“I call it like the domino theory of reality. If you can go one step at a time and it seems to make sense, you can then take your audience into an area that is relatively outlandish.” -Ivan Reitman
There's a special joy that I get when you start with something very simple, make slight variations on it that progress little-by-little, and before you know it, you're in an entirely new, amazing world. Have a listen to the Pet Shop Boys on one of their hits from all those years ago,
while you start thinking about one of the most humble toys in all the world: the domino.
Image credit: © Copyright 2011, Whatwillwedotoday.com | Jill Hart, via http://whatwillwedotoday.com/2011/06/17/camp-grandmama-and-grampy-campy….
Standing on their end, you might think about how easy it is to knock one over, but how careful you have to be to create a domino run or domino show of great length. And yet, such shows not only exist, but are in many cases absolutely spectacular. Have a look at this video...
...and then head over to read (and view) the whole story, from the simple physics behind it to the most amazing domino feats ever!
Have you seen this video of domino logic gates being used for 4-bit addition? Very cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpLU__bhu2w
More about computing with dominos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNuPy-r1GuQ
I loved Domino D-Day back when it was a yearly event, I used to get friends over to watch and drink beer (the best way to get through much of the cheesiness). It was always interesting how they engineered timedelays with pendulums to get through commercial breaks.
btw that's not Dutch in the last video, I think it's Polish.