(adapted from William J. Beaty's Disgustoscope at The Science Club)
You've probably seen pretty shapes and colors by looking through a kaleidoscope. Well,
you ain't seen nothing till you've looked through this cool 3D, mirrored version. It turns anything
you look at into a sphere, or a ball-shaped object. That's fine if you're staring at a table or a
head of lettuce, but i t becomes a hideous spectacle when you turn the HorrorScope on your own
body! An arm becomes a throbbing ball of hairy flesh. A tongue becomes a pulsing pink thing. And
wait'll you scope out someone's eyeball!
What you need:
- (3) strips of glass or acrylic mirror
(You can use 12" mirror tiles you'll find at a hardware store or home supply warehouse. Have
them cut the tiles into the somewhat triangular shape of 2" across at the top, 12" long, and 7"
across at the bottom. You have to be very careful with glass edges so you might want to use
plastic, or acrylic, mirror instead.)
- Duct tape
What to do:
- Once your mirror is cut into the three identical pieces, duct tape them together the long way,
edge to edge, with the mirror part facing inward. Cover any sharp edges on the outside with the
tape. You should wind up with a long tube, like a kaleidoscope. You'll look through the wider end
with both eyes and at objects with the smaller end. To help some light get into your HorrorScope,
you might want to have the corners of the wider end cut off.
- Now go ahead and gross yourself out! Put the narrow end of your Horrorscope against your arm.
You should see a hairy blob of flesh. Now move your arm. The fleshy ball will pulse like it's
breathing! Next, beginning careful of any sharp edges, place the small end against your mouth,
fist, or eyes and repulse your friends some more. (Remember to be VERY careful if you're using
glass mirror pieces and make sure all edges are taped up.)
Why this happens:
Using both eyes to look through a triangular mirrored tube turns anything you look at
3-dimensional. The angle of the three mirrors causes objects to reflect in such a way that their
surface looks like a spherical dome. Can we help it if a ball of flesh or tongue looks repulsively
horrific?!
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