Tim's blog

            

Thanks to some hard work and generosity from the SLSC Public Programs department, staff had the opportunity last week to walk across water.

"How?" you ask?

By combining corn starch with the proper amount of water, you can reach of state of matter we call OOBLECK, a Non-Newtonian Fluid which retains shape when under pressure but melts and fills a space like water. This means you can hit it, roll it in your hands, and even walk on it. However, the second you stop moving your feet, you will begin to sink.

Interested in learning more about Oobleck and other gross, sticky, fun science concepts? Give us a call at 314.289.1414 and book a program for your group. Who knows? Maybe we can bring Oobleck to you!

Reporting to you from the front lines of the fast food experiment. Day 8 (Day 5 for the homemade) has brought forth some fascinating arrivals. Every food container has developed some form of mold, typically in the fries. This has been a very unexpected development. All I did was take the food items straight from their bags and place them in the containers. All items are molding and it has started first with the fries. I thought for sure it would start with the burgers/buns because of the meat and cheese. I guess I was wrong.Check out this photo of the Wendy's burger from today and see more on Flickr to see daily updates of the experiment. I'm both excited and nervous about what I will see when I come back on Monday from the weekend!

Well, it's official: Wendy's french fries have begun to mold! I was curious which fast food place would start to show mold, and I thought Wendy's might be first with their new slogan: "Fresh, Never Frozen."See that mold right there in the middle?

This bodes well for them, however, I was surprised it was the fries that molded first. I was expecting it to be the cheeseburger. Check out the photos here and look for more at our Flickr photo page! Look closely and you will see.

Visitors to the Taylor Community Science Resource Building in the last week may have noticed a new addition to the walls by the teen room. Fuzzy Fast Food is an experiment I've set up designed to watch what happens as a cheeseburger and fries is left to mold. I bought food from 4 major fast food chains (Burger King, Hardee's, McDonald's, Wendy's) and made one cheeseburger and fries from scratch at home.

I am curious to see which one will mold first, and if some items will not mold at all...what do you think will happen? Come by the building and check out the observations. If you wish, write down your own observations for that day!

I will post updates here as they occur.

Some additional photos from the Science Makers event have been added to Flickr. You can check out more of the photos by clicking here. Thanks again to everyone who attended and helped make this event successful!