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Make a ball out of a material of such a weight that it would exactly counteract the upward force that would be created by filling the ball with helium. This ball would then simulate a zero gravity situation. For example, If you gently placed it in a spot in the air, it would, pretty much, stay there.
You could play games by trying to get the ball to move around without touching it, by only blowing on it, or waving your arms.
For obvious reasons, this would work better as an indoor toy. If you wanted to throw or kick it around outside, It would be smart to let a little of the air out first, so that it would actully come down after it went up.
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I am seriously going to try that, [Brau].
Finally, I get new "drunk evil genius" material. |
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This is a very cool idea, but I think there is a reason it hasn't been done. As the tempature changes and or pressure, which happens constantly indoors and outdoors, there will come times when the ball is drifting away or sitting on the ground without you changing the gas inside. I guess you could just keep it indoors, but in order to keep it always neatural you would have to change its' weight ever so little quite often. |
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What Omnithesis said is quite true. I take mylar balloons and weight them with modelling clay. There is some maintenance required. I have to take off a pinch of clay almost every day, but they last almost a month, usually. |
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They make great indoor "pets" for wintertime. They float on the thermoclines, and drift with convection currents. They don't just "stay there"--I usually have to hunt for them in the morning. |
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I found some fish balloons once, which were great, and can sometimes make "flying saucers" with some careful ballasting. Any shape works, of course. |
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Gamewise, I can attest to a great urge to head-butt the things, but not much luck on getting distance or accuracy out of doing so. Lots of wobbling and lurching, though. |
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Outdoors, it would be damned hard to get a balloon to hover--physics, you know. But it could be ballasted to get close. There are some hoverdiscs or some such name now being made. They can be filled with helium for a bit more float. |
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Try filling a balloon with helium and have as ballast for neutral bouyancy a single coin, (the heavier the better) inside of it. Get the coin spinning as fast as you can inside the balloon and release. |
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On a side note, I once had a job as graveyard shift maintenance man at a balloon printing facility. One night I filled up the largest balloon that they had, (a ten foot weather balloon if I remember right) until I couldn't hold the stem on the nozzle any longer and released it inside the warehouse.
It was a bit like watching God play 3D pinball. |
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My luck of the draw is just like my luck at cards or dice. [hablabla] created their user account on the same day they created this idea, and then vanished. |
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On the other hand, I'm lucky at love, so I'm not complaining. I just stay away from cards and dice. |
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