A bit of fairy tale busting from the BBC's Bang Goes the Theory - A gas-powered vortex cannon does some impressive huffing & puffing, taking on the role of big bad wolf against little huts of straw, sticks, and brick. That be one very loud & gassy wolf!
More:
Weekend Project: Vortex Cannons
|
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Jul 30, 2009 04:30 AM
DIY Projects, Science |
Permalink
| Comments (9)
| Email This |
| Digg this!
Oldest comments listed first.
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Check out more videos from MAKE.
 |
MAKE on Facebook Visit our Facebook page and become a fan of MAKE! |
 |
MAKE on Twitter Follow our MAKE tweets! |
 |
MAKE on Flickr Join our MAKE Flickr Pool! |
Gareth Branwyn
Editor-in-Chief
Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
| Web | Twitter
Becky Stern
Associate Editor
| AIM | Twitter
Marc de Vinck
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
John Park
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Sean Ragan
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Matt Mets
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Dale Dougherty
Editor & Publisher
| Twitter
Shawn Connally
Managing Editor
| Twitter
Goli Mohammadi
Associate Managing Editor
Kip Kay
Weekend Projects
| AIM | Twitter
Collin Cunningham
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Adam Flaherty
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
John Baichtal
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
More contributors: Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-Chief, MAKE magazine), Kipp Bradford (Technical Consultant/Writer), Chris Connors (Education), Diana Eng (Guest Author), Peter Horvath (Intern), Brian Jepson (O'Reilly Media), Robert Bruce Thompson (Science Room)
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!
Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Behind the Scenes at MAKE and CRAFT
In January, many of the remote MAKE/CRAFT team members (myself included) convened at the Maker Media headquarters at O'Reilly Media in Sebastopol, California. Take a look behind the scenes of your favorite DIY publications as Goli Mohammadi gives us...
More...
Help | Write for MAKE | Contact Us | Subscribe | Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy| About MAKE | FAQ
© 2010 O'Reilly Media, Inc.
All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing on makezine.com are the property of their respective owners.
RSS
Are usually put together with mortar...
Reply to this comment
Yah - I'm guessing the Bang crew either didn't have time for mortar curing, or didn't want their new wolf defeated on its first outing.
Reply to this comment
"Bang goes the Theory?" I do think they could have come up with a better re-work of "MythBusters" for the title. But then again perhaps it doesn't seem so contrived in the UK.
Also, I MUST get my hands on the plans for that cannon! With a rich mixture I think it might produce a vortex ring, OF FIRE!
Reply to this comment
I fell into a vortex ring of fire!
I went down, down, down - and the flames went higher!
and it burns burns burns …
Reply to this comment
"vortex ring of fire" is the outcome from serving my green chili.
(4-quart crock pot will use 200 small jalapenos)
Reply to this comment
. . . this article is the only Google result for "vortex ring of fire."
Reply to this comment
You've done what many claim is no longer possible - brought forth an idea no one else yet has! (or at least ever blogged/forumed/tweeted/commented/etc before)
I'd consider registering the domain =]
Reply to this comment
There was a ring-launching fire vortex device at Burning Man a couple of years ago. It had no launcher, it just sprayed a cloud of ?gasoline? and sparked it off. The flame ball then ascended rapidly as a black ring of smoke.
My own "Evil Genius Hoaxes" page
Stink beam ray gun from 1999
http://amasci.com/hoax.html#stink
I tried a quick crude test of this "active no-smoking sign" phenomenon using propane instead of acetylene (less chance of torn eardrums.) The rings wouldn't ignite at a meter distance. However, they *did* cause the tiny blue target flame to suddenly turn orange as the ring passed by. The color change still worked at many meters distance. It might have actually ignited if I'd used a carefully-tailored gas/O2 mixture, rather than just squirting propane into the vortex-launcher for a minute. I didn't write this up, since my page is aimed at 9yr old children!
Reply to this comment
I believe the Nazis were working on those during WWII. They thought they could take planes out of the sky with them but it didn't work so they scrapped the project. Silly Nazis. They should have been working on much more feasible weapons...like our bat bomb or the pigeon missile!
-~D~-
Reply to this comment