It ain't no gingerbread AT-AT, but the science geeks over in Santa Ana are pretty egg-cited (sorry) to celebrate National Engineers Week. So much that they are engaging in a little Revenge of the Nerds competition they like to call the Egg Drop.
Your objective, if you choose to accept, is to design and build a device to safely withstand the punishing effects of gravity. Can you keep things hard boiled? Then bring your Brady Bunch Modern Family-inspired contraption to Discovery Science Center on February 25 to enter.
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Entries will be judged on landing accuracy, number of parts, and weight. However, there's a vigorous list of requirements which must be met as well. Rules and scoring can be found here. They're pretty strict with the scoring, stating, “For example, if the egg is cradled in 100 Styroform peanuts glued together, the device will have 101 parts: 100 parts peanuts and 1 part glue.” Daaaaannnng.
With competitors as wee as kindergarteners, all entrants are in the running
for an Apple iPod Touch, Nano, and other electronic gizmos kids
probably own, but parents want for themselves. Cracking under the pressure is not allowed, since there's no crying in science, right?
A contributing writer for OC Weekly, Anne Marie freelances for multiple online and print publications, and guest judges for culinary competitions. A Bay Area transplant, she graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management from Cal Poly Pomona. Find her on Instagram as brekkiefan.