Purdue Claims World Record Goldberg Machine 79
With 244 steps The Time Machine, built by by members of the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, took first place and broke a world record at the 24th Annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. From the article: "It starts with the Big Bang, re-creates the extinction of the dinosaurs, holds a jousting competition, flips over an album, and simulates World War II, a shuttle launch, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and even the alleged apocalypse in 2012. In its precisely executed review of history, 'The Time Machine,' a Rube Goldberg contraption built by members of the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, incorporates a record-breaking 244 steps—all to water a single flower."
Not Pointless Enough (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't think that the steps to the end are useless enough to be a goldberg machine. Everything it does presents a sort of storyline, so it is more of a mechanical play. It's just too useful, or perhaps not abstract enough.
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers? (Score:2, Insightful)
Note the complete lack of Hispanics in the picture and lack of Hispanic names in the article. It's probably just a way to apply for minority grants and such.
Let me guess...a film student made the video? (Score:4, Insightful)
All in all, it was (probably) a great engineering effort that was ruined by someone trying to exercise clever video skills.
Ugly (Score:4, Insightful)