Reformulating Flubber: A Safer, Cost-Effective Recipe for Education
Flubber, a versatile material used extensively in science education, has historically incorporated borax in its composition. Borax poses certain health risks including skin, digestive, and respiratory irritation; impacts on fertility and health of unborn children; and death. A new Flubber recipe has been developed using low-cost, easily accessible ingredients by a team at the Byrd Center and Durham University in the United Kingdom. This reformulated version retains the beneficial properties of the original Flubber but eliminates the associated health concerns.
Jason Cervenec, Director of the Education and Outreach Group at the Byrd Center, and Tom Chudley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Durham University, identified the need for a safer Flubber alternative and spearheaded efforts to develop the new recipe.
Cervenec and Chudley were joined by Byrd Center undergraduate student assistants Joseph Helterbrand and Vigo Bertolo and Science Outreach Coordinator in the Department of Physics at Durham University Paula Street. The team formulated a cost-effective and safe Flubber. This new composition maintains the original's beneficial properties without the health risks of borax, allowing geoscientists to continue to demonstrate to youth how glaciers flow with Flubber.
Their work was published in Connected Science Learning last month, providing Earth sciences, informal educators, and parents with a safe, easy-to-make recipe.
Read more by visiting "A Safer 'Flubber' Recipe" or download the PDF here.
