As we continually search for the new, for innovations to apply to our work, we can become distracted by our pursuits. Often the complex, the supposedly advanced applications can stifle our creativity and hinder our explorations. If we back off and relax, we can often find inspiration from unexpected resources.

I was reminded of this last week with the release of this wonderful video from the International Space Station.

It shows one of the experiments they conducted, that was a result of a contest. High school students were challenged to come up with a simple experiment where all the materials would already have been on the space station. Two teenagers from Nova Scotia were the winners of the contest, and their idea was simple, beautiful and elegant: What would happen if you wrung out a soaking wet washcloth in a zero gravity environment.

While watching the experiment take place was captivating (everything in zero gravity is spell-binding) what was compelling and inspiring, was that the experiment was so simple, something that others would naturally overlook. It serves as a reminder not to look past what is right in front of us; the everyday fascinating things in our lives, if we will only stop to consider the possibilities. Often our greatest learning and creativity, especially in web development, can come about by looking beneath the surface of the obvious, as the young are so often able to do.

 

Photo Credit Flickr