Here's a request for help that I received today from a researcher at a TV production company:
I work in the Development Department for a Production Company called North One TV. We're currently working on an idea for a show that uses science to hoax people. Obviously there are many fantastic science based hoaxes that have been performed through out history. What we're thinking is we could use one or two of the more famous hoaxes to break up the show. The main crux being a presenter fooling people on the street or in a studio, by confounding them with science? Unfortunately this is where we are struggling slightly. Do you know of any simple, experiment based tricks, common misconceptions, science based tom-foolery that would fit the bill. It could be things that are small and relatively simple to elaborate, but visual Science Hoaxes. Any input you guys at the museum might have would be greatly appreciated...
I get so many requests for research help from TV studios, I should probably start charging them consulting fees. But I'm a lousy businessman, so instead I give them all kinds of help for free. Anyway, does anyone have some ideas for this guy? I can't think of anything off the top of my head, though it sounds like what he's really interested in are science pranks.
Comments
Take a glass with water. Add a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution to make it basic.
Next, prepare a second glass (more impressive to use a wine glass) with a drop or two of phenolphthalein solution. We use this as an indicator..it is colorless in acid and neutral solution but deep wine red in basic solution.
Finally, in a third glass, add a few drops of a concentrated acid.
Now for the trick..
Pour the alkaline water into the apparently empty wine glass, which will magically transform into 'wine' (don't drink it!).
After the oooh's and aaaas's have died down, pour the 'wine' into the third (also seemingly empty glass to convert it back to water. The acid will neutralize the basic solution and the indicator will revert to being colourless.
A pretty simple piece of experimental hocus-pocus, but still looks pretty good!
To think it through, say the first card down on the riffle is the black--next either side (left or right) you release a card from is red. Strangely enough, the same is true for every card no matter how you shuffle them.
You can do the same with sets of 4 by ordering them say Clubs Hearts Spades Diamonds all the way through. But this time, you have to reverse one of the clumps that you shuffle. If you just deal off more or less half the cards, then riffle shuffle that--again, from the top every set of 4 will include one of each suit.
I got this from one of Martin Gardner's books.
Or how about dropping a few mentos into a 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola and stand back for the eruption. See the post on this site at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/3600/
Or a raisin in a glass of sprite. They will sink and rise over and over.
And hey - if they need music or an AFTRA narrator, have them contact me!
Hold a dollar bill (your choice of denomination, the higher the more impressive) hanging down long ways, and tell the other person to put their thumb and forefinger on either side and try to catch it when you let go, then let go. if they can catch the bill they can keep it. clearly it's crucial that you give no cue before letting go, the key is that they can't start trying to catch until after you let go.
because of the acceleration of gravity and length of the bill (yielding time before it falls through your fingers) you would need superhuman reflexes to catch it. the math is pretty easy.
I've never heard of anyone fast enough to catch it, though almost everyone who hasn't heard of the trick thinks they can.
Any magician who has been performing for over a decade can tell you thousands.
Your TV requestors can email my buddy at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if they'd like a resource who can tell them (and point them toward) a plethora of that kind of stuff.
BTW your site rocks!
This game has been around at least as long as gasoline engines have existed, but it seems to make a comeback every time the price of fuel gets high (such as now).
It's also been done with other kinds of engines (generators, furnaces, etc.) and with other fuels, such as coal.
(I'm sure I don't need to explain this, but the tank that gets filled with water (what would be the gas tank on a normal car) is not connected to the engine. There is another, hidden fuel tank powering the car. The prospective investors aren't told about the secret tank.)
And send them to Penn and Teller, I
Now for the trick..
Pour the alkaline water into the apparently empty wine glass, which will magically transform into 'wine' (don't drink it!).
Posted by doctorpsi on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 04:41 AM
Just be sure to practice that a few times beforehand, starting with very small amounts, unless you're willing to risk going through the next few weeks without any eyebrows!
Posted by Accipiter in the Northern Hemisphere on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 11:53 AM
..I presume that John Q TV Producer isn't going to be able to lay his hands on 10M HCl, so concentrated acid in this case is going to be 1M at best..no chance of a huge exotherm!
Presenter: "Watch as I turn this water into. . .wine!"
Audience: "Oooooooo! Aaaaaaah!"
Presenter: "And now, I shall turn this wine into. . .a raging volcano of destruction aaaaaaa get it off get it off me aaaaaaaa bubble gurgle arrrrrrrgh. . .!"
Audience: "Oooooooo! Aaaaaaah!"
It would then be a trick played on both the audience and the presenter, or on whatever was left of the presenter at the end of it. That would beat boring ol' water to wine to water any time! I wonder, though, what their definition of "science based" is? That can actually be an incredibly wide-ranging description. After all, some people consider things like economics to be science. So would staging a fake Great Depression count? Or are they looking only for the more "traditional" sciences: physics, chemistry, and biology?
* A lot of people think only diamonds (of 'clear gems') can scratch glass, but silica glass is actually very soft. They could do something with (very common) quartz crystals, claiming they've discovered a diamond mine.
* Burning water: put a small amount of lighter fluid in an erlenmeyer flask, not enough to be noticable if you move it around (the shape of the flask hides it well). Go to a faucet and fill it almost to the top with water, and light it. The lighter 'lighter fluid' (heh) will float and burn for a minute or so. This could be worked into a "Your city's water is so polluted that it will burn" segment.
* You might also look on (and ask on) scitoys.com for some great possible tricks.
* Also Theodore Grey (theodoregray.com) has a nifty trick: He has spoons made of gallium, indium, and tin that melt in warm water. A segment of "Did you know, if you heat nutrasweet/coke/pepsi/whatever above 100 degrees it will dissolve stainless steel?".
Way back when (some years back)
A kid did a science project on the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide...
Less than a teaspoon could kill you... it can eat through metal, and it's been found in great quantities in numerous major american reservoirs, lakes, and rivers yet the government refuses to take action. Sign this petition if you would like to protect your environment.