http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/electricity http://io9.com/tag/electricity

In old movies, when there is electricity involved, there always seem to be two wires fanning out and a slowly-rising arc of electricity between them. This contraption is called Jacob's Ladder, and although it looks uselessly sci-fi, it was actually quite useful in machinery... a hundred years ago. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881578&view=rss&microfeed=true

When electric power was in its infancy, there was a debate on how exactly to light up a city. Today we have settled on streetlights lining the sidewalks, but once upon a time, they had giant towers that re-created the moon. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876985&view=rss&microfeed=true

So you're going to a costume party in a bad neighborhood. You want to be safe, but you don't want to break out of your historical character. Take this quick tutorial on how to make a jar, invented in the 1700s, that stores up enough static electricity to disable, or even kill someone. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875023&view=rss&microfeed=true

Residents of Venezuela have been treated to a light show that has been going on for thousands of years. One spot on the Catatumbo River gets, regularly, forty thousand bolts every night. The lightning has helped sailors navigate, foiled attacks on the nearby countryside, and is actually responsible for Venezuelan independence. Find out about the most zapped spot on earth. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871791&view=rss&microfeed=true

Guillaume Duchenne didn't use the Joker's extreme methods to make people smile — but he did employ a technique that was nearly as gruesome. This nineteenth century researcher was fascinated by finding a "genuine" smile — and wasn't averse to using electrodes on people, to achieve his goal. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871767&view=rss&microfeed=true

Boo Chapple, an artist, has made audio speakers out of pieces of cow femur. To do this, she exploits the same property that puts crystals in watches and ceramics in microphones, which is an intrinsic part of bone structure. Find out why your entire skeleton is wired for sound. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871752&view=rss&microfeed=true

Magnetite is, as its name implies, one of the most naturally magnetic materials on earth. Millennia ago, it was what first clued scientists in to magnetism. But magnetite is also something of a mystery. At low temperatures, the rock completely stops all electricity. At last scientists have figured it out why. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869405&view=rss&microfeed=true

Plasma is what's responsible for St Elmo's Fire. It's the solar wind that whips through our planetary system. It's part of the ionosphere. It's part of the sun. And you can create it in your microwave, with a grape (provided you have no further use for either the microwave or the grape.) More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863539&view=rss&microfeed=true

So what do you get when you put together a tank full of black ghost knife fish, some audio equipment, and a bunch of crazy people? A fish chorus. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5859799&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've all heard about getting sparks from a lifesaver, especially a wintergreen one, but in reality you don't need a brand name to make sparks. All you need is a lump of sugar and the willingness to subject it to an untimely death. Find out how and why to get sparks from sweetness. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5857952&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here at io9, we never miss a chance to make things that normally don't turn hot and glowy into things that are hot and glowy. In the spirit of this, it's time to give you a chance to set fire to steel wool. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5847122&view=rss&microfeed=true

Probably not. Even when it's nipping at our toes, wireless electricity is pretty safe. In 1899, Serbian engineer Nikola Tesla built a 142-foot-tall, 12-million-volt electric coil in Colorado Springs and transmitted electricity wirelessly across 25 miles, illuminating 200 lamps with the charge. After he flipped the switch, flashes of lightning leaped from the coil, but no one was harmed. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5845844&view=rss&microfeed=true

Measuring systems are almost always arbitrary - even the orderly metric system is chopped up into random little pieces we call grams, kilograms, and tons. With the increased need for precision, it's necessary that everyone use the same random unit of mass for a kilogram. After a Nobel winning discovery, and decades of tireless research, scientists have managed to pin down a kilogram and an ampere. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5844977&view=rss&microfeed=true

To mortal eyes, when an electric current hits an insulator, it stops. But actually it often creates art - it's just art that we can't see. Lichtenberg figures are branching patterns, like frozen lightning, that appear when electric discharge runs up against an insulator. You can make one of your own with static electricity and basic art supplies. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5843116&view=rss&microfeed=true

In Indonesia, ill people are searching for a New Age cure that transcends crystals and healing magnets — they're cozying up to train tracks, soaking in its curative aura. Thankfully, this therapy doesn't require the practitioner to get hit by a train. Rather, one lies on the railroad tracks and absorbs the rails' healing electric shocks. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5828861&view=rss&microfeed=true

For generations, we've told children about the amazingly entertaining effects of static electricity. Rubbing two charged objects together causes electrons to flee from one to the other, giving a uniform negative charge to one side, and a uniform positive charge to the other — leading to the delightful hair-raising, wall-sticking results. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5814177&view=rss&microfeed=true

About two billion light-years from Earth, there's a huge jet of matter emanating from the core of galaxy 3C303. The jet carries a current of 10^18 amps, making it by far the highest electric current ever seen. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5814522&view=rss&microfeed=true

Cyber-terrorists could target the U.S. electrical grid and throw the nation into chaos, lawmakers warned at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee. There are "many PhDs" inside Al Qaeda, and cyber-spies have already infiltrated the electricity system. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5807192&view=rss&microfeed=true

Look at those two devices above. Both devices are from the late 1800s and electrified, and I wouldn't wish either of them upon my worst enemy. Can you determine what they are? Your prize will be knowledge and horror. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5803202&view=rss&microfeed=true

Electroshock therapy has been featured in many movies, usually as a total nightmare meted out by sadistic doctors on an innocent patient for no reason and with no benefit. And it's still used today. But why? Because, despite its depiction on film, it's painless and effective. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5799573&view=rss&microfeed=true

In some respects, firefighting technology has come a long way over the past several decades—we now have flame suppressing foams and powders for instance, as well as new ways of delivering them to the fire. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5786176&view=rss&microfeed=true

Superconductors are known for their complete lack of resistance to electrical flow. They also have less widely-known quirk — they make magnets levitate. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785986&view=rss&microfeed=true

Superconductors conduct electricity perfectly, but only at an extreme low temperature. Just above that temperature is a 'pseudogap' where neither regular nor low temperature rules apply. A group of scientists are fixing to find out why. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785488&view=rss&microfeed=true

Find out why every time you accidentally leave a trace of tinfoil on your leftovers, your microwave looks like it's the Fourth of July. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5745084&view=rss&microfeed=true

Lightning can do a lot more than ruin your electronics. It can climb through the plumbing into your house and zap you to death. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5672266&view=rss&microfeed=true

As we end Mad Science Week here at io9, here's an excerpt from The Mad Scientist Hall Of Fame by Daniel H. Wilson and Anna C. Long, focusing on Nikola Tesla, the Electrical Genius. Test your Tesla knowledge! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5648455&view=rss&microfeed=true

Light bulbs are living on borrowed time, but why do their timers tend to expire just as you turn on a light, instead of flickering out randomly? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5628229&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's electricity in the air all around us, formed as water vapor comes into contact with dust particles. For centuries scientists have dreamed of tapping into this source of power - and we finally might be able to do it. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5622771&view=rss&microfeed=true

A revolutionary new fuel cell could take in urine and produce electricity and clean water. It might sound silly, but a prototype already exists, and it could provide the unlikeliest possible solution to third world energy and clean water problems. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5618973&view=rss&microfeed=true

This once-in-a-lifetime photo captures a blast that tears through 8,000 cubic yards of rock in an old phosphate mine. It's just one of the marvels captured in the best engineering photos of 2009. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5604002&view=rss&microfeed=true

It skitters across the ground, floats in the air, is cold to the touch, and leaves scorch marks. It's been scientifically explained, or hey, it might be a total hallucination. It's ball lightning! More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5601177&view=rss&microfeed=true

In the future, play-doh will be used to make electronics devices. That's the message of "Squishy Circuits," a project where students ran a motor and LEDs connected to a battery-powered roll of dough. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5600295&view=rss&microfeed=true

In the 1960s, United States Steel released Power Styling, a book of remodeled electrical stations that crackled with modernist flair. The book imagines a mod future in which "electrical engineer" is the sexiest gig on the planet. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5586233&view=rss&microfeed=true

It was Tesla's birthday on Saturday, and the Facebook group Team Tesla has made this cheeky short in his honor. Also, the unfortunate story of Topsy the elephant, a pachyderm who received the electric chair. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5584831&view=rss&microfeed=true

Two Tesla coils, a Faraday suit, and 500,000 volts of electricity are all that ArcAttack needed to stage a positively shocking performance of the Who theme at the Bay Area Maker Faire. [Topless Robot] More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5549138&view=rss&microfeed=true

Electrons may not be the only movers and shakers among subatomic particles, but they do power the modern world. How much work do they actually do, and how fast are they? The answer is more complicated than it seems. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5546927&view=rss&microfeed=true

We're all thinking of the movie. It can't be helped. Just look at the picture once; then we'll move on to the meteorological phenomenon and pretend that the movie never happened. Except for the song. Love that song. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5541289&view=rss&microfeed=true

Your iPod nano may today rely on electrical power (until its battery dies), but future nanodevices might be powered strictly by a combination of attractive and repulsive lights. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5314686&view=rss&microfeed=true

In 1901, inventor Nikola Tesla built an 18-story tower on New York's Long Island, promising that it would deliver electricity wirelessly to the world. Now that mysterious tower and his lab may be destroyed. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5244789&view=rss&microfeed=true

Freelance geek Bre Pettis has uploaded some hilarious illustrations from a 1931 German book called Electrocution in 132 Pictures. But was this scientific manual really just an excuse to look at naughty pictures? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5107980&view=rss&microfeed=true