A candle being re-lit by the wax vapour in its smoke trail

A neodymium magnet falling through a copper pipe. Magnets aren’t attracted to copper, but a moving magnet will induce a current in the copper which in turn produces a magnetic field. Its this magnetc field which attracts the magnet and slows its fall. This slows the magnet, but can’t stop its fall – if the magnet stopped moving, the induced electric field would go away and the magnet would start falling again.

This is something I’ve only just discovered in the last few weeks – the Meisner Solid. This uniques shape is not uniform but will maintain a uniformheight when rolled. Impressive.

A paperclip made from Nickel-Titanium regains its shape when placed in hot water. This metal, otherwise known as nitinol, can undergo deformation at one temperature, then recover its original, undeformed shape upon heating above its “transformation temperature”.

Water forming an ice crystal. Its this crystallization process which causes Ice molecules to be held further apart than those of liquid water. This why ice expands when frozen causing it to float on drinks – or crack water pipes.