Young fellow makes, tests and celebrates outstanding Rube Goldberg machine

Seven-year-old Audri designed this astounding Rube Goldberg machine, and then systematically studied its failure modes and improved it, producing a fine video account of his work. He is made of pure distillate of awesomesauce.

Audri's Rube Goldberg Monster Trap (via Make)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: happy mutants • Kids • maker • rube goldberg machine • scientific method • video • youtube

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Rephlex

This one is most definitely my annual “I want to be a dad” inspirational video. What a brilliant young man.
http://twitter.com/Elissa_Malcohn Elissa Malcohn

There is so much that I love about this video — not least the take-away message at the end and Audri’s establishment and testing of hypotheses. Bravo!
anusantosh69

I Love this article n Video
noah django

gotta give it up for the kid. nicely done. reminds me of me when I was young.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Gomez-Fong/714923460 Gomez Fong

I clapped when it worked. Well done, Audri, well done.
Nadreck

Nice touch holding up part of the Better Mousetrap with a copy of Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”.
Stonewalker

I really like that he has a smashed fingernail. Good things take pain sometimes!
HerkyDerky

I like the mom, too, who was prepared to film 22 rounds of testing. When people talk about parents needing to be involved, THAT is what they are talking about.
francoisroux

Is my Chrome installation the only one that is getting crashed by this flash/video and others from the same place?
- Robert
  
  Could be. I have Chrome on OSX and it’s working fine.
pKp

Ye Gods, that is a GREAT way to start the day. Thank you, BB !
BillGlover

OK the “Only three failures” celebration. That’s magic. Audri, you so get it, man.
GuyInMilwaukee

Brilliant! Our future is very bright with Audri at the wheel. Rock on.
JPhilipp

“Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights.”
- HahTse
  
  “ProxTube is unblocking this video now…”
  
  Doesn’t seem to work this time. Odd.
  - JPhilipp
    
    I’m running ProxTube but for some reason, for several days already I cannot see *any* YouTube videos in Chrome, in Germany. Firefox works fine. Don’t know if I’m the only one with this issue…
    - HahTse
      
      I’m running it in Firefox (in Germany, too)…has worked fine till now.
  - UFIA
    
    Stealthy worked. (Another proxy-add-on for firefox.)
- Jonathan Roberts
  
  Quite right. Kids need to learn the dangers of piracy from an early age.
milkman

“Let’s hear it for the boy!”
- Robert
  
  Damn you. Now my head is filled with 80′s music.
- noah django
  
  rumor has it she is Jazzy Pha’s mom.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnuYhFRYbAw
jwkrk

Very nice. Excellent use of things one might actually have laying around the house. My parents would never have let me mount a pulley from the ceiling. Bravo!
tomchaps

That was awesome. I’ve been building Rube Goldberg machines with my 6-year old son this year, and now my 3-year old daughter spends her time inventing “triggers”. These projects really do teach patience and perseverance…

Can I brag a bit?

Explained: http://youtu.be/6wiTE7cpQTU

Tested: http://youtu.be/ulOWJ5RxCls
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2X6OHAN7GLVLAIP4QLECKD3NY4 morgane
  
  ah, cute kid
- http://normd.com/wp normd
  
  Superb!
liquidstar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_RUapR6Npg
http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

His first Rube Goldberg at age 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhDG4Kxr8U

I, for one, welcome our future time lord.
janeeta

Amazing video… !!! little audri did very fine. I really appreciate him for his work.
http://fallsastar.com Crashproof

I love that he is prepared for lots of failure in the quest for success. So many kids… no, so many adults don’t have that kind of patience and persistence.
irksome

Yay for Happy-Making things. Fourth try!

This almost makes up for the loss of Peter Bergman yesterday. How am I to be, Not Insane?
ciacontra

“He is made of pure distillate of awesomesauce. – Cory Doctorow, boingboing.net” Now where to put that on his college application…
- tylerkaraszewski
  
  I would actually put that on my resume if I had earned it.
http://twitter.com/petitepoubelle petite poubelle

I just showed this to my 5-year-old and as soon as it was over, he said he wanted to make one. So that’s what we’re off to do now…
Jack Daniel

Rock on Audri!
tsa

What a brilliant young man. Way to go! I enjoyed every second of it.
zombiebob

And for Caturday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1XMS-1FpdE&context=C41c4235ADvjVQa1PpcFMdx5-9jxWxOgxWbqvH1LYYwHD6qaY8C2M=
Teller

Lovely. Especially when he laughed at the failures.
chrisspurgeon

There’s a job waiting at http://syynlabs.com/ when this kid’s out of school.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Craig-Dawson/100003603062862 Craig Dawson

You rock, Audri.
Melissa Spielman

Audri, you are so awesome.
Ed Ligget. Tuba.

Too bad there will probably be no space program left by the time this young man graduates college.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_A3XRNHNAD3ZB6HY7T43BQVP2NQ Crunt

That is everything good. A bright, enthusiastic, curious, creative boy, and a mom who supports and indulges those traits. Rare gems both.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1306386058 Ivan Bawa

With enough kids like this, the world has a future, even a bright one. Thanks, young man, for your natural, infectious and delightful personality!
ravells

I actually cheered out loud when he got his success. What a great kid. His enthusiasm is so utterly infectious. Wonderful find.
http://twitter.com/kerfluffer Michael Slavitch

Face it, if you’re under 45, chances are you’re going to end up working for him someday.
noah django

was that really necessary? do you not have a soul? please go elsewhere.
Nadreck

Crappy diagnostic man; even overlooking your lack of a full medical history of the subject. If we must consider the mere meat within which his Titan Intellect resides then note his shortness of breath and the discolouration of at least one of his fingertips. These data suggest many other possible physical conditions which are keeping him indoors building Rube Goldberg machines instead of the average hyperkinetic activities of the 7-year-old. Statistically speaking the most significant precursors of being a Happy Mutant are being a first or only child and some congenital problem forbidding athletics. From such stock do we harvest Technology and Civilisation.
noah django

looks like, in my brevity, i just edged you out getting the first comment taking on that goon. I defer to your better analysis. good show, sir or madam.