Scienceville
Found by Fluke
Some of the world's greatest discoveries happened because of a melted candy bar, a forgotten drink or a glowing screen. Let's explore some happy accidents!
Did you know?
In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a drink with a stirring stick in it on his back porch overnight. By morning, the cold had frozen the drink to the stick: the idea for the ice pop was born!
In 1945, engineer Percy Spencer noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted while he worked near a radar machine. This discovery led to the microwave oven.
In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a screen glowing in his darkened lab during an experiment. He had discovered X-rays, which let doctors see the bones inside our bodies!
Try this: Oobleck: The Strange Goo
Do this with an adult
With an adult, mix 2 cups of cornflour with about 1 cup of water in a bowl. Punch it quickly: it feels solid! Let your fingers sink in slowly: it flows like a liquid. Scientists find surprises by playing and observing carefully. What else do you notice? When done, throw it in the dustbin, not down the drain.
Go further: Serendipity and a Mouldy Dish
A happy accident is called 'serendipity'. Horace Walpole made up the word in 1754 from a fairy tale about three princes of Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka, who kept finding things by chance. A famous example: in 1928, Alexander Fleming came back from a holiday and saw that mould growing on one of his lab dishes had killed the germs around it. This led to penicillin, a medicine that has saved millions of lives.