The Physics Factory

More desert - themed imagery on the Bickel Bus! Friendly saguaro by Delaney Marie Thomas and Damian Arroyo!

Eyepopping graphic by Delaney Thomas!

Physics Bus #7: The William S. Bickel Memorial Physics Bus, a.k.a. the Bickel Bus. Exterior design (in progress) by Clara Valenzuela, Damian Arroyo, Delaney Thomas, Hannah Montague, and Hannah's friend Cat (whose last name I don't know) . We're so lucky to have you accomplished artists working with us!

The western branch of the Physics Factory is no more -- it has moved east to St. Louis, bus and all. Check with Kip Perkins for activities there. You can still email him and he'll respond.

We just did our lasts Bus event for the year at Mesquite Elementary, and we had a wonderful time. Charles and Camille Stutzman were among our earliest supporters, and have been extremely generous with us for many years. Their two wonderful kids are at Mesquite, so we wanted to make at least a small gesture of appreciation for all they have done.

On another note, I'm moving and still have a lot of miscellaneous treasures I need to get rid of. If you're a Physics Factory family, you can take what you want (that's marked). If you want, you can leave a donation, but no one will be watching. We'll be happy just to find good homes for these sacred-to-the-right-person "objets science".

Xerocraft Announce: Xerocraft Summer Camp coming in June!

Dale Tersey
Apr 19 (5 days ago)

Summer camp!

At Xerocraft Hackerspace!

Xerocraft, Inc. is delighted to announce our first ever Xerocraft Engineering Learning Lab (X-ELL) for creative young people age 11 and up.

The Xerocraft Engineering Learning Lab (X-ELL) offers 10 weeklong half-day sessions for bright young makers to learn: 3d printing and design, CAD design and laser fabrication, welding, DC Circuits and soldering, projectile physics, Arduino-controlled weather station, toy-hacking, wearable electronics, glass-fusing techniques, kinetic machines and automata, woodcrafts, precision machining, silkscreen and block printing, sewing, fabric and flexible surface art. Encourages creativity, skills development, experimentation, and freedom using all the tools and resources of the Xerocraft Hackerspace.

May 29 – June 2
8am-noon Metalworking
1pm-5pm 3-D printing and laser

June 5-9
8am-noon Woodworking
1pm-5pm Inventioneering

June 12-16
8am-noon Kinetic Machines
1pm-5pm Robots! Robots! Robots!

June 19-23
8am-noon Projectile Fun
1pm-5pm Printmaking

June 26-30
8am-noon Glass Designs
1pm-5pm Arduino Electronics

Reserve your child's spot today!

http://xerocraft.org/camp

Questions? Email [email protected] or call Terry at 834-5730

Please share with parents of kids ages 11+

Xerocraft

Physics Bus comes right to your door Direct approach to teaching future scientists starts with access.

Damian es famoso! http://noticias.entravision.com/costa-central/2016/10/28/video-el-autobus-de-la-fisica-museo-en-ruedas/

VIDEO: El autobús de la física- museo en ruedas Salinas, CA (ENTRAVISION).- Por 10 años, este camión ha recorrido los Estados Unidos enseñando y entreteniendo a los niños con la ciencia. El jueves llegó por primera vez a Salinas.

We're having an awesome time in California!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaJN3w0NPSk

Kip Perkins director of Physics Factory Community Science Workshop speaks about The Physics Bus duri Kip Perkins director of Physics Factory Community Science Workshop speaks about The Physics Bus during a visit to Alisal Community Elementary School By: Davi...

The new Physics Bus will be making a stop at Reid Park tomorrow from 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Bring your family and friends!
The bus will be at Ramada 31, which is at the northwest end of the UA baseball field.
Hope to see you there!

Alas, bureaucracy and the Fates have joined forces to quash summer camps this year - a dark day for the erstwhile highlight of my year. The shop at Howenstine is empty, and my backyard and little house are more than full. A victim of my own hoarding of esoterica, I've been digging out from under a mountain of things no one will buy at a yard sale. The upside is that I'll soon create and midwife the newest Physic Bus (the mothership is in Ithaca, and is the extraordinary triumph of Erik Herman, a co-founder of the Physics Factory here over 10 years ago). It's smaller sibling is in Gainesville Florida, on permanent spring break, but winning the hearts of little scientists down there as quickly as it can before Miami Beach turns into Atlantis.

It makes me very sad not to have camp. There are so many recidivists I've become attached to, and every year wonderful new intrepid designers, creators, artists, sculptors and inventors join our eclectic merry band. I anguish these days about the inevitable withdrawal I'll have from not basking in the joy and horror of the resourcefulness of those still unmolded minds.The sheer lunacy of a camp that, by all rights, should have been condemned by any parent who expected to pick up a child bearing a resemblance to the one they had dropped off only seven hours before, is probably why I loved it so much. It takes an intrepid parent and a leap (of faith) that dwarfs Neil Armstrong's to leave your child under my auspices, albeit it solicitously shielded from abject disaster by a first rate team of instructors.

Thank you all, wonderful participants and supporters of the Physics Factory camps. The new bus will be "a thing of wonder" (a carefully turned phrase that provides a vast expanse for interpretation).

I hope we can stay in touch, as I am a sentimental old fool.

Perennially unable to find a suitable way to sign off, and not quite ready to adopt the now prevalent "cheers" (though I have no objection to it),

Kip