DailyDirt: Science With Lego
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
People do all sorts of creative stuff with Lego — even though Lego hasn’t always been cool about people using Lego or Lego-like bricks in various ways. But when Lego interconnecting block enthusiasts are allowed to do anything they want to do, sometimes science benefits. Here are just a few cool Lego-based science links for folks who aren’t ready to put away their childhood toys.
- Scientists from the Natural History Museum London built an insect manipulator out of Lego because it was a cheap way to make a customizable specimen holder. Using these Lego-based insect manipulators, the researchers will be able to digitize a wide variety of little critters. [url]
- If you’ve ever wondered how tall the tallest stack of Lego anyone can make would be, the theoretical answer is 3.5km using all 2×2 bricks. That’s about 375,000 bricks stacked until the bottom brick starts to deform from the weight. However, in reality, it would be extremely difficult to stack bricks without any leaning — so the tallest Lego tower actually built has only been about 32 meters tall. [url]
- The Open Worm project has put a virtual worm brain in a Lego robot body. The software simulates 302 neurons of a worm’s brain, but it’s not a complete biological replica in Lego plastic — otherwise if you put two together in a room, they’d be able to make a third robot. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: ai, diy, interconnecting blocks, open worm, robots, science, worm brain
Companies: lego
