Wednesday, March 30, 2011

What the heck is it?

At my birthday party, Jain (the talented artist whose 3D art you absolutely should be buying now; go here to see some of what she has on offer) gave me the following extremely cool glass object.

Click on the image to see a much larger, more detailed one.

The tubes poking from it are hollow, and the bit in the middle will spin.

I quite like this little guy. Everyone at the party did. There's just one little problem with it.

None of us knows what it is.

Oh, we all have theories, and most agree it's some sort of lab device, but no one could definitively state what it is.

Do any of you know? If so, would you please tell me?
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6 comments:

  1. LBMarch 30, 2011 at 9:10 PM

    Hmmm... gotta go with... bong. Also kinda evokes a radiometer, but I still say bong.

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  2. MarkMarch 30, 2011 at 9:12 PM

    A popular guess, but I don't think so.

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  3. GriffinMarch 30, 2011 at 11:29 PM

    Condenser of some sort is the only reason to have the lower intake and upper release set up.

    Is the metal bit magnetized?

    I was thinking booze distilling, but it doesn't require glass, which is damned expensive for moonshine (my maternal family's trade).

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  4. MarkMarch 30, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    It's hard to tell if any of it is magnetized. A condenser is an interesting idea, but, yeah, it's expensive and small for that trade.

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  5. GriffinMarch 30, 2011 at 11:32 PM

    Probably need to ask an old-school chemist.

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  6. MarkMarch 30, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    May indeed need to do that.

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