a view from the top

This is the top of the ball popper. You haul on a rope, which lifts a bowling ball. When it drops, it causes a tennis ball to launch out of a tube and straight into the air, where it goes through several hoops before falling back down into a net, which funnels it back into the tube.
April 23 2011

signs of spring: BugWorks

If the bug ladies are at work, it must be springtime!  I’ve been working with them for quite a few years now, and today they brought it this cool little mantis. Not to show visitors (it’s too small for public appearances yet) but to show me, because they knew I’d like him.
April 16 2011
(Look at the mesh he’s on to get an idea of how small he is;
unfortunately, none of the shots I took with a dime for scale came out
very well.)