Jessica & Schuyler

Giant's Causeway Northern Ireland
This phenomena is created through a process beginning with molten lava. The lava flows under the earth creating a buildup of pressure. Eventually, the Earth's crust cannot bear this pressure any longer and the lava bursts through the ground. The lava begins to cool as soon as it breaks through the ground and forms hexagonal pillars. 

Our first experiment involved melting hot glue and letting it run through a filter, like the crust of the Earth.

The next few images are of our larger model, creating by mixing hot glue and wax and pouring them through a filter into cold water to begin the hardening process. We are currently working to make this model less stratified.

This smaller model was more successful in the different types of effects it produced. For example, the bottom is fairly solid, topped by a layer of quite stringy material, finally topped by a thicker material.

This diagram attempts to display the process of our natural phenomena.

Sprites
Sprites are a result of a lightening bolt. Sprites occur under storm conditions, usually the air pressure is very important. They are the negative result of lightening. So while lighting is a positive hot plasma phenomena, sprites are a negative cold plasma phenomena. They undergo a material change due to electric charge and materialize into reddish bolts of light.

These series of image are experimentation for the sprites. We tried multiple techniques and substances to attempt in getting food coloring to suspend in a liquid as in capturing the electric charge of sprites.

This diagram attempts to materialize the phenomena of sprites.