Is Smart Mass the Ultimate Adult Office Toy?

by John P. Barker

We've all played with putty. Some of us have probably even eaten putty. I'm one of those, having sampled some when I was a kid. It tasted like... putty.

There's a certain brand of putty that's just plain "silly" and can do all sorts of things, from bounce really high to pull images of comic strips from the Sunday paper.

But a new era in putty has dawned with the introduction of Smart Mass.

This doesn't look silly at all...

Smart Mass performs as any good putty should. It bounces. It stretches. It gets all squishy.

But it also tears, drips, and shatters. Yep. Shatters.

How does putty do that?

Generally you have to work at a blob of putty to pull it apart. You squish it down, then twist, then pull, etc.

Smart Mass can be pulled apart with one finger-well, and a thumb, of course.

This is done by pulling quickly, sort of like tearing a piece of paper. The rapid movement does not allow the molecules in the putty to realign-hence the rip.

So how can this very same putty drip from the ceiling?

This is done by making a cone out of the Smart Mass. Then make an indentation toward the bottom of the cone. Stick this (thick side up) on the ceiling. It starts to ooze, like something out of a horror movie.

Ewwww... Looks like an alien autopsy

Make sure and put something beneath it...

Okay... so now we have a putty that can bounce, pull up comics, stretch, tear/shear, drip from the ceiling... and shatter. What?

Watch:

How does a putty shatter?

Smart Mass adapts to the amount of pressure put upon it, as well as the speed with which that pressure is introduced. Leave it alone... it gets drippy. Mush it around in your hands and it gets putty-like. Throw it, and the impact will make it bounce. Bash the living hell out of it with a hammer a few times and it hardens into a solid.

That's pretty smart stuff. And due to the bizarre nature of its chemical build-up, I'm not gonna try tasting it.

If you want to freak out your office mates, I'd highly recommend getting a can of Smart Mass at ThinkGeek!