One place you can see Ferrofluid Magnetoscope is the New York Hall of Science, a
museum in New York City quickly identified
from a distance by the two towering, 1960s-era
rockets in front. Flynn’s device is crafted out of
aluminum. To operate it, museum guests turn
a wheel, which raises and lowers a powerful
magnet. The magnet is suspended above a pool
of ferrofluid (consisting of iron-oxide particles
in oil and soap). As the magnet moves, spikes
emerge from the fluid; depending on the distance of the magnet, they can be short or tall,
stubby or sharp. The different spikey configurations flow in and out of each other, like a lava
lamp from the year 3000.
has collected, a spark ignites it, resulting in a
small explosion (all safe, of course).
Other exhibits not only teach science principles but also highlight cultural divides between
generations. One piece, Cooperative Phonograph,
consists of a large, movable disk—several feet
across—mounted on a base. Grooves run along
the disk, as if it were an enormous record.
While one person turns the disk, another takes
a hard object—a credit card seems to work
well—and scrapes it along the grooves. Almost
as if by magic, sound emerges. The scraping
device acts as both record needle and speaker,
transforming the physical form of the grooves
into audio waves and then amplifying them.
Flynn runs Fun Exhibits, a company he found- For younger participants, who may never have
ed in 2008. He builds interactive sculptures
heard a record before, the effect can be prowith science themes, both as exhibits for mufound. “Jaws drop when the steel disk speaks,”
seums and as public art pieces. But he never in- says Flynn. This reaction is one of three that
tended to follow thi ́