Google finds fun way to show off Chrome's JavaScript chops

In the mood for something both technically impressive and silly? Google's new site, Chrome Experiments, brings together an assortment of browser-based JavaScript programs intended to both show off the platform and entertain.

The collection includes puzzles, a Twitter-based social collider, and some very strange animation. One piece, Browser Talk, puts up a simple face, then animates its mouth to match what you say into your microphone.

So what does all this have to do with Chrome? After all, just about any current browser supports JavaScript. But Google recently announced a new, faster Chrome beta, and wants to point out the differences in how it and other browsers handle the experiments.

Launch one of the scripts in Firefox or Internet Explorer, and a message will pop up saying that "Honestly, you'd be better off running this experiment in Google Chrome." The first option is to download Chrome, or users can try whatever browser they have running.

There is a notable difference in the way that other browsers handle the scripts. I found that the amusing Google Gravity clip worked in Firefox 3, but it was slow and didn't have the nice bounce that Chrome gave it. It didn't work at all in Internet Explorer 7.