Caught Bug

A pixel beetle caught on a hook, floating over your code.

How the bug floats

It isn't going anywhere.

A teal pixel beetle hangs in the air over a navy terminal window. Nothing under it touches it. Keep scrolling to see what's holding it.

Two hooks that never touch.

A navy hook climbs out of the terminal and curls over. A teal hook curls down from the bug's tail and back up inside it. They pass through each other with 0.3 in of air between them at the closest point.

0.55 in of line holds the lot.

One clear nylon line joins the two hook tips. The bug hangs from it by a point about 2 in below its own centre of mass, so it sits up in the air instead of dangling.

Three lines keep it level.

Three more clear lines run from three of its six feet straight down into the terminal, where small navy pegs hold them taut. Pulling down against the hook, they stop the bug tipping, turning or wandering off.

Daylight all the way round.

Walk around it. From every side there's air between the bug and your code, and only the four lines cross it. Nothing moves, nothing hums, nothing needs charging.

Up close

3.9 × 3.9 × 4.7 in, about the footprint of a coaster and a little taller than a coffee mug. It sits beside a keyboard, under a monitor, or on the shelf behind your webcam where the whole stand-up can see it.

Close on the two hooks: the navy hook bends over and down, the teal hook curls up inside it, and a short clear line joins their tips with air all round
The navy hook comes up out of the terminal, the teal one curls down from the bug, and a short clear line joins their tips. Look for the gap: they never touch.
The bug on a light oak shelf beside a potted succulent and a stack of plain hardback books, sunlight across the base
On a shelf the clear lines all but vanish, and the bug just hangs there.
Low view from the tail side: open air between the bug's legs and the base, crossed only by the hooks and thin clear lines
From down low you can see straight under it. Only the hooks and the lines cross the air.

It hangs from underneath.

Most hanging things hang from above. This bug hangs from a hook tip below its own belly, and that's the trick: the line pulls up, three rim lines pull down, and the pulls balance into something that looks like it shouldn't stand. Engineers call it tensegrity. Your coworkers will call it a magnet. It isn't.

The bug's whole weight rides on one 0.55 in line between the hook tips. The tip it hangs from is about 2 in below its centre of mass.

Side drawing of the bug over its base: the two interlocking hooks, the short line between their tips, the three rim lines and the gap between the hooks centre of mass hangs here pulls down 0.3 in
Drawn from the product's own model, seen from a little off the side so every line shows.
Side view: the navy hook and the teal hook sit one inside the other like a pair of brackets, the bug's dome above them
From the side the two hooks read like a pair of brackets, one inside the other. A bug, nested.

Caught Bug

One bug, two hooks, three pegs, and no way out.

1
Pixel beetle: teal shell with two dark stripes, white eyes, six black legs and two antennae
1
Terminal-window base: navy slab, grey title bar with red, yellow and green dots, green lines of "code"
2
Interlocking hooks, navy from the base and teal from the bug
3
Navy tuning pegs, set flush in the sides of the base
Size
3.9 × 3.9 × 4.7 in
Made from
PLA, with clear nylon line
Held by
4 clear nylon lines, 0.02 in thick
Gap between hooks
0.3 in at the closest point
Colours
Teal, dark teal, navy, black, white and grey, with red, yellow and green accents
Power
None: no batteries, no magnets, no motor
Moving parts
None
The terminal side of the base: grey title bar with red, yellow and green dots, green code bars on navy, the bug floating above

Good to know

Does it need batteries or magnets?

No. There's no power anywhere in it: no batteries, no magnets, no motor. It floats on 4 clear nylon lines and two hooks.

What is actually holding the bug up?

A 0.55 in clear line between the tips of the two hooks carries its weight, and three more lines from its feet down to the base keep it level. The hooks pass through each other without touching.

Does any of it move?

No. With its lines taut it holds still, like a bug that knows it's been caught. It's a display piece for your desk, not a fidget toy.

What is it made of?

PLA in teal, navy, black, white and grey, with small red, yellow and green accents, and clear nylon line 0.02 in thick.

How big is it?

3.9 × 3.9 × 4.7 in, so it fits on a desk beside a keyboard or on a narrow shelf.