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This device turns neon plasma into natural patterns
PBS ^ | 8-23-2016 | Leigh Anne Tiffany

Posted on 08/23/2016 8:11:24 PM PDT by smokingfrog

From zebra stripes to a honeycomb lattice, nature features breathtaking patterns. Now, physicists based in China have found a way to recreate these natural motifs in 3-D — using just a little electricity. Their new device discharges plasma — air and argon gas charged with electricity — or the same stuff found in neon lights. Using different voltages, the researchers were able to create various 3-D shapes in the plasma. “To experts, this work could advance the development of plasma physics,” co-inventor Lifang Dong of Hebei University told the NewsHour. “But to non-experts, it could explain a whole range of natural phenomena.”

This work began in 2000, when Dong started noticing natural patterns while working with dielectric barrier discharges (DBD). DBD is an electrical discharge technique utilized in tasks like water purification, dying fabrics and sterilizing medical instruments. But Dong’s creation, reported today in the journal Physics of Plasmas, is the first version able to manipulate patterns in 3-D.

(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fibonnaci; nature; physics; plasma

1 posted on 08/23/2016 8:11:24 PM PDT by smokingfrog
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To: smokingfrog

What next? Etch-a-Sketch?


2 posted on 08/23/2016 8:15:07 PM PDT by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: sparklite2

Lol. More like Light Bright. Or was it Night Bright? Your name is sparklite2 so you might know.


3 posted on 08/23/2016 8:16:48 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: FreedomStar3028
Night Bright, amazingly, is an LED based tooth whitener system.

4 posted on 08/23/2016 8:25:27 PM PDT by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: sparklite2

What about light bright?


5 posted on 08/23/2016 8:30:13 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: smokingfrog

Does Dong need food?

L


6 posted on 08/23/2016 8:31:44 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: sparklite2
How about using it for plasma stealth / camouflage?

Maybe plasma could even be used as a shielding device, since it absorbs EM radiation?

7 posted on 08/23/2016 8:42:10 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: smokingfrog

Cool, make one you can display in a glass globe and it’ll be a big hit at Spencer’s Gifts.


8 posted on 08/23/2016 9:07:53 PM PDT by To Hell With Poverty (No one in the field is voting for Frail, Pale and Belongs in Jail.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

lite bright for those of a certain age


9 posted on 08/24/2016 12:39:38 AM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: smokingfrog

I've got one of these devices and it keeps giving me this image.

10 posted on 08/24/2016 3:37:48 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Kill TWITTER !! Kill FACEBOOK !! Free MILO !!)
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To: smokingfrog

“the researchers were able to create various 3-D shapes in the plasma.”

The next thing you know we will have 3D movies appearing in our homes.


11 posted on 08/24/2016 4:50:17 AM PDT by 2001convSVT (Going Galt as fast as I can.)
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