Let’s go LEGO!

From the earliest recoded traces of human culture, to copy something was considered the highest form of flattery. From a rudimentary cave-painting of the best hunter in the clan, to the most refined bust of the most historical leaders – if something is rendered in some way, then it is fair to say it has had an impact on our collective conscience.

Far be it from us un-cultured troglodytes here on the Science Lite desk to come over all highbrow and arty – but it seems to us that a recent trend has emerged suggesting that not only are great scientists now subject to this homage, but also great experiments.

Now, it wasn’t the subject of this creativity that initially caught our eye – but rather the medium through which it has been expressed. You see rather than oils, or limestone, or even iron – a new breed of artists appears to be using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) interlocking blocks. That’s LEGO to me and you.

What better way to honor the world of science than using a perfect example of how one of its achievements can influence our society in so many ways. Apart from LEGO, ABS has applications in musical instruments, golf club heads, automotive trim components, protective headgear, whitewater canoes, luggage and small kitchen appliances. It can even be ground down and used as tattoo ink – a truly diverse chemical.

So, without further ado – apart from the ‘ado’ required for us each to don our arty berets – let us present the Science Lite gallery of LEGO Science…

[caption id="attachment_26531" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="First up is this image of the SkyLab from the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Skylab was the United States’  rst experimental space station. This version of SkyLab took around 250 hours to build and used a staggering 11,900 bricks."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_26533" align="alignright" width="200" caption="But it’s not just things that get the creative modelling juices flowing – people do too as illustrated by this fantastic model of Professor Stephen Hawking. The model was built by Iain Heath, in homage to the theoretical physicist, who has just celebrated his 70th birthday."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_26548" align="alignleft" width="164" caption="And then there’s the LEGO ATLAS – built by Dr Sascha Mehlhase, a postdoc at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. His model – complete with LEGO men scientists – was built as part of an outreach programme and model illustrates all of the details of ATLAS – from the muon and magnet system to the inner-most pixel detector. “It took about 48 hours to design it in software, and roughly 33 hours to build it. And it cost about €2,000,” said Sascha."][/caption]

Would you like to buy your very own official Stephen Hawking LEGO set?

LEGO has started a program called Cuusoo, where people can submit ideas for sets they'd wish to see made. Any creation that gets 10,000 votes of support automatically qualifies!

Iain Heath needs your help: "All we need to do is get 10,000 like-minded individuals to head on over to http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/6221, sign up and vote."