Comment on Cat and Plasma Ball, Rotating Plasma Ball, Plasma Ball and Fluorscent tubes and bulbs, iPhone

Cat and Plasma Balls at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJYY4dDdr0

The cat investigated all parts of the globe, power (it can smell the hands of the person on the plug most likely), and behavior (optical, response to touch and nearness, acoustic because its ears and nose can pick up more than our fat fingers) methodically. Its nose is rather sensitive, and probably hurts when pressed as hard as his fingers. You would have to press the cats paws to the globe for it to see the relation to fingers in getting the stronger channels. Since it used the side of its neck, I expect it can feel the electric charge on its fur through hair sensors. Haven’t we used cat’s fur for centuries to store static charge? This shocked me (intellectually) because the cat wasted NO time in figuring out the behavior, threat, purpose and potential of this new thing. They are so much faster evaluating threat and potential, no wonder they are bored most of the time around humans.

Thank you for sharing this. It taught me a lot about feline patience with the human species weird interests, devices, and investigations.

I have been watching “plasma balls” OR “plasma ball” OR “plasma globe” with its 1.68 Million entry points on the Internet (4 Oct 2021) as a sensitive indicator of progress in democratizing and simplifying high voltage technologies. So I expect (and am seeing) many new applications and practical uses.  That cats have already understood these things and are probably waiting for the slow humans to catch up, is an added value of this video.  You might try this with all cats, because electric field sensitivity might well be size, age and breed-specific capabilities of felines.   I am not sure how you get a lion or panther to try, but it might be “something” they could do, the ones locked in cages, since we don’t usually give them Disney Channel, or live webcam Internet channel selections they can control.  LOL!

Richard Collins, Director, The Internet Foundation


Plasma Ball Experiments at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1N-CvMSwEI shows illumination of fluorescent bulbs and tubes.


Spinning Plasma Ball Experiment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wis_HEa3X84 shows the gas has mass and momentum.  And the favored channel is along the line of rotation.


Plasma Ball Experiments with Bulbs and iPhone at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U5ev2MWsAQ shows that a cell phone touch screen is sensitive.  He should have tried an AM radio, SDR or audio sound card connected to antenna.


Cool Tricks You Can Do With a Plasma Ball at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEl5woSQgiM shows lighting alcohol soaked cotton ball with generated spark.


Plasma Ball Experiments! at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrkkmvbw_-c  shows neon bulb and the effect of antenna connected to leads of the neon bulb. Large aluminum foil capacitor and spark length and intensity.  Shows pulse generator, transformer, shavings on central electrode, and some other parts or pieces.


More Fun (and Danger) With Plasma Globes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cYe4d96mz0  shows that the plasma produces some ultraviolet light.


Best Top 10 Plasma Ball Tricks and Demonstrations at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZB6z3jObAU  includes oscillioscope (at 2:20), computer speaker (2:30), diffraction grating (3:55), gas discharge tubes including neon, krypton, helium, xenon (starting at 4:10), cathode ray tube (4:40). The “no magnetic deflection” depends on the frame rate or detector ability. Try strobe methods or oscilloscope with photodetector and zero crossing or peak trigger.  Of just a strobe.  Or just sampling rate.

Comment: Try a photo-detector feed to oscilloscope, in conjunction with induced voltage. Or sample at the driving frequency as a function of phase. The channels should show magnetic effect when corrected for the direction and phase. Will try to work out the physics. The Lorentz force works across all frequencies, and you want a DC current to see the deflections. So strobe when the current is going one way. And, the channels are moving constantly from convection, so tracking pixels at high frame rates might work. Suggest picking a few lines of the camera and run at the highest frame rates. Probably need a camera that can be triggered and set a reasonable exposure.

Richard K Collins

About: Richard K Collins

Director, The Internet Foundation Studying formation and optimized collaboration of global communities. Applying the Internet to solve global problems and build sustainable communities. Internet policies, standards and best practices.


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