One of the coolest gadget on earth, USB Plasma Ball. Just the word plasma makes you think of going boldly where no-one has gone before. Just plug this neat gizmo into your USB port, and streams of red and blue plasma light will flicker out from the core of the hand-blown glass sphere throwing mesmerising light trails across its surface. Touch the sphere with your fingers, and blue light will shoot out towards your fingertips. Absurdly cheap considering the sheer weight of scientific brilliance stuffed inside of it, the Mini USB Plasma Ball is just 13cm high, and is an utterly compelling science project cum wanna have desk-top diversion.
How does the USB Plasma Ball Really Work?
Glad you asked. A combination of interesting and fun gasses (like Argon) are first trapped inside a plastic sphere at relatively low pressures. An alternating current, at relatively high voltages (Hey, this is USB remember, so it can't get too crazy), are pumped into the sphere via an electrode in the center. This energy causes electrons to be stripped from the gasses,leaving in its wake some positively charged ions and a gorgeous gaseous and electrically conductive environment (aka Plasma). That high voltage served up through the electrode will now arc up through the plasma to the lower voltage edge of the plastic sphere (starting at the top where the temperature is greater). The arcs glow because they are hotter than the surrounding plasma. You can touch the plastic and the arcs will strongly congregate to your touch because you will be creating an even lower voltage jump from the electrode. All this made possible by the evil genius of Nikola Tesla, oh, and some science.