Drake Anthony Recreates the Mechanical Bulb First Seen in 1675 – TechEBlog

Summary

Drake Anthony spends a lot of time in the workshop, continually pushing the boundaries of what you can produce with basic materials. His recent video on the styro pyro 2 channel attempts to replicate a phenomenon discovered over three centuries ago. The ultimate result is a glass flask that emits visible light when shaken, eliminating the need for batteries, wiring, or other external power sources. VIDEO The story begins in 1675, with French astronomer Jean Picard out on the streets of Paris on a dark, clear night. He’s carrying a mercury barometer, and as he moves, a small glow begins to form in the glass tube above it. This light appears only when he stirs the mercury and exposes some new glass for it to play on. The whole thing is a strange sight, which he describes to several of his scientific friends at the time and ends up giving the nickname ‘barometric light’. YIERBLUE Rechargeable Spotlight Flashlight with 2000000 High Lumen LED, IP67 Waterproof Long Running Spot... EXTRA BRIGHT HEAVY DUTY FLASHLIGHT: Its brightness is several times that of the small model.This extra bright LED spotlight casts a super bright...WATERPROOF & FLOATING, IMPACT RESISTANT: This spot lights outdoor handheld is IP67 waterproof and submersible up to 3ft, and even float back up to the...LONG TIME LIGHTING & POWER PORT: Built-in rechargeable batteries, YIERBLUE’s proprietary battery technology give you up to 9 hours lighting on lower... It takes the scientists some time to figure out what’s going on, but friction turns out to be the key to everything. When mercury flows smoothly over a clean glass surface, it leaves a trail of electric charge that can travel through the air inside the container. When that electric charge strikes the gas molecules within, they begin to emit light, which is similar to how neon signs work, except that the energy comes from friction and contact between the two materials. Anthony sets out on a journey to recreate this entire effect from scratch. First, he ...