Prince Rupert’s Drops are small glass structures resembling tadpoles that can withstand the blows of a hammer and yet burst into powdery dust if their threadlike tails break. They have been a source of fascination and mystery since they were discovered in the 17th century.
Now an international research team has pinpointed the source of the bizarre shatter-resistant behavior behind Prince Rupert’s drops. The work was a collaboration of researchers from Purdue University, the University of Cambridge in the UK and Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
