A set of interesting and thematically linked items, I think via BoingBoing:<\/p>\n
A scientific hoax\/trick\/joke: water marbles<\/a>. The video shows how to mix some chemicals in a semi-complicated way; at the end of the process you can reach into a container of clear liquid and pull out the liquid in perfectly spherical solid globules.<\/p>\n I've seen a similar trick before, and there's a very brief moment in the video when you can see something you're not supposed to be able to see, so I didn't find this very convincing. But I can see that something like it would be a cool trick in real life.<\/p>\n Another video gives an explanation of the trick<\/a>; that link goes to a page that sells the product that makes the trick work, so I recommend watching the first video first if you want to see if you can figure it out.<\/p>\n The other set of quasi-related links is a different way to turn water into solid spheres; in this case, it's not a trick, and the spheres are made of ice. To turn a lump or cube of ice into a sphere, you can use an ice-sphere machine<\/a>, also known as an ice ball mold<\/a>. The latter page includes a brief video of the device in action. It looks gorgeous, and the resulting spheres look nifty, but at nearly $200 for even the smallest version, I don't really need this. Still, super cool.<\/p>\n