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Our friend Julie Peasley has created “The Particle Zoo”, super-cute plush toys inspired by the standard model of physics. Hey, I don’t understand sub-atomic theory at all, but I love my Higg’s Boson plushy! And it’s weighted (it is the “God particle” after all) so it makes a great paperweight. My daughter Claire went for the equally adorable Gluon. Check ‘em out and nab one for yourself at The Particle Zoo.

Sony AG-7 Betamax Machine

I don’t feel much nostalgia for the VHS player, but there’s no doubt it revolutionized the way I watched and experienced movies. And, at the time, there was something techno cool and space-age about the bulky player.

If you weren’t there, Total Rewind is a totally genius site that has indexed the whole history of the format. My favorite is the Sony AG-7 Betamax tape changer, an ungodly beast that allowed you to record or play back four tapes in a row.

“Watching the AG-7 work is hilarious. Whirring motors, clattering tapes and the pinging of springs accompany every operation, and the whole device raises itself into the air as it pushes the cassette lid down, like a holiday-maker trying to force his suitcase shut.

Ejected tapes are spat out into the receiving tray at some speed, and if there are already three in this tray, ejecting the fourth knocks the top tape onto the floor…”

The evil scientists at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories came up with this wonderful project that uses a toothbrush, a pager motor, and a watch battery – it’s a Brush Bot!. This is a keeper for the next school science project!