Last week we came across these tiny sea urchinshells at a beach shop, thin and light as eggshells. What to do with them? Light them up with LEDs, of course!
We’ve seen sea urchin lamps before, but they’ve always been made with large (i.e., sturdy) and colorful ones. In contrast, these tiny ones might be better to hang around christmas lights like little paper lanterns.
Just a throwie sans magnet (Urchie?), tucked into the shell. Each one has a hole in the bottom large enough to fit a pretty good size LED, although not necessarily the battery as well.
The natural beauty and structure of these shells is amazing; they must have been even more beautiful when they were alive.
Hi-res versions of all of these photos are available in this photo set.
and delicious…
Can you post a picture with the throwie sitting next to the urchin? I honestly couldn’t get a sense of scale with the pictures other than the one with the hand in it, and even then, I know some hands are much bigger than others. :)
Very beautiful, though! I like the idea of either a trio of these in different colors, fading randomly back and forth, or, as you mentioned, over christmas lights as a type of hanging light string.
I don’t think that we took a picture like that. They’re about the size of small chicken eggs, and there are a couple more pictures with my (medium-sized) hands in the photo set.
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
The second photo (the first with the urchins lit) has a hand in shadow around them… Gives a pretty clear idea of their scale, regardless of whose hand it is. :)
I think I am, therefore I am… I think
Sea urchin shells aren’t visible when the sea urchin is alive. They’re a ball of animate spikes, sometimes colorful, sometimes not. I’m of the opinion that a ball of animate spikes is pretty cool, but sea urchins mostly don’t look like their shells.
I’ve seen a lot of living urchins, and I’m always surprised by how elegant and mobile they are. I’m not sure what this type looks like when it’s living, though.
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
I see geek wedding project RIGHT HERE. sweet. do you think a nano-throwie would work better to fit inside the urchins? like maybe a 3mm led, and a tiny battery? or would that compromise the glowing way too much?
These fit the 10 mm LEDs just fine, but you’d need a slightly smaller battery than our CR2032 to fit here, maybe a CR1632, for example.
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
Very pretty I agree, but not too far from a tiger-skin rug. I’d have a bit of a problem explaining to my kids why we’ve decorated the tree with animal skeletons this year…
Good point: Killing a tree is pretty bad too.
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
totally, why would you use a tiger skin for a rug when you could use it for traditional christmas loincloths.
these are beautiful. alive, sea urchins bristle with black spines which are razor-sharp and brittle. they’re entitled to their defense-mechanism, but a profusion of these spiny things will put a coral reef’s ecosystem in peril.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin
and yes, the spines will cut through your skin like a razor and break off:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin_injury
more as lights and fewer on the coral, say I.
I like how the green one looks like a (really) mini-watermelon!
So what does an actual chicken egg shell look like when internally illuminate by LED? Can you etch interesting patterns in it with, say, vinegar? Hmm. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4527807070_519b7dfe2c.jpg
Whoa, this is stunning! Those patterns are just gorgeous. What a fun idea. I’ll be linking to this.
I really love these but can’t figure out where to find the LED bulbs you are using?
M
These ones are from our webstore.
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/
I’ve tried this with my own Urchins & they didn’t work well. Do I need super bright LEDs?
Yes, certainly. Skip superbright, and head right for ultrabright!
Windell H. Oskay
drwho(at)evilmadscientist.com
http://www.evilmadscientist.com/