# What is this thing? \[Strange grid ball\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989 "2013-01-12T20:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Polar\_Iceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Polar\_Iceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polar_Iceman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/41 "2013-01-13T04:08:35Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > This. I think what he meant was, “yep, that’s very much like the crazy unrecognizable gizmos I make at work, for all sorts of experiments, each object singular and rarely made again.” Most likely it meant: “I got a government research grant, and I had to make it look like I did something with it.” ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/42 "2013-01-13T04:43:00Z")
It’s a death ray from sometime in the early part of the last century. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/43 "2013-01-13T04:47:21Z")
> [@Polar\_Iceman](#): > > Most likely it meant: “I got a government research grant, and I had to make it look like I did something with it.” Probably not. The way it works is that several labs on our planet are all furiously making the same unbelievably expensive prototype and the best one gets to go to CERN to party with the particles while the others get thrown out into the snow and their makers wail and gnash their teeth in the outer darkness. As I understand it (I was a lit major). Maybe it was an art project. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/44 "2013-01-13T06:02:01Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > …As I understand it (I was a lit major)… It’s fun to look at “them” and try to guess what they think about all day when you have no clue. I mean, it’s not fair. They can read _Moby Dick._ Most of them. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/45 "2013-01-13T08:13:35Z")
I know exactly what it is, and have been looking for that damn thing for three years. Which school did you eventually find it at? I’ll run over with the pickup truck in the morning (or at least get on the road). PM me, please. Tripler Yeah, it was . . . well, I’ll tell you later after I get it back. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/46 "2013-01-13T11:57:44Z")
By Grabthar’s Hammer, you’ve found a beryllium sphere! Actually, it could be a movie prop. We’d feel pretty silly spending a couple of days figuring out the function of a piece of set dressing. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/47 "2013-01-13T12:09:57Z")
I wondered if it could be a movie prop, but it looks too well made - it’s been abandoned outdoors for a while in all weathers, and yet it still looks in good condition. Unless it was a really important prop, something like this would be made from carved foam, fibre glass and papier mache - and would not look as nice as this after years of neglect. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/48 "2013-01-13T12:48:11Z")
I can’t stop looking at the picture and trying to figure what this thing is. And why it’s made out of a whole bunch of individual pieces instead of just a few pieces welded together. (Scratch, scratch…) ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/49 "2013-01-13T12:58:35Z")
It reminds me of something I saw in one of the “Sixty Symbols” videos (I can’t remember which one). It was on display outdoors in a university courtyard (somewhere in Europe?), and had once been full of liquid and used for some very historic particle physics experiment. The thing in the video was much larger. Sorry for the completely unhelpful post. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/50 "2013-01-13T14:49:34Z")
**hibernicus** , are you thinking of something [like this](http://www.theblogbelow.com/2008/07/japans-superkamiokande.html)? That’s a neutrino detector, and the individual segments are photomultiplier tubes. While I can see the superficial resemblance, it’s only superficial, and doesn’t get us any closer to figuring out what this thing is. EDIT: While the pictures on that page are nice, don’t pay any attention to the text. I’ve noticed several errors in it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/51 "2013-01-13T14:59:15Z")
I’m glad that this intrigues and puzzles everyone as much as it does me, although I would like to get an answer someday. I think I’ll start an email round to the various departments that might know something about it. Not sure if I said above, but I first saw it at probably 500 feet and it was a total eye magnet from there; I kept circling close and closer, through muddy access roads, partly to get closer to see if could figure out what it was. Finally had to tromp through the slush to get those pix. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/52 "2013-01-13T16:02:43Z")
(As a cargo cult begins to take shape…) ---
**Author:** ![jambo101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jambo101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jambo101)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/53 "2013-01-13T16:07:17Z")
Any chance it could just be a piece of art, perhaps steampunk theme? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/54 "2013-01-13T17:09:21Z")
**NitroPress** , I might have missed it in the descriptions. Is it safe to assume that there is only one compartment inside? The two access ports go to the same space? I wonder if it’s high pressure/low pressure, or fill/evaporate, or something like that. The tube coming out with another going through it vaguely reminds me of a still I [del]used to use[/del] once heard about. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/55 "2013-01-13T17:14:47Z")
No, um, seriously. I know what it is. **Nitro** , does your university have an architectural or civil engineering school? Tripler NOT one of the Men In Black, with a little memory flashy-thingie. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/56 "2013-01-13T17:27:53Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > No, um, seriously. I know what it is. **Nitro** , does your university have an architectural or civil engineering school? Spill it, man! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/57 "2013-01-13T18:08:31Z")
Is there a Dyson logo anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/58 "2013-01-13T18:12:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Is there a Dyson logo anywhere? Or perhaps Aperture Science? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/59 "2013-01-13T19:01:04Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > This is the housing for an older style [turbo encabulator.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag) > I remember my dad working on them when we lived in Detroit. Running down faults could take 2 people all day long. I loved this bit of brilliance in the comments: > [@](#): > > In it’s time, yes this was serious… since then though we’ve established that the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance does not scale linearly with the current polarity required by modern flux inversion systems. It’s not that the theory wasn’t sound, simply that they had no idea that our reliance on mono-polarization in transistor architecture would result in an impasse between the competing standards. > I’ll admit it sounds silly looking back, but this was solid science 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/60 "2013-01-13T19:04:00Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > Whatever it is, I doubt it was designed to hold pressure. It seems to be bolted together from hundreds of little pieces. Each joint between pieces is a place for whatever the contents are to leak out, there’s no reason you’d use something impossible to seal properly like this instead of an off-the-shelf pressure tank. Yep, agree. I’m thinking the design would necessitate _way_ too many gaskets if it was intended to be used as a fluid pressure (or vacuum) chamber. I suppose it could have been some kind of resonant chamber for microwaves. But I don’t know enough about them to say yea or nay. As others have mentioned, I am leaning toward a piece of art. Perhaps they hung it from the ceiling at the entrance to the Physics Department or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=4)