Flashing Light Prize 2018 - Sunscreen, UV, and neon

A very unusual way to flash a neon lamp using sunscreen.
Aerolux lamps: en.wikipedia.o...
Good selection of gear motors at Jameco: www.jameco.com...
Awesome Keithly SourceMeter: www.tek.com/ke...
This video is a freebie for Patreon supporters, and I will donate any awards to a STEM education charity.

[@scottycatman]

Rude ending, dude. Am I going to see you next time or not?!

[@AzureFlash]

He's foreshadowing the topic of his next video, invisibility field experiments

[@JasonOFlaherty]

Scotty Catman I miss my "byyee" 🙁

[@eekpie]

see ya next time, baiii

[@pirateman1966]

He took it out of the end. I would've left it in, just to fuck with viewers.

[@danieljohnstun8999]

Lol

[@Rouverius]

Since the neon's striking voltage is just above it's maintaining voltage, there are a number of cute tricks your can pull with this: logic circuits, oscillators, etc.

[@Omnis2]

Applied Science uploaded a video. Today was a good day.

[@tuopeeks]

wow, two things that surprised me, (1) Didn't think the photoelectric effect would worked through glass as shorter wavelengths would be required . (2) I guess the AC is enough to turn it back off, as once ionised it would normally stay on. Nice application of theories

[@dippypants1]

Great video! I do want to note that It is actually possible to use lower energy photons to push something into a higher energy state than would be predicted by standard methods. The phenomenon is called 2 photon absorption, and it is used in microscopy of biological specimens where damage due to high energy photons needs to be avoided. Maybe you can come up with a way to demonstrate this effect in a future video. Keep up the good work.

[@CybranM]

Okay

[@pwarelis]

I will see you next time. Bye!

[@thethoughtemporium]

Awesome idea! never would've thought you could make that balancing act work. Gonna have to try this sometime

[@henryyang478]

ah, finally, a applied science video, it's been 84 years...

[@tom_something]

Two videos in a month? I could get used to this!

[@HacknBuild]

Using sun block, now that's a bright idea! 💡

[@Frostlander]

That construct is quite pretty, and infused with science. This is the sort of art I like.

[@MatthewStauffer]

Awesome project! If you haven't already submitted, you might consider isolating the UV absorber/reflector. I think the lotion in the sunscreen is what's clouding the glass.

[@DelylePolet]

I wonder if he could "rub in" the lotion to make it more transparent? You can do it on plastic but it takes a while; I don't know about glass, and I don't know what happens, chemically, when you "rub in" sunscreen

[@josuelservin2409]

This is absurdly clever! I love how this contests keeps pushing the creativity of so many people, I hope they keep it going for many years and that you can come up with even more incredible ideas!

[@sdfdsv]

NOOOOO, I NEED TO HEAR THE "byeee"

[@MrMilarepa108]

Ever since your TMS device you're my favorite internet genius. I wish you lived in my neighborhood.

[@CuriousMarc]

Beautiful art bulb ! I need one! And such a simple but unexpected way to make it blink. You win!

[@mohdghadiyali]

All the best for this year

[@TheKopakah]

Very nice, love how you presented it as a puzzle

[@pepsijazz462]

Wow, this is really cool! initially I thought you had made a plasma bulb!

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

Unique, sciency and appealing. I think it's a winner!.. Okay.

[@SimoWill75]

I'm not leaving until I get my 'Bye'

[@toasty4000000]

*2 years later*

[@IanGrams]

Aw, seems you clipped off your goodbye at the end. Super neat video, though. I'd never seen a bulb like that before.

[@AppliedScience]

Yeah. Davinci Resolve is free software, and overall a better option for simple video editing than Premiere, but it has a few more quirks to learn.

[@thelamb288]

I love the way you "think outside of the box". Really fasinating stuff. Cheers.

[@thermonuclearcat5419]

'Okay?' But it doesn't feel OK. It seems like something is very wrong. But, as always, this video is frigen awesome.

[@DancingRain]

Nifty! That's a very clever way to flash a bulb. One small correction: 405nm is violet, not blue.

[@johnalexander2349]

Roses are red Violets are ...

[@dasworkshop4967]

You can achieve the exact same effect by illuminating a neon lamp near ignition voltage with nothing more than a red LED. UV is not required. I discovered this when I was using my DIY telescope motor drive (U-controller controls output frequency for standard, sidereal, as well as the King rate) to a synchronous AC (shaded pole) motor.. I used a neon lamp as a "output active" indicator, and a red led on the control pad was used to provide "night vision safe" red illumination of whatever needed illumination. The neon lamp I had on hand would barely flicker with the normal power applied, but shining the led at the lamp from even a few feet away provided enough excitement that the neon would go into full illumination under the influence.

[@stefantrethan]

I will try this, thanks.

[@BMack37]

I'm soo glad you're posting videos again! I know you're busy and a lot of your stuff takes a lot of time but it's soo darn nice seeing one or two videos a month from you. Last year was really slow, saddening because there's not enough content like yours on youtube.

[@CZbanhof]

I usually don't like decorative lightbulbs, but these Aerolux lamps are so beautiful! I want my own now! Never seen them before.

[@Landrew0]

Brilliant as usual. You deserve to win without a doubt. You should probably get yourself a "trademark" saying for the end of your videos, like "I'll catch you next time." Wait, I think Great Scott already took that one.

[@zippy3711]

You do such cool ideas, I can't think of anything "cool enough" to ask you to tackle.

[@davidkierzkowski]

This wins hands down the best

[@СергейКарташёв-ы1л]

Thank you! I watch a lot of your videos. You are doing very cool experiments! You show them to everyone! This is a real act! Hot greetings from Russia! The power of the truth!

[@Colonel1954Dz]

That ended abruptly.. xD

[@Don.Challenger]

Probably FedEx at the door.

[@mousetails9]

Long time viewer.. Saw this bulb on reddit yesterday with no context, it's beautifully intricate, great job.

[@mandigit]

You are making very interesting projects. Thank you for sharing your skills.

[@cameronsteel6147]

Is firestarter a brand name or is the outlet a cheap gimmicky thing that would actually start a fire? What is the purpose of having rotating outlets and how did you connect a motor up to it?

[@YPOC]

I'd be interested too

[@FindLiberty]

Shocking purpose: ...self-winding cord unplugs automatically after it becomes tightly coiled (and/or starts on fire).

[@AirCommandRockets]

Brilliant! :) I like how your mind works!

[@playerthree38]

wizardry at its finest.

[@MarkRose1337]

Alex Henley A brilliant display of octarine!

[@labradorarvingabion3662]

Okay man! really cool project! I wanna see some more if you don't mind.

[@ZoidTechnology]

You win.

[@AndreBandarra1]

Super cool and interesting as always!

[@SamZeloof]

If this doesn't win I will be very upset! Very clever, love it

[@electronicsNmore]

Great as usual

[@Hunterr8]

"Okay'"- *End.... lol

[@WobblycogsUk]

Cool project but aren't you a tiny bit concerned about your UV exposure there?

[@smallmoneysalvia]

Okay.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

He didnt say: "see you next time, bye!" Now panic and freak out!

[@zentex99]

Work of art.

[@TheDIYScienceGuy]

That looks very nice! Good luck, I hope you will win!

[@joemorgan1880]

ok

[@coma-body-stilllife]

bayye

[@ABDULREHMAN-by7zk]

Very informative video

[@philipwilliams5429]

dude this is off the chain!

[@Skyliner04s]

+Applied Science Got an idea for the gecko tape. if it is too hard to synthesize a mold, try letting a gecko itself stepping into silicone. maybe it´s possible to take its footsteps and lay them side by side and copy the over and over again, thus creating a mold. with that kind of a mold, you could focus on getting the right consistency for the final tape material.

[@papaversomniferum5247]

Holy cow where have u been? I need more vidjayos

[@Thee_Sinner]

Should do some sort of repeating pattern with the sunscreen that’s more often than 1/2 the bulb.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

Regular glass is supposed to absorb harder part of UV spectrum pretty well. I'm wondering if photoeffect still works even though most of the light is absorbed or it's soft UV so it's not absorbed that much?

[@夏雨健]

UV light can provide high enough energy for the electrons to overcome the work function of your flower material (normally around 5 eV) so the electrons can free from the surface and entering the neon gas causing light. Sun screen spray normally contain ZnO power that can effectively absorb UV light. It's theoretically possible tha you may make it possible with normal visible light if you could have a dark room and more precise control of the voltage as well as the uniformity of the coating material of you flower.

[@fluffy_tail4365]

technically speaking, you can excite stuff with half the necessary wavelength, you just need enough photons so two photons hit the target at the same instant. You need an high power pulsed red laser for that thought

[@sss-tw3jh]

okay, see you next time. Byeee

[@madmodders]

How much UV comes from an incandescent flashlight? This exact same phenomena have I seen in cellars with these red light buttons with neon bulbs in them. Many of them were really old and not lighting up anymore so one can't see them in the dark. But when I pressed one button and the lighting came on, the buttons begun shining again. So I tested with my flashlight in the dark, and lo and behold, the ones I pointed my flashlight at lit up.

[@dougmanatt4317]

Good Job, Albert Einstein won the Noble prize for this!

[@VikasVJois]

Using the sunscreen is genius!

[@Jackpkmn]

OK

[@sasjadevries]

Based on the colour of the neons I first thought it was copper in an acetone bath or some other sort of catalytic burner. Before I heared they were neons I thought the cables were tubes with fuel and just a mechanical valve underneath opens and shuts them.

[@nadiah1991]

Awesome video!

[@VictorGarciaR]

That ending... Did you hear the NSA knoking on the door?

[@bielanski2493]

Next up: sputtering an optically clear UV-blocking material onto half of a light bulb exterior. I think your hair trimmings could be used to plant wizard berries. you're so not boring.

[@djmips]

Unique! I love it.

[@la77y8]

A sure winner!

[@cavo1977]

You are a genius!

[@Kirkh85]

Super interesting as always!!

[@63256325N]

Thanks for the video.

[@generic_youtubename5395]

Is that the insane Keithly multimeter!!?

[@KingOfKYA]

geezz give others a chance to win:) just kiddng great project

[@anthonyandthemachine]

How long did it take you to come up with this idea? What is the process of coming up with something like this?

[@cetyl2626]

Wow! Clever stuff!

[@stamasd8500]

I wonder if that would also work with a gamma radiation source, and for shielding perhaps a lead salt (fine lead acetate or nitrate powder should be translucent if suspended in a lacquer base). Or else a rotating perforated disc of lead between the gamma source and the bulb. Need to get one of these bulbs and experiment. I already have a variac, lead and a gamma source...

[@KowboyUSA]

That is fascinating.

[@FredMiller]

Very cool demo!

[@First2ner]

This is how you think "outside the box"

[@avocadosauce6840]

Neat

[@Braeden123698745]

You're a goddamn wizard.

[@marcmarc172]

I thought the glass would do a really good job at blocking all the UV, but I guess not.

[@felixar90]

Maybe it's a quartz glass?

[@TheGiselaSchumacher]

UVA and UVB penetrate untreated glass fairly well. It's the UVC that's blocked by soft glass

[@blahsomethingclever]

Please build a fusor! You have all the materials (high vacuum, strong dc power supply, gas handling system). What could ever be cooler than nuclear fusion??? Do the fusor please it'll prob get mm+ views too;)

[@leksey7870]

Beautifully!

[@RetroShare2]

Would you please zoom in to a teeth. Also break it and zoom on to the different layers? That would be great. Thx

[@MedSou]

beautiful 👍👍

[@BPantherPink]

Super cool... thanks.

[@beboba2498]

interesting, glass of the lamp is supposed to block almost all UV, it has to be really powerful source of UV

[@johnnyj540]

Wow, that's smarter than putting 6 cans of beer in a plastic binding and calling it a six pack.

[@JerryBiehler]

It does not have to be UV, I have triggered old neon lamps with white light, either natural or from a flashlight. It will be more sensitive to UV though. Though it could just be reacting to the blue end of the spectrum, I am not sure. There are FireEye flame detectors that work on a similar principal, small glass, maybe silica, tube with electrodes and probably something like argon inside. the electrodes are biased and then UV from the fire hits it a little current flows.

[@ruedogs]

thats beyond clever

[@Fusionat0r]

I just saw this on reddit! Was that you?

[@hypnolobster]

I mean, if nothing else all these comments mean that your audience engagement is really high and they're watching the whole video. (okay)

[@baganatube]

Bye?

[@antoineroquentin2297]

See you next time!

[@bentoombs]

That is cool as hell. 👍👍

[@waggledanceterrafirma1706]

Nice work fellow competitor . My plan has a similar amount of physics but from a different skew. Love your method but the timing is not from a natural source if I can criticize the master.

[@Ilovelazers]

Oh Kay.

[@mkesenheimer]

Ingenious!

[@benbencom]

Please make your next video about "infinite red photons"