Disassembling VHS tapes for recycling

A friend gave me a stack of VHS tapes as a challenge to recycle. VHS tapes have many different materials, molded plastic pieces, springs, screws and spools of magnetic tape. The cases too may be made of various plastics or cardboard. 

Taking the tapes apart usually requires removing five phillips screws and cutting any labels so the two large plastic parts of the case can open.

The tape is usually held in place on the spools with a plastic key. If the last person to use the tape did not follow the "Be Kind Unwind" rule then you can use an electric drill with a piece of metal folded in the chuck to spin the spool and wind on the tape.

Removing the key releases the tape from the spool.

I am still experimenting what the various parts can be used for and I have started some art projects with the tape.   

DIY selfie-stick-tripod adaptor for phones

I had a pocket tripod and a selfie-stick and so I created an adaptor to join the selfie-stick's phone mount to the tripod.


Using recycled ice cream sticks that I cut, glued, drilled, shaped and painted, the adaptor gives me a stable semi-adjustable phone tripod for shooting video.

Selfie-stick-tripod

Selfie-stick-tripod selfie.

Astronomical clock, Prague

Dating back to 1410, the Astronomical Clock in Prague is one of the oldest astronomical clocks in the world and the oldest one still operating. Every hour, there is a clockwork display called "The Walk of the Apostles", where statues of Apostles and other figures including Death appear followed by the clock chiming the hour.

One of the interesting features of the clock is the 24-hour face with present day time and Old Czech Time on the outer ring. This ring moves each day with 24 indicating the sunset.

Zodiac symbols appear on the astronomical dial (top) and calendar (below).  

In the above photo, taken at 13:49 on 27 March 2019, the clock shows the Sun has recently exited from Pisces into Aries, the Moon is near the Last Quarter phase, and the hour hand is approaching two in the afternoon.   

More info on all the features of the clock is available on Wikipedia.

Video playlists

Over the years we have featured many videos on the MuzGadgets blog.

Here are all the YouTube videos in a playlist for your convenience:

OK GO Sandbox

The band OK GO have a sandbox of online resources around their music videos for STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Math) education.

The science and math behind some of their recent videos are discussed and they present challenges for students to create their own animations, music and experiments.

Watch the OK GO Sandbox videos here:



Explore the OK GO Sandbox here.

The One Moment

Yet another awesome music video from OK Go. 

There was a lot of math involved in getting all of the pyrotechnics to sync exactly with the music.

Another video showing more of the behind the scenes story.

Why NTSC has 29.97 fps

Standup mathematician, Matt Parker, explains why NTSC has 29.97 frames per second.

See also the behind the scenes on how Matt made this episode.

How "green screen" worked

Tom Scott gives an informative presentation on how film and video did "green screen" editing before computers.

For info on how "green screen" works now, ask the Muzgadget Bro at Outpost.

UNI-CUB - personal mobility device featured in OK Go's "I won't let you down"

OK Go recently released another amazing video for their song "I won't let you down" featuring the Honda UNI-CUB personal mobility device.

The UNI-CUB is ideal for the music video featuring the band and synchronized dancers because it has unique omni-directional maneuverability and auto-balancing. The balance control technology and Honda’s proprietary driving wheel system in the UNI-CUB originated from their research into humanoid robots such as ASIMO.

Watch an interview with Damian and Tim on some of their inspiration for the video and behind-the-scenes challenges.

Explore more including interactive video of the song at I won't let you down. The pre-visualization is really cool - you can create your own version of the video with UNI-CUB riders and umbrellas.

Dynamic Remote 3D Shape Display

A team from the Tangible Media Group at MIT are working on the inFORM system, a Dynamic Shape Display that can render 3D content physically using Microsoft Kinects and a matrix of actuators. The system allows video conference participants to physically interact remotely.

Best science museum visit yet: Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris

In July we spent 10 nights in Paris and visited many of the touristic sites as well as sites that our science loving kids would enjoy. The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (City of Science and Industry) was so amazing and so big that we spent two full days there.

Full of interactive exhibits on: Mathematics, Sounds, Space Travel, Communication, Genetics, Light, Images, Energy, Design and Innovation, Transportation, the Universe as well as temporary exhibits: Economics, Futurotextiles, Housing for tomorrow, and Leonaro da Vinci's projects, designs and machines; the Cité des Sciences is the largest science museum in Europe and France's fifth most popular museum.

All of the exhibits were top quality. Almost all were in multiple languages (including Braille). The depth of science was amazing - nothing was dumbed down and with so many exhibits there was something for everyone. I was impressed by the use of four synchronized projectors on a hanging sphere in an Earthwatch: the satellite revolution exhibit that gave a realistic impression of the revolving and changing world while the story of the exhibit was being told.

Our children enjoyed the 5-12 years activity area which featured a TV studio, an ant colony, communication, fun with water and a factory - they produced their own robot cut personalized cardboard boxes.

Outside, we visited the Argonaute submarine that hunted submarines in the 1950s and watched a 3D movie about dragons at the Geode hemispherical cinema.

Futurotextiles was closed and being packed up on our second visit. We didn't have time to see the Multimedia Library or the Planetarium and the Aquarium was under renovation. Perhaps next time!

Custom one man band

An amazing one man custom built orchestra. In this video, Diego Stocco not only builds his own instruments, but composes and plays the full orchestral piece.

Diego Stocco - Custom Built Orchestra from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

As seen on ada fruit industries blog.

Learning from MacGyver

Students at Freyberg High School in Palmerston North, New Zealand are learning what to do in life-threatening situations from MacGyver reruns.

During screening of the MacGyver epsiodes, computing teacher Gareth Bell pauses the video to ask if the science behind what MacGyver is doing will work in real life. Afterwards, the students try to repeat some of the experiments with varied results.

As previously posted on MuzGadgets, MacGyver episodes are available on YouTube (but not in all countries).

Seen on Stuff.

A Day Made of Glass

Glass is amazing stuff and this video shows just some of the technology made possible with glass.



Watch these other adverts from Corning Glass:
Corning® Gorilla® Glass: Cooking Up Tomorrow's Kitchen
Corning® Gorilla® Glass: King of the Office?
Corning® Gorilla® Glass: Channel Surfing

Cheap telepresence robot

This Low-Cost Video Chat Robot made by Johnny Chung Lee can remotely move around to follow the conversation in different rooms.

The Brick Thief

Lego is so much fun!

Slightly old technology

The students in this video are investigating technology that we had when we were kids. [French with English subtitles]

DSLR iPad Monitor & Control

I would not be surprised if at least one of the MuzGadget Bros has already tried controlling cameras from their iPad.

Looxcie - an always on wearable camera

The Looxcie wearable camcorder lets you capture unexpected video moments and easily share them. Cool features include smart phone remote control, last 30 seconds clip capture and integrated bluetooth headset.

 

With the 180° rotating ear bud you can wear it on either ear, or you could get two and produce 3D point of view movies.

Looxcie Wearable Camcorder: Capture Unexpected Moments

Eyeborg

Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence has replaced his damaged eye with a wireless camera.



Read more on Cyborg eye gives insight on Stuff and Eyeborg Project.