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RE: Smarter Every Day: Prince Rupert's Drop
Prince Rupert Drops are amazing! I used to hang out with some glassblowers in Austin, TX and they'd make them, right there, dropping hot glass into buckets of cold water... you couldn't smash them with a sledgehammer, but then they'd snap the "tail" and they'd shatter into a million pieces.
Science is awesome!
You'll like this videos. :)
Oh yeah, the videos are awesome... I love science in super slo-mo.
Here's a piece of esoteric science-trivia for you: In the 1800s, the very long canes they would offer fine ladies and gentlemen to help them step down from tall carriages without losing their balance were often made-- of all things-- from spun twisted glass, because it was the strongest most flexible material available.
Wow, very interesting. Who would have thought to make a cane out of glass. :)
If you ever find yourself in a flea market or junk shop and see something that looks like a 6-foot long thin (about the thickness of your thumb) twisted candy cane made of glass... often with a small hole at one end (for a leather strap)... it's probably a coach cane, most likely from England or France.