the time fountain -

nO}{8 · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:52

http://cre.ations.net/creation/44/really

can someone explain to how this works? Does it really reverse time?

El Gringo · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:54

Nnnnnnnnnnnno. That's improbable

All it is is a stream of water with strobes flashing by the sides. Depending on how fast they flash hey'll catch individual drops in certain positions, as well as splash effects.
Nothing to do with time whatsoever, lights and water.

/duh, I didn't even read the page.

It all started when my friend Jesse told me that if you get a strobe light fast enough, you can make it look like dripping water is going in slow motion or even backwards. This phenomenon happens because strobe lights can 'capture' an instant in time and allow your eyes to see it as lasting longer than an instant.

So if the strobe light captures consecutive instants of time just out of sync with a periodic occurrence such as dripping water from a faucet, it can appear that the drops are moving slowly or even backwards.

JohnnyG · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:55

I don't know how it works but it does reverse time, in fact I think I read this thread last week

Tru · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:56

That definitely looked like reverse-time to me. Amazing.

Kaed · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:58

As a guess...

This is probably based on the same optical illusion as why a cars alloy wheel, if spun up to speed, looks like its eventually going backwards...

Though I don't know, so it could be going back in time :confused:

G-MAN2004 · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:58

Pretty cool :cool:

Don't know how it works though.

cleanbluesky · 8 Aug 2006 at 18:59

The strobe dictates the frequency of what you see. In order for the drop to seem as if it is stopped, the strobe would flash, and when the drop above has fallen to the place of the original drop the strobe would flash again - hence appearing as if the original drop had remained in place despite merely being replaced.

DJammyRasta · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:21

cleanbluesky said:
The strobe dictates the frequency of what you see. In order for the drop to seem as if it is stopped, the strobe would flash, and when the drop above has fallen to the place of the original drop the strobe would flash again - hence appearing as if the original drop had remained in place despite merely being replaced.

quoted for truth... simple trick of making you believe the drop hasn't moved when in fact its just the next drop is being illuminated when in the same drop as the first

same with how u can make them go backwards, you flash a bit quicker each time and the drop looks like it is going up instead of down

pinkacidbootson · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:37

It would be very cool to have a much larger version of that, like a fountain to put in your house somewhere

kaiowas · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:14

Reversing time would be impossible. It probably just reverses gravity or something.

Siliconslave · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:25

kaiowas said:
Reversing time would be impossible. It probably just reverses gravity or something.

lol - tis a very very impressive bit of kit with a microprocessor linked to the pump and LEDs so that they flash with the speed of the drops, makeing the appear to stand still

edit: do we have annother make:blog reader in the ranks then?

Fantom · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:27

kaiowas said:
Reversing time would be impossible. It probably just reverses gravity or something.

quoted for truth... simple trick of making you believe the drop hasn't moved when in fact its just the next drop is being illuminated when in the same drop as the first

same with how u can make them go backwards, you flash a bit quicker each time and the drop looks like it is going up instead of down

Tru · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:31

kaiowas said:
Reversing time would be impossible. It probably just reverses gravity or something.

Of course! It must be the strobe rate that creates an anti-grav field, very impressive, I'm surprised we've not seen it on the news.

Larnica · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:35

kaiowas said:
Reversing time would be impossible. It probably just reverses gravity or something.

You cant reverse gravity?

Fantom · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:37

im pretty sure it has nothing to do with gravity :confused:

its that the strobe illuminates the drop at a slightly higher position than the previous one, making it seem to be traveling upwards

Tru · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:37

Larnica said:
You cant reverse gravity?

How can helicopters take off then? :confused:

Fantom · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:39

Tru said:
How can helicopters take off then?

they compete with gravity using power (they dont reverse it)

pinkacidbootson · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:42

Tru said:
How can helicopters take off then?

With lots and lots of ROFLing

Tru · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:42

To compete with gravity you would need more power than the moon. It's far easier to just reverse gravity, that's why helicopters only fly during the day, when the moon isn't watching.

kaiowas · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:44

Tru said:
To compete with gravity you would need more power than the moon. It's far easier to just reverse gravity, that's why helicopters only fly during the day, when the moon isn't watching.

Black helicopters like the government have can fly at night, but that's because they're black and the moon can't see them.