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World's largest Rube Goldberg machine fires up the Christmas lights in Latvia

By Loz Blain
December 08, 2016
World's largest Rube Goldberg machine fires up the Christmas lights in Latvia
A monstrous 412-step Rube Goldberg machine took 15 minutes to turn on the Christmas lights in Riga, Latvia
A monstrous 412-step Rube Goldberg machine took 15 minutes to turn on the Christmas lights in Riga, Latvia
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A monstrous 412-step Rube Goldberg machine took 15 minutes to turn on the Christmas lights in Riga, Latvia
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A monstrous 412-step Rube Goldberg machine took 15 minutes to turn on the Christmas lights in Riga, Latvia

A group of software developers from Scandiweb has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest Rube Goldberg machine ever built. In front of a cheering crowd, the 412-step machine took nearly 15 minutes before the final step lit up the central Christmas tree in Riga, Lativa.

A team of nearly 50 Scandiweb employees and volunteers built and tested the machine for nearly two months before its final successful run.

Rube Goldberg machines are loosely defined as any contraption that performs a very simple task in a very complicated way. The previous record holder was a 300-step monster from Purdue University, Indiana, which blew up a balloon in 2012.

Enjoy the video below.

Source: Guinness World Records

World’s largest Rube Goldberg machine lights up Christmas tree

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Good ThinkingGuinnessWorld RecordsRube Goldberg MachineLatvia
2 comments
Loz Blain
Loz Blain
Loz leads the New Atlas team as Editorial Director, after nearly two decades as one of our most versatile writers. He's also proven himself as a photographer, videographer, presenter, producer and podcast engineer. A graduate in Psychology, former business analyst and touring musician, he's covered just about everything for New Atlas, concentrating lately on clean energy, AI, humanoid robotics, next-gen aircraft, and the odd bit of music, motorcycles and automotive.

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2 comments
Daniel E. Wright
Thank You for putting this contraption together and... making it Work ! and Thank you for photographing it for the World to see... there is still Good Folks All over the World. I enjoyed it Greatly ! From Dan in Pennsylvania a State in The U. S. of A. Pa. is located just below the State of Confusion ! Merry Christmas !
Bruce H. Anderson
This is the kind of thing that engineering-types dream of. Creative. Challenging. Fun! I wish the video was in real time to better capture all the detail.