5 ms·

I mentioned over dinner at my parents house (about 20 years ago) that I'd read that running 240v through a gherkin would cause it to glow - and pretty much as s

by ljf 2y ago

I mentioned over dinner at my parents house (about 20 years ago) that I'd read that running 240v through a gherkin would cause it to glow - and pretty much as soon as dinner was over, my father and I had the experiment set up. Gherkins and even pickled onions glowed brilliantly. I set up a basic site to share the video we'd taken and details of the experiment, and shared it to B3ta. Sadly all lost to time.

hinkley 2y ago
Pretty sure my high school physics teacher did this one.
bsder 2y ago
"WRL Technical Note TN-13 Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems" https://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/docs/WRL-TN-13.pdf https://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/docs/WRL-TN-13.pdf
- vatys 2y ago
  Further testing indicated that the taste was neither enhanced nor diminished, but remained ‘‘very much like a pickle.’’ Our conclusion is that the culinary potential of electrical stimulation is limited.
  - voidUpdate 2y ago
    I think bigclive would disagree about that, he is known for electrocuting his sausage and sometimes enjoying the taste after
- smolder 2y ago
  This is gold and I will be keeping this .PDF in my rather limited data hoard.
- dekhn 2y ago
  One of the authors, Alan Eustace, was an exec at Google (in the days when execs at Google had a clue) and also holds the record for highest jump (135K feet).
  - edm0nd 2y ago
    Bill Gates can actually jump over a chair. og Tech execs are awesome at jumping it seems!
    - dessimus 2y ago
      Necessary life skill with Ballmer on the Executive team.
xattt 2y ago
I see a similar comment at the end of the original article that mentions that pickles incandesce. Is it true incandescence or is it just internal arcing?
- ljf 2y ago
  I wish I had the video still - maybe I need to run the experiment again, this time with my kids? Tangent: I look back sometimes and realise how stupidly lucky I was to have a father who not only humoured my crazy ideas, but actively encouraged them - I only hope I am doing the same for my kids.
- kallistisoft 2y ago
  Many many moons ago I connected a pickle to a 10kv transformer - in that case at least it was definitely the result of arcing :)

by ljf 2y ago

hinkley 2y ago

Pretty sure my high school physics teacher did this one.

bsder 2y ago

"WRL Technical Note TN-13 Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems" https://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/docs/WRL-TN-13.pdf https://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/docs/WRL-TN-13.pdf

vatys 2y ago
Further testing indicated that the taste was neither enhanced nor diminished, but remained ‘‘very much like a pickle.’’ Our conclusion is that the culinary potential of electrical stimulation is limited.
- voidUpdate 2y ago
  I think bigclive would disagree about that, he is known for electrocuting his sausage and sometimes enjoying the taste after
smolder 2y ago
This is gold and I will be keeping this .PDF in my rather limited data hoard.
dekhn 2y ago
One of the authors, Alan Eustace, was an exec at Google (in the days when execs at Google had a clue) and also holds the record for highest jump (135K feet).
- edm0nd 2y ago
  Bill Gates can actually jump over a chair. og Tech execs are awesome at jumping it seems!
  - dessimus 2y ago
    Necessary life skill with Ballmer on the Executive team.

xattt 2y ago

I see a similar comment at the end of the original article that mentions that pickles incandesce. Is it true incandescence or is it just internal arcing?

ljf 2y ago
I wish I had the video still - maybe I need to run the experiment again, this time with my kids? Tangent: I look back sometimes and realise how stupidly lucky I was to have a father who not only humoured my crazy ideas, but actively encouraged them - I only hope I am doing the same for my kids.
kallistisoft 2y ago
Many many moons ago I connected a pickle to a 10kv transformer - in that case at least it was definitely the result of arcing :)