Science Program Drops Giant Slinky From PPG Building

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A camera crew gears up. Barricades are at the ready. Something's coming down in PPG Plaza.

And that "something" is a large plastic Slinky.

Mike Hennessy of Carnegie Science Center says it has something to do with elephants.

"This helix shape," he says, "is the same coil you would find in an elephant trunk. You have 40,000 muscles in an elephant's trunk and that makes it strong, but also flexible. And new robots are being made from this design, for more maneuverability greater freedom. It's one of the stories we're going to be taking on the road."

The Science Center partners with Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium for a traveling science program, for area schools, called Wild by Design. And what could be wilder than lowering a multicolored slinky from the roof of PPG building No. 4?

The Science Center educator communicates with a PMI video crew on the ground, who will tape the slinky drop with special slow motion capabilities.

When Hennessy lets go, the top falls first, while the bottom of the slinky waits in midair for the communication to pass through the coils. It takes a slow motion camera to truly capture the moment.

Watch the video here:

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