My mom sent this to me and I thought, “Tumblr HAS to see this.” This is the blurb that came with it:

THE MOTHER OF ALL DOOHICKEYS

You have probably never witnessed anything as amazing as this contraption. Please note, the balls don’t fall on the floor; they return to the machine. See how all of the balls wind up in catcher cones. Totally fantazmaglorious!!!

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Amazingly, 97% of the machine’s components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa . Yes, farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours (6.26 years) of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see, it was WELL worth the effort.

The machine is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the university and it is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.