If you've never seen neon up close, plasma is such an incredible light source. It's like the light is just floating being emitted from empty space. I took a neon workshop a few years ago, and it became clear why people are still willing to painstakingly make these signs - there is really nothing comparable to them, they're like magic

For those who want to read the wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barometric_light

I wish I could just buy one of these as a commercial product. I'll never be able to make this and it's too cool to not be able to buy.

I wish these could be made with something non toxic. Having one on my desk to shake would be a great fidget spinner.

• s0rce

  today at 8:23 PM

  I suspect eutectic liquid InGa alloys would work, they stop wetting the glass when you are under vacuum. Although mercury is safe in the tube, just don't break the glass.

• gwbas1c

  today at 8:16 PM

  To put it in perspective, people used to consume mercury-based medicine. I'm sure if the glass is thick enough, the risk of a spill (and your health) will be generally managed.

• janderson215

  today at 6:53 PM

  Just drink a little bit at a time to buoys up an immunity.

  • today at 7:01 PM

for a moment I thought this was going to be about arc-lights in the 1800s that mechanically touch electrodes and then draw apart

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lamp

it's amazing how far we've come

think about Benjamin Franklin twenty-five years before Declaration of Independence naming the first "battery" (out of the concept of lined-up artillery) by connecting a series of lynden jars (basically capacitors) - he also invented the concept of +/- positive and negative

now we've got space telescopes and probes leaving the solar system

imagine what's coming in another 300 years

• ambicapter

  today at 3:08 PM

  > naming the first "battery" (out of the concept of lined-up artillery)

  That's an amazing fun fact.

  • throwway120385

    today at 3:57 PM

    Another fun fact is that it was impossible to deduce from any of Ben Franklin's experiments what material was transferred and what material remained in place to give rise to "charge" as we think of it. So he picked a convention that we've continued to use even after we learned that his negative charges were the material that gets transferred by friction.

  • ck2

    today at 4:26 PM

    somewhat more "fun" and impressive (despite useless) are "Franklin Bells" which way before anyone figured out electric motors, was the first example of electricity to mechanical energy

    * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_bells

    of course incredibly crude

    (imagine showing a paperclip motor to someone in 1750 https://player.vimeo.com/video/120255518 )

    but it must be said, as genius as Franklin was, sadly he bears the original sin of owning slaves EVEN AS AN ABOLITIONIST and didn't free them until after his death (via will) - it's more than a little f-ed up

    • liveoneggs

      today at 8:21 PM

      You can opt out of electricity, various shaped stoves, the USA, and his other stuff to live out your moral superiority.

      Also you may freely ignore his change of stance, the laws and norms of the time, etc

    • Andrew_nenakhov

      today at 5:47 PM

      > but it must be said, as genius as Franklin was, sadly ..

      Some people can't help themselves from bringing irrelevant facts to the conversation.

      • bensmoif

        today at 7:03 PM

        I don't think it's irrelevant that a brilliant man like Benjamin Franklin may not have been able to achieve as much as he unmistakably did WITHOUT the heavy assistance of forced slave labor in his life, from cradle to grave.

        Pretending like these things can be separated is ignorance. Ignoring its brutality does a disservice to our history and that man's legacy

    • WalterBright

      today at 5:44 PM

      People are better judged by the mores of their time, not our time.

      Besides, without Franklin, there would be no United States, the free-est country in history.

      • krapp

        today at 7:24 PM

        Slavery was immoral during Franklin's time too, Walter. Many, many people of the time understood this. Even Franklin himself, hypocrite though he was, came around to it.

        • WalterBright

          today at 7:42 PM

          I understand that. I also know that half the country thought slavery was ok, and made it clear they would not join the union if it was abolished.

          • krapp

            today at 7:54 PM

            So what? That doesn't affect the morality of slavery one bit. Subjective and relative moral questions do exist, but slavery isn't one of them.

            Likewise, Ben Franklin being a founding father doesn't somehow balance the scales in that regard. The existence of the United States doesn't retroactively make slavery ok.

      • wat10000

        today at 6:06 PM

        Plenty of people at the time thought slavery was evil. Franklin was even one of them, calling it "cancer." He said this while still owning slaves, which is rather peculiar, but people are complicated.

        • bensmoif

          today at 7:08 PM

          In this century we have a word for that kind of talk by slaveholders who professed some longing for abolition (Franklin. Jefferson, Washington, John Jay) but did not really wanna be inconvenienced: trolling.

          • fhdkweig

            today at 8:04 PM

            Trolls do things for the LOLs. They are motivated by humor. Someone who wants rules for others but breaks those rules personally is better referred to as a hypocrite.

            And while he did have a sense of humor (I hear that daylight savings time was just a joke), I don't think that is why he had slaves. He kept them because they were useful to him, and the moment he died they were no longer useful. The slaves owned by others were never useful to him, so they should be freed immediately.

      • ck2

        today at 6:05 PM

        Yeah no, Norway and a few others are the free-est country in history, just because someone declares US is "free" doesn't make it true, we disappear citizens all the time, police can seize your property without cause, government can seize your land for datacenters and women lose more and more rights every year

        Again, Franklin knew slavery was wrong, literally campaigned to end it for that reason, yet did it himself for decades in the meanwhile, not a difficult horror to grasp in any time

        • WalterBright

          today at 7:29 PM

          I consider freedom to include the free market. Norway has a mixed economy, due to its extensive regulation.

          While it operates as a free-market country, the Norwegian government holds large ownership stakes in strategic industries, including petroleum, hydroelectric power, telecommunications, and banking.

          Experts often characterize the Norwegian economy as a blend of private enterprise, state ownership, and social welfare that provides high standards of living.

          (Cribbed from google)

• helterskelter

  today at 5:11 PM

  Franklin also invented the lightning rod, something which we take for granted these days.

  • today at 7:47 PM