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.
Well there’s your problem. When the bearings have that much accumulated crud inside, they don’t work as well as they should. Or at all.
The spring semester PHYS 212 course starts with electrostatics, and what could be more entertaining than a Van de Graaff generator? A whirring rubber belt on two different rollers – one acrylic, the other covered in dense wool – builds up an electric charge on the anodized aluminum dome. The air positively crackles, and the discharge arcs look pretty great in a dark room.
Plus, it makes your skin feel all weird if you get close but not too close.
Several of our suppliers toss snacks inside the boxes of stuff we’ve ordered. Sure, if we’re spending a thousand bucks on equipment, a little bag of colorful surprise is pretty much nothing. But who doesn’t crack a smile at unexpected snacks?
When learning about the laws of Ohm and Kirchhoff, it helps to have some hands-on experimentation, wiring together batteries and resistors and tiny little incandescent bulbs. Try it, see what happens, measure your voltage and current. Simple enough, yet more satisfying and memorable than just drawing squiggles on paper.
Plus, you get to open and close the switch like a tiny Frederick Frankenstein! Just try to resist the urge to shout out “My Creation Lives!” too loudly.
Occasionally, one piece slips past quality control. One little M3 screw, with a little less than half of its six millimeters threaded. Is it cute? Sure. Is it useful? Hardly.
Good thing we’re always ready with spares.
‘Tis the season for toy kits once more, full of little odds and ends to explore the basic principles of physics. Among them, the humble magnetic compass.
Works with the Earth’s magnetic field, permanent magnets (included in the kit), and even a homemade electromagnet (included in the kit, some assembly required).
Adorably tiny and not ideal for navigation. Please don’t entrust your wilderness survival to these.
The drinking bird, our unofficial department mascot. Even when one takes a tumble – and when it comes to glass bird versus floor, the floor always wins – there’s a great deal of respect for our top-hatted friends.
Kind of surprised someone hasn’t made up T-shirts yet, to be honest.
Welcome back, spring semester!
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!