fits in the place of a functional battery, and has some adorable bright-yellow heat-shrink tubing to stand out! Mostly because bright colors are easier to identify when you drop something on the floor. Round things have a habit of rolling off of surfaces at inopportune times.
There are many tools for communicating new ideas, including candy. Boxes upon boxes of candy intended for consumption in other countries, apparently.