Death of a Toothbrush
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Death of a Toothbrush
Protons for Breakfast
Download film (right-click)Artistic/Creative , Demonstration , Drama , Engineering , Make & Do , Physics , Secondary
Christian gets tired and goes to brush his teeth, but something sinister has happened to his toothbrush…
Director's Notes:
Bristlebots like this work on a principle that’s used, believe it or not, to move fuel pellets around in nuclear power stations. You’d think they’d just use conveyor belts, but no — the whole conveyor machinery would get contaminated. By sticking carefully-aligned piled fabric onto a vibrating platform, the pellets can be moved around with only the fabric surface coming into contact with them.
See this post at the SciCast blog for links to more on bristlebots.
SciCast Notes:
A nice simple film, this, showcasing neat use of stills and music to help tell a story and build a little tension. Filming the first part as video might have taken much longer, without adding much to the film overall. A technique worth remembering.
The bristlebots themselves are lovely, and it’s interesting to try to fathom how they work.
— Jonathan.