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Before Rube Goldberg began doodling his signature cartoons of elaborate
“inventions,” he earned an engineering degree and worked for the San
FranciscoWater and Sewers Department—whichmight explain why
engineering students love trying to bring his ideas to life. Creators of gizmos
that take hundreds of steps to brew coffee or cast election ballots face off
in the annual Rube GoldbergMachine Contest, set this year for March 24 at
Purdue University. Here’s how some teams have taken home the trophy.
Reb
Planet
In
John Carter
,
a revolution on
Mars is led by
a Confederate
veteran. Anyone
see
that
coming?
Tarzan creator Edgar
Rice Burroughs’ other
action hero, John
Carter, finally makes
it to the big screen on
March 9, performing
feats of bravery in an
alien civil war after he
miraculously wakes
up on Mars. No doubt
Disney execs will be
hoping Carter finds
his way into view-
ers’ hearts like the
legendary ape man
himself (or at least
like director Andrew
Stanton’s other pro-
tagonists: Wall-E and a
little clown fish named
Nemo). Casting brood-
ing yet vulnerable
Taylor Kitsch of “Friday
Night Lights” as Carter
should help encourage
moviegoers to root for
this unexpected hero.
He’ll need all the help
he can get, considering
young-adult jugger-
naut
The Hunger Games
also opens this month.
Godspeed, John Carter,
and may the odds be
ever in your favor.
SEEMEDWRONG, A FLAWOF CHARACTER IF
T A TRAGIC PRESENTIMENT, THAT AWOMAN
HER AGE HAD ACCUMULATED SO LITTLE
ATWAS ESSENTIAL TO HER.”
From
Mudwoman
, the latest novel from lauded American author and
three-time Pulitzer nominee Joyce Carol Oates.
out march 20
2011
2010
2009
2008
WINNER:
UNIVERSITY OF
WISCONSIN-STOUT
CHALLENGE:
REPLACE
A LIGHTBULB
CHALLENGE:
ASSEMBLE
A HAMBURGER
STEPS:
156
STEPS:
120
WINNER:
PURDUE
SOCIETY OF
PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERS
COOLEST STEP:
A TRAIN HITS A
WALL, TRIGGERING
A SPOTLIGHT AND
CAUSING GODZILLA
TO SCALE A
SKYSCRAPER
COOLEST STEP:
A BALL ON
A TRACK
TRIGGERS
WEIGHTS THAT
RAISE FOUR
EGYPTIAN
OBELISKS
WINNER:
ST. OLAF
COLLEGE
STEPS:
239
CHALLENGE:
WATER A PLANT
COOLEST STEP:
AMINI
ROCKET LAUNCH CAUSES A
HAMMER TO KNOCK DOWN
A TINY BERLINWALL
WINNER:
UNIVERSITY OF
WISCONSIN-STOUT
STEPS:
135
COOLEST STEP:
A BALL FLIPS OVER SIX
BLOCKS TO REVEAL A LINE
FROM THE COLLEGE’S FIGHT
SONG: “UM YA YA”
“IT
NO
OF
TH
CHALLENGE:
DISPENSE HAND SANITIZER
ONTO A HAND
48
MARCH 2012
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