Bill Beaty
Saturday, January 21st, 2006 
Bill Beaty is a funny funny man. A page on his site is full of crazy science stuff you can do, plus weird body things, and some random stuff. Like this (and who hasn’t done this?):
LOBSTER BOY!
Cross your fingers, and curl your middle finger around your index finger. Now grab your ring finger and curl it over the back of your curled middle finger. Do the same with your pinky. Your hand looks damaged. LOBSTER BOY!! Now do the same with the other hand too. LOBSTER BOY IS HERE TO TAKE AWAY THE BAD CHILDREN.
Ha ha! Lobster boy! I think that might be my Halloween costume for next year.
And this I have to try:
The Hot Chocolate Effect
Get a mug, a METAL spoon, and some hot water. Mix in the chocolate powder, then while the spoon is still immersed in the liquid, tap it against the bottom or sides of the mug. It goes “thunk” instead of “clink.” Keep tapping, and you’ll hear the pitch rise higher and higher. Now stir the liquid. Resume tapping, and hear that the pitch is low again (but then it rises.) If you keep tapping for long enough time, the tone will eventually become a high-pitched “clink” sound. Acoustics researchers give this phenomenon the exotic name… hot chocolate effect! (The underwater foam-cloud is the cause. The speed of sound is slower in foam. Beaten egg-whites or ice cream in root beer create similar effects.)
And there’s lot more. Unfortunately, the reader suggestions at the end comprise more than half the page. Some of the reader suggestions are interesting — I spotted a version of the smoking fingers trick in there — but it’s probably not worth wading through all the dreck to find the good ones unless you have a lot of time to spare.
