Making "Captured Lightning" (Multi-million volt Lichtenberg Figures)

[TheSpikeystuff]

very interesting thanks

[onabodelugo]

Hi Bert. Has your facility other uses than creating your figures? Can we know the brand/model of your installed accel? Could activation in the irradiation room be a problem?

Beautiful work!

[BertHickman]

@onabodelugo We do not own the accelerator. We rent "beam time" on this machine by the hour. The accelerator is a 150 kW, 5 million electron volt (MeV) machine called a Dynamitron. It is capable of delivering a beam of up to 5 MeV at 30 mA of beam current across a 4 foot scanned region.

Being in the same room would be lethal due to high energy X-radiation, so pieces are transported in/out via chain-driven carts. We then discharge them in an area that's shielded from the radiation.

[BertHickman]

@onabodelugo This facility is typically used for irradiating polymers to change/improve their material properties. Called crosslinking, the process improves the high temperature performance and electrical properties of various plastic products such as polyethylene tubing and high voltage wire insulation, The facility can also be used to sterilize medical gear, since the electron beam kills bacteria and viruses.

[TheAdmiston]

but these sculptures not be loaded?again???

[BertHickman]

@TheAdmiston A previously discharged specimen can be irradiated again, but the results are usually disappointing. The specimen develops new, densely chaotic discharges - sort of like tangled cotton candy, and may also get a bit charred along the larger discharge paths.

[DrunkOnThePopesBlood]

@BertHickman Would love to see some of these 'disappointing' specimens!

[electrotherapy]

Bert, I look at mine daily. They are treasures!

[1BustedMyth]

AMAZED! 8min passed like nothing as my jaw dropped to the floor, just incredible

Thankyou for taking the time to share

[aaron2414]

@kaan9072 pretty sure it's being played on repeat in Epcot at Disney World LOL!!!!!

[aaron2414]

for a second there I thought I was on an Epcot Disney World ride...

[denelson83]

@aaron2414 Or maybe being bombarded by a Tesla coil? :o)

[BertHickman]

@denelson83 Hehe... we'll have to try this sometime... :^)

[WanderingTaoist101]

I wish I could afford to blow some cash on something as cool as this.

[bboysnack]

how much would they cost

[BertHickman]

@bboysnack

See the description of the video (above) for the URL of our web site. There's lots more information about Captured Lightning sculptures, and you can also buy a wide variety directy from our site.

[mikezaq1]

I have several questions about this process:

1.Can any other materials be charged up in this manner?

2.In some material could this process ever be used to build a new type of battery/energy storage device?

3. If placed in an electrically insulated vacuum environment how long could a acrylic block hold its charge?

4. Is there some way that the acrylic could be manufactured to hold a charge for an extremely long period?

5.This is a beautiful art form but what scientific applications does it have?

[BertHickman]

@mikezaq1

1. Many. However, PMMA works best

2. Recent research suggests glass may store very high electrostatic energy

3. Since the outside surfaces tend to hold a nearly matching positive charge, so charge leakage is through the PMMA between outer "+" and inner "-" charge regions.

4. Cooling prolongs storage time. Cooling via dry ice allows specimens to hold a charge for many months.

5. Texas A&M researchers are investigating using Lichtenberg figures as "templates" to grow vascular tissue.

[EltonJThe]

These are very beautiful, Bert! I bet no one would have dared to capture lightning before you and your group came along and wanted to study Lichtenburg figures by making them in this way. This is so Awesome! Science and Art blended in a beautiful way.

[jawhitworth]

where can i buy one of these tables?

[creativenoiseartist]

des is so GEIL!!!! =)

[brummbar7]

Asking this from the perspective of someone with no knowledge of the science behind this - have you ever tried to embed something insid? I can see where it would probably totally mess up the 'field' or destroy the item, but on the cube ones, could the figure be deep enough to not affect the charge plains? The most incredible would be if a small figure - a wizard, thor, Nikola Tesla - with the electricity exiting through them (and hence appearing to emenate from them)

[BertHickman]

@brummbar7

Usually, the presence of any foreign object inside the acrylic will cause sharp discontinuities in the internal electrical fields, resulting in premature discharging while the acrylic is being irradiated by the electron beam. However, if you had a very thick piece of acrylic with the object embedded in the center, it might be possible to avoid this problem and get an object surrounded by "lightning". Something to try in the future... :^)

[BertHickman]

@FiestaVida We have made sculptures as large as 24" x 36". Unfortunately, they all self-triggered (multiple times) as we were hitting them with the electron beam. They all had multiple discharge points and chaotic discharges that were not nearly as attractive as single "tree" discharges. The largest sculptures we've made with single tree-like discharges are 15" x 20" x 2". A coffee table, made from a mosaic of smaller shapes and edge-lit by multicolor/color changing LED's, would be awesome!

[coolkitty154]

beautiful! But i have a question: are these safe to handle (after they've been made)? because 2.5 million volts of energy is very dangerous, and I was wondering that if a person dropped the sculpture, would those volts burst out? (i feel kind of stupid asking this question, but I really would like to know)

[BertHickman]

@coolkitty154 Thanks you! If you were to accidentally drop a charged specimen, it might accidentally discharge. However, we CAREFULLY discharge sculptures within minutes of being irradiated ("charged up") by the accelerator. In fact, it is the discharging process that creates the branching pattern within the sculpture. And, once the sculpture is discharged, there's no significant excess charge or energy left, so discharged sculptures pose no danger whatsoever to our customers.

[coolkitty154]

@BertHickman oh okay, thank you! and great video btw (;

[FroggyVector]

Nice but kinda price if you are wanting one. The 3 inch cube for $225? Man! Cater to the rich I suppose.

[BertHickman]

@FroggyVector

Sculpture prices range from less than $13 each to over $2000 depending on size and complexity. Cubes require irradiating six separate planes, requiring significantly more beam time.

[DameinTK]

Amazing. Super charged rods that i can hand to people and shock. :D

[pmgodfrey]

They're all beautiful. However, I'm just curious about the radiation levels. Given the exposure level - how long would it take for a human being to succumb to radiation sickness or just flat out die in that room?

[TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

i want an electron accelerator cannon now so i can make shit like that

[jaryH3]

After 1:18, the accelerator seems to bombard the CCD in the camera as well. See that noise?

[BertHickman]

@jaryH3

The camera's image sensor was being struck by high energy X-ray photons. The camera was actually located around a corner, and was behind about 1 foot of solid concrete. The camera was viewing a reflection (from a polished metal mirror), safe from any stray electrons from the beam. Some of the more energetic X-ray photons penetrated the concrete, and as they hit the camera's image sensor they created the speckles seen in the image.

[sciencoking]

Holy crap, yep, those conditions ARE lethal, then o_O

[Lawliet31101979]

and thats how you make thunder stones to evolve your pokemon

[SingleSpiral]

Why doesn't anyone every post the name of the song they use? The only times they do, I already know it, or don't like it.

[gizmoguyar]

Wow, beautiful. I wish I could afford a particle accelerator for my basement. I have question though? why is it that the discharge path seams to stay away from the surface of the acrylic? Does the acrylic have to be a certain thickness to hold electrons? Acrylic thinner than this would slowly discharge before you got hold of it; after it was under the accelerator?

[BertHickman]

@gizmoguyar

There is a discharge-free margin all around the edges of the Lichtenberg Figure. This region is where charge has leaked away, stopping the discharge. Also, for acrylic panels, we adjust the energy of the beam so that electrons stop just about half way through. This provides the best looking figures. If the beam energy is too low or too high, the region of trapped charge may get too close to the surface and it may self-discharge at a random location instead of where we want it to.

[TheOReport1994]

This is brilliant!

Too bad one person clicked the dislike button on accident.

[PsalmsOfPlanets072]

Yay, high voltage is fun. You should do some videos of the quarters shrinking and exploding tesla coils.

[douro20]

Looks like a facility for irradiating meat...

[BertHickman]

@douro20

Similar electron beam technology is used. This particular facility is mainly used for irradiating various polymers to either quickly polymerize them or crosslink them in order to improve their physical properties. When irradiating meat, the electron beam kills any bacteria on, or in, the meat.

[iAmAnonymousTom]

Well, I know what I'm gonna start collecting!

[BertHickman]

@Alexeriks1 Yes. A particle accelerator takes energy from the local power company and converts a small portion into increasing the kinetic energy of the particles being accelerated. The rest (maybe 99%) of the energy goes into powering the electromagnets, instrumentation, and radio frequency sources that accelerate and bend the path of the particles. The energy that was added to the accelerated particles comes back as various exotic particles when the the particle beams collide with each other.

[BertHickman]

@Alexeriks1 Electrons are considerably less massive than the particles used in the Large Hadron Collider (protons or lead nuclei), so they can be accelerated more easily. For example, the electrons that come out of the accelerator that we use are traveling at between 97.89% (2.5 MeV) and 99.48% (5 MeV) of the speed of light. Protons are ~1836 times heavier than electrons, so considerably more energy is required to accelerate them to similar velocities.

[amaureaLua]

@Alexeriks1 Also, the protons in LHC are accelerated to 99.999998% of the speed of light, if my back-of-the-envelope calculation was correct.

[BertHickman]

@Alexeriks1 Yes - the acrylic sculptures.

[BertHickman]

@Alexeriks1 They can also be used for educational demonstrations for fractals, examples of diffusion limited aggregation, dielectric breakdown, gas discharge physics, and nonlinear physical phenomena. They also make great gifts for artists, scientists, and engineers, or awards for retirees. Research is also currently underway to use Lichtenberg figures as a template to grow vascular tissue (veins, arteries) to support the growth of replacement organs. And they're also beautiful objects of art.

[mastercfromhalo3]

love the sculptures but what is that song!?

[BertHickman]

@mastercfromhalo3

"Trinity" by 009 Sound System

[mastercfromhalo3]

Thanks alot! and i'll definitely be doing some shopping on your site in the near future!!!

[macspaceye]

@mastercfromhalo3 -> watch?v=Gq1wDZ4Z1Uk

[Tactums]

I checked their website... damn its a pitty they dont do little pendants - that on its own or incorporated with a small led + micro replaceable battery would be one of the coolest gifts.

[yottanuclei]

Is there any reason why an anti static strap wouldn't work? You know, those ones that have huge resistors that prevent you from getting shocked?

[BertHickman]

@yottanuclei An antistatic strap won't help since most of the discharge current actually flows from the negatively-charged interior to the positively charged exterior surfaces of the specimens instead of wanting to flow to earth ground. Fortunately, the secondary discharges aren't dangerous - they just sting a bit. I suppose that using chainmail gloves (similar to those worn by meat cutters) might work. We're very careful to avoid getting "struck" by the main discharge - that REALLY hurts...

[yottanuclei]

Your use of capital letters tells me you know this from empirical data, and not just from having resolved some complex thought experiment.

Anyways, I want one!

[BertHickman]

@yottanuclei

See my response from about 2 months ago. A primary discharge accidentally nailed one of our team members. It temporarily turned his finger white and he lost all feeling in it. Color and feeling eventually returned, but it was quite scary at the time.

Many years ago, another team member was temporarily knocked to the floor when a 4" specimen discharged while she was holding it. Getting zapped feels more like getting physically struck than feeling like an electrical shock...

[yottanuclei]

@BertHickman

They better get payed well... do you think it might be worth it to investigate those chainmail gloves, or something similar?

[BertHickman]

@yottanuclei Using appropriate fixturing to hold the specimens and grounding the discharge tools will safely divert high currents from the primary discharges. Getting "bitten" by the secondary discharges stings a bit, but is really not a problem.

[rjpet88]

@BertHickman What do you ground the discharge tools to -- surely mains ground would not like those sorts of peak currents going through it?

[BertHickman]

@rjpet88

For small specimens we don't ground the tools. Injected electrons inside an acrylic specimen attract positive ions to its outer surfaces. The surface charge layer (+), acrylic, and internal charge layer (-) form an "invisible" capacitor. When we poke the specimen, the electrons rush out , sparking along the surface of the acrylic as they want to neutralize the positive surface charges more then they want to go to ground. We do ground our tools for larger specimens for safety.

[laurdy]

i know the feeling. i once touched the anode connection of a live 32inch crt tv (how does it compare?)

[BertHickman]

Hehe.... except that the voltage with these is about 50 times higher. Either case is sorta' like.. ka-POW! OUCH dammit!!

[rottencactus28]

i alredy made up my mind, imma save up and get a 12" x 12" = $499 U.S. dollars wit color changing LED base for it .

[rottencactus28]

i love 009 sound system!

[inTankLLC]

Just purchased one, weird site design you have there hard to read.

I produce original acrylic products for saltwater tanks and this was a must have for my office. I am sure I can write it off too ;)

[MistahRandum]

one question HOW MUCH DOES THESE COST? actually two questions how much does it cost to do this?

[BertHickman]

@MistahRandum

These sculptures are available through our Captured Lightning web site (Google it or look at the description of this video). Sculptures are available from 2" x 2" through 12" x 16", and in various 2D and 3D discharge shapes.

Beam time is typically in the range of $500 - $1500+ per hour depending on the beam energy, whether it is pulsed or continuous, and whether it is a commercial or research facility. For technical and safety reasons, we do not use Medical Accelerators.

[WEAREPANCAKES]

em, whats that songs name?

[BertHickman]

"Trinity" by 009 Sound System

[munrais]

Physics meets Art... Or were always one? Amazing work. Congrats!

[PrayneSlayer]

Remember: physics is fun!

[RnBramwell]

This is interesting. You say, in info, that saltwater was first painted on the surface. What salt?

Does seawater differ from, say, plain NaCl, or MgSO4 (Epsom Salts)?

Since wood has a 'grain', why do the electron paths move sideways with respect to the obvious straight line path?

What are the electrons traveling through, If the electrons must move through charred the wood?

Since electrons always move from anode to cathode, are positive ions of some kind (positrons?) moving from the cathode?

[BertHickman]

These questions clearly apply to a different video clip...

[BertHickman]

A little bit of both. The process works on many other transparent polymers, such as polycarbonate (PC) , polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The branches often have a much different appearance than acrylic. For example, in polycarbonate, very fine, darker colored branches occur. Heavy charring and fracturing occurs within transparent PVC, and fumes of hydrogen chloride may be liberated from the specimen.

[BertHickman]

We sometimes will run finished pieces through the electron beam one more time if we find that we haven't injected sufficient charge to create full-bodied figures during the first try..

No material is a perfect electrical insulator. Some stored charge continually leaks out through the (very) high resistance of the acrylic. This will occur even if we don't manually discharge a specimen. Most of the stored charge will decay over a period of hours to days for acrylic kept at room temperature,

[djtreq]

amazing! thanks for showing how they're made, I would never have guessed the charge holding / discharge nature, would have assumed it was all in one event. beautiful and fascinating!

[BertHickman]

You're welcome! Each piece holds a surprising amount of charge, and they make a very satisfying "BANG" when we discharge them. During our last run, one person got a nasty electrical shock that temporarily caused part of his finger to turn white and go numb for about a half hour. Fortunately, there was no lasting damage, but it was quite scary at the time. It was apparently a case of "Raynaud's Phenomena", severe/temporary constriction of blood circulation triggered by a strong electrical shock.

[blackinmind123]

what's the name of the song? sounds good.

[wiliam117]

trinity

[doug123yt]

I can attest that Bert is a very nice guy who has helped me with some questions about the physics of high voltage. The 3" disk "sculpture" I bought was in the opinion of an 11 y.o. here "the best present ever."

[imalexxx]

wow i cant believe nobody commented on this.. this is incredible!