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Do Try This At Home

A Very Portal Christmas Tree

by Susana Polo | 10:15 am, December 27th

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And I thought Aperture Science patented portal guns were only for use inside of designated testing areas! Ryan Kelly, co-creator of this clever illusion, explains how he and his coworker put it together:

Basically, it’s our artificial tree which comes apart in three sections. The top section is suspended from the ceiling by an adhesive hook so it simply hangs downwards. The other two sections are connected and placed upside down on the floor – the tricky part is that the branches are meant to be kept extended out by gravity, so there is fishing line attached between each branch and what is usually the base of the tree, pulling the branches up towards the ceiling…

Finally, the hanging top piece didn’t have branches that extended all the way up to the ceiling, so to cover the obvious gap we bought some artificial garland and wrapped that around it to match up with the ceiling. That way it looks like the tree continues up into the surface.

Okay, but give us a picture of how it actually works.

Science would be proud.

(Reddit via Boing Boing.)

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  • Carmen Sandiego

    I love this and may copy it next year.

  • Lisa Hunter

    First good reason I’ve seen to get an artificial tree.