Behold and marvel - a floating table

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While we were in our old home town of Donnybrook, Western Australia, recently, we went to see this floating table which had been created by some of the men from the Men’s Shed organisation. There was a plaque attached to the case which read: ‘Mentegrity Floating Table: Mentegrity or mental integrity is a phrase made up by the Donnybrook Men’s Shed. The table design is based on the Tensegrity principle where a structure maintains its stability through tension exerted by a system of cables. This project as part of RUOK* week demonstrates an analogy of the physical and mental pressure on society today. As long as the core strength is stronger than the outside influences, the table remains upright even though it sways. This balance is as critical in maintaining a structure’s equilibrium as it is in life. As you can see, the table appears to ‘float’ in mid-air and I found it quite mind-boggling. The four fine vertical wires are there simply to stabilise the table top. RUOK stands for R U (Are you) OK? And is a suicide prevention charity in Australia, encouraging all of us to notice the signs of mental health struggle in friends, family, and colleagues. Have you heard of tensegrity or seen anything like this table?