Captured lightning....

[HysteryDiagnosis]

http://205.243.100.155/frames/lichtenbergs.html
Doubly Irradiated "Windblown Lightning" Sculpture

This Captured Lightning® sculpture was created by bombarding a block of clear acrylic with a beam of electrons from a 5 million volt particle accelerator. The electron beam irradiated the left side, the specimen was rotated 180 degrees, and it was irradiated once more on the opposite side. This created two independent layers of electrical charge deep inside the specimen. The rightmost charge layer was then manually discharged, creating a miniature "lightning storm" within the layer immediately above. Additional discharges then grew between the right and left charge layers, forming a beautifully interconnected 3D discharge pattern. This sculpture was then illuminated from below by blue light emitting diodes (LED's). Unlike low-resolution laser crystal art, each of our Captured Lightning® sculptures contain a unique, and incredibly detailed, natural fractal discharge pattern. No two sculptures are identical. As they branch, the branching discharge channels become increasingly finer and hair-like, ultimately disappearing at the tips. The smallest discharges are thought to extend down to the molecular level.


Video of manufacturing process

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1417302205?bctid=1419758473

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Awesome....really, truly.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Glad you approve... I was perusing NASA.gov and found this,

explaining that the heliosphere is shaped or at least vastly influenced by the GALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELD... imagine that.


I know this has NOTHING to do with the OP but I am not about to start a thread about yet another highly flammable subject.



Image above: Combines one of the possibilities for the bright ribbon of emission seen in the IBEX ENA maps with an image of the IBEX spacecraft. The galactic magnetic field shapes the heliosphere as it drapes over it. The ribbon appears to trace the area where the magnetic field is most parallel to the surface of the heliosphere (the heliopause). Credit: SwRI



Sun as it moves through the universe


Animation above: Just like all other stars in the galaxy's flattened disk, the Sun slowly orbits the center of the galaxy like a horse on a merry-go-round, taking about 250 million years to go around once, gently bobbing up and down through the disk. As the Solar system travels through different parts of the Milky Way, the heliosphere's shape and size keep changing. The heliosphere protects us like a cocoon as the Sun and its planets travel through the Milky Way. Credit: Adler Planetarium/Chicago

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Things like this make one feel so silly for worrying about everyday things like the weather and

pimples... LOL

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Maybe, just maybe introducing people who suffer from anxiety,

possibly depression, perhaps addictive disorders to this sort of unreal beauty would help them just a little. We truly do live in a magical universe.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Well said.

[shireen]

18. +1

:)

[truedelphi]

2. But uh, were any humans harmed in this process?

I guess we don't even need to be told not to attempt this at home.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Well, I guess you could lock out your GFI's and take a radio into

the bath with you... check with your insco first.

[truedelphi]

14. Do I need to lockout the GFI's if circuit breakers

Have all been reset?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

16. If you want lightning in your bathtub, you'll need to lock them out

meaning, defeat their protective action... should have been more clear on that...

[asdjrocky]

3. It's beautiful.

Another winning post!

[Odin2005]

8. PURRRRDY!

[Skittles]

10. totally FASCINATING

:thumbsup:

hey I cannot get that top link to work, so I Googled and still cannot find a pic of the actual sculpture; can you post a pic?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. I'll do what I can, but the link worked for me... it might have been

"saturated"?? Don't know... here's what I have.


http://205.243.100.155/frames/lichtenbergs.html









Are There Practical Uses for Lichtenberg Figures?

Analysis of Lichtenberg figures is a powerful tool for diagnosing high voltage breakdown phenomena within solids and along dielectric interfaces. By examining these figures, experts can diagnose and prevent future electrical faults within a variety of high voltage devices, such as the transformers and capacitors used by electrical utilities. Historically, they have been a powerful tool in measuring the polarity and magnitude of transient overvoltages on power lines during direct and indirect lightning strikes. These measurements were critical for the development of modern electrical power transmission and distribution systems. Lichtenberg Figures are still used as a forensic clue for identifying the cause of injury or death of human and animal lightning victims.

In mid-2009, researchers at Texas A&M University have proposed using 3D Lichtenberg Figures created within various polymeric materials as "templates" for growing vascular tissue. There are significant similarities between branching Lichtenberg Figures and animal circulatory systems - a fact not lost on many medical researchers. The hope is that, by creating branching 3D Lichtenberg Figures inside biodegradable polymers, such as polylactic acid (PLA), scientists could these as "molds" for vascular tissue to develop and grow within. Vascularization is essential for growing functional replacement tissues and organs. The 18th century technology of Lichtenberg Figures may play a profound role in organ replacement therapy during the 21st century!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. Better yet, a googlplex... this works.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=lichtenberg+figure&gbv=2&aq=0&oq=lichtenberg&aqi=g1g-m1

[greytdemocrat]

13. Very Cool Stuff!!!! n/t

[L0oniX]

15. Awesome K & R

[shireen]

17. i have a few small ones

that i bought from a co-worker who makes them.

Those photos, as gorgeous as they are, don't do them justice. Close up, the fine detail of the delicate branching is just utterly exquisite.

You can get them on Ebay. Come to think of it, you can get practically anything on Ebay these days ... last year, someone sold a lighthouse, And someone bought it! :D

[Toucano]

19. What a valuable use of electricity. eom