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At 21:33 15/12/2005, Jay Higgins wrote:

>We are looking for a globe and having a hell of a time finding what we 
>want.  Here's the idea, maybe you've seen something like this, a big globe 
>sitting in a cradle that kids can spin around like a mouse ball. They can 
>see the southern hemisphere just as easy as the north.  Custom stand...

Once you find your large globe, I suggest you get someone to engineer a 
gimbal mount for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbal

I think that could make a very appealing interactive exhibit (quite apart 
from the geographical interest of the globe!). The designer will need to 
eliminate finger-traps and maybe incorporate rotary dampers because 
children are going to try to spin it just as fast as they can...

The low-budget solution would be to buy a large terrestrial-globe-beachball 
half-enclose it in a box with a large hole in the top and float it on a 
cushion of air from a blower, rather like the heavy stone Kugel balls that 
'hover' above a thin film of pressurised water.


[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell  

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