Blog Post #4 – Tech 7 – Nixie Tube Clocks

I wanted to change it up a bit this time for my blog post. Regarding my project, we are currently working on a 3d model in a digital software called Tynker, which is much like another software called Blender. Anyway, I will update when I start building. For now, I want to talk about something different. I was just browsing the internet when I stumbled upon this cool invention made during the Soviet times in Russia (I believe) called Nixie Tube Clocks, which look really cool. They have this industrial/steampunk look to them, which I find pretty cool. But the way they work is also very interesting. They basically work like neon lamps. There are a bunch of small glass tubes and this neon gas is inside these tubes. The way the numbers show up in the tubes is through a process called gas discharge. When electrons are introduced in the gas (when you power it on) those electrons move through the gas very, very fast (at about 2 percent of the speed of light). This is how it creates this image of a number. There is a bunch more to it, but I don’t want to make this post an essay, so I will leave it at that. I really find these clocks interesting and very cool. Below is a picture of one of these clocks. This technology wasn’t originally intended to display numbers, but it has transformed, over time, to do so.

Nixie Tube Clock - The coolest clocok ever. | Steampunk clock, Nixie tube, Clock design

*Note, this clock has small LED’s to make it look better, but this is basically how most look like, excluding the blue lights.

Tech Post #7 (Metals and Substances)

Hello everyone!

We still have not gone back to school, and I wonder if we will continue the rest of the year like this…

Anyways, we just finished our atoms unit, and we learned about metals. I thought it was really cool to learn new stuff I never knew before this, like steel is actually an alloy made of iron and carbon, and people are inventing new metals such as metal foam which may or may not have a huge impact on the world. We also learned that the atoms in certain types of metal (like copper) are arranged in rows and columns, and when metal (like copper) conduct electricity, the subatomic particles known as electrons pass through the spaces and move towards the electrical current. I really loved this unit, and I thought it was very interesting. It’s so cool to imagine that everything in this world is made up of small particles, which we still don’t know all about to this day. I can’t wait to get to 8th grade and learn about more atoms! 😁

Tech Post #4 (Sauntering and Jewelry Making)

Hello! We haven’t finished our Automates, but that is an ungoing project, so now we are making jewelry. We started by making some designs and we had to keep in mind that we could only use 5 wires for the first design we make, but after we are allowed to use any amount of wires we want. I am making a necklace for my mom since her birthday is coming up. I really can’t wait to see where this project is going to go, and so far, I’m having lots of fun! I hope my mom likes the necklace. 😁

Tech Post #2: The Automates

Hello, this is my second post for Technology. We are currently working on Automates, which are kind of like small boxes that house a small contraption that has a reaction to something else.

In these Automates, there are things called Cams and followers, which are kind of like gears that make something move. For example, in the picture there is an Automate that when you spin the dowel on the side, the duck on top of the box moves around the small bridge. This automate uses a cam and a follower to make the duck move.

I’m really excited for the next steps in this process, and I really can’t wait!