Children are quite a bit like cats. No matter how much you spend on gifts for them, inevitably it is the box – which had contained the gift – that seems to provide the most raucous and satisfying entertainment for them.
No matter how much you spend on gifts for them, inevitably it is the box - which had contained the gift - that seems to provide the most raucous and satisfying entertainment for them.
Enter Exhibit A:
And Exhibit B:
It was a glorious Christmas.
For Exhibit C, I present one possible future for boxes: the Rapid Packing Container, designed by two engineering students in the Invention Factory Program at the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at Cooper Union. It's easy to assemble and disassemble and reuse... though it may prove bewildering to children and cats.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
In addition to performing and giving science communication talks for NSF, AAAS, NASA, NIST, ACS and other acronyms, Brian Malow has produced science videos for Time magazine and audio pieces for Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk radio show. He has blogged for Scientific American and worked in science communications at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. He can be found as @sciencecomedianScienceComedian.com. Follow Brian Malow on Twitter
