Weird Science: Team Seeks Record in Detroit With Chain Reaction Machine

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Team Seeks Record in Detroit With Chain Reaction Machine

DETROIT — Jul 16, 2015, 5:03 PM ET

A team at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit wants to set a record for building the largest chain reaction machine.

Plans call for it to be activated Saturday and run nearly 30 minutes. It's expected to include more than half a million objects, including about 200,000 dominoes and thousands of other common objects.

The lead builder is Steve Price, a Michigan State University mechanical engineering student and a native of the Detroit suburb of Canton Township. He has built other Rube Goldberg machines, but this one includes hundreds of steps and will be his largest one to date.

The objects include ping pong balls, Hot Wheels tracks, bouncy balls, K'Nex pieces, blocks and Solo cups, organizers said.

It's called the "Zeal Credit Union's Incredible Science Machine," since a credit union is backing the effort. According to event organizers, the current Guinness World Records mark for a Rube Goldberg machine had 300 steps and ran for about 2 minutes. The number of steps will be more than 300, but the exact count won't be known until the machine is completed, organizers said.

Zeal Credit Union Vice President Lisa Fawcett said Price's work is a clear example of following a passion.

"We knew we needed to support these builders in any way we could," she said in a statement, adding that the credit union understands "the hard work and passion required to pursue a dream of this magnitude."

Organizers said they also are seeking to break the unofficial U.S. record of 169,000 for the number of dominoes used in a single chain reaction.

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A team at the Michigan Science Center works on the "Zeal Credit Union's Incredible Science Machine," Thursday, July 16, 2015 in Detroit. Plans call for it to be activated Saturday and run nearly 30 minutes. It's expected to include more than half a million objects, including about 200,000 dominoes and thousands of other common objects. According to event organizers, the current Guinness World Records mark for a Rube Goldberg machine had 300 steps and ran for about 2 minutes. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)