Awesome Electricity

There’s been a long-held concern that the electromagnetic radiation that emanate from cell phones, power lines, and other devices could cause harm to our bodies. But is there any truth to this concern? Kurzgesagt attempts to separate the fact from fiction in this controvertial topic.

There’s quite literally something electric in the air with this high voltage performance of Queen’s rock opera. Electronics wiz Fabrício H. Franzoli programmed a duo of solid state Tesla coils to “sing” a portion of the track. His take on Daft Punk is pretty awesome too.

There’s more demand to move away from fossil fuels and towards electric power than ever. MinutePhysics and Real Engineering teamed up to explore some of the challenges of using batteries to power everything, and the theoretical limitations of battery tech.

ElectroBOOM’s Mehdi Sadaghdar debunks the outlandish claims of Biba Struja, aka “The Battery Man,” who says he’s not only impervious to electric shocks (which Mehdi knows all about,) but that his body actually generates a meaningful amount of power.

The power-mad minds at PhotonicInduction decided to see what would happen if they attached a length of steel chain to some high-current transformers. At first, all they were able to muster was a few sparks, but with a higher output power source, it glowed bright orange.

While you probably have moved on from storing your data on CD- and DVD-ROMs, chances are you still have some lying around with sensitive files on them. Photonic Induction is here to show you the proper way to permanently wipe all the data from your discs.

Mad scientist Grant “The King of Random” Thompson took a cute looking minion toy and transformed it into a deadly and destructive force, thanks to 12,000 volts running through its body. Well, that’s one way to toast marshmallows.

Multiple transformers exploding was quite a sight but Huw Griffiths saw an electrical fireball up close as it blasted through a powerline in his Montreal neighborhood. Maybe we can harness this power to punish vertical video takers now.

Melanie Hoff injected 15,000 volts into a sheet of plywood, with each electrical charge burning a fractal-style pattern into the wood, resulting in a unique, organic work of art. (Thanks Dion!)

(Some audience language NSFW) At the Belfast Festival at Queen’s in Ireland, two performance artists put on a mesmerizing stage fight using special suits and tesla coils. (Thanks Rachit!)

A portable generator made of flexible thin film solar panels, a charge controller and a battery. It can produce up to 2500W of electricity and has a built-in 120V AC outlet and 12V car adapter.

German designer Frederik Podzuweit has created Music For Deaf People, a concept collar that uses electricity to transform sound into vibrations felt in the user’s neck, shoulders and collarbone.

Listen and watch in amazement as this Faraday-suit wearing DJ takes on a half-million volts of electricity from a pair of Tesla coils in this performance by Arc Attack at Maker’s Faire 2010.