Electromagnetic fields cause fluorescent bulbs to glow

2008 February 3
tags: , , , , , , , ,
by Doobybrain

electromagnetic-fluorescent-bulb-light.jpg

Here’s an interesting photo from Matthew Wahl’s Flickr showing the glow from fluorescent tubes as a direct result of the electromagnetic field surrounding overhead power lines. The fluorescent tubes are not plugged in to any power source.

richard-box.jpg
Photo: Peter Dibdin

Richard Box, an artist-in-residence at Bristol University’s physics department, was one of the first people to discover the phenomenon. He describes it below:

A fluorescent tube glows when an electrical voltage is set up across it. The electric field set up inside the tube excites atoms of mercury gas, making them emit ultraviolet light. This invisible light strikes the phosphor coating on the glass tube, making it glow. Because powerlines are typically 400,000 volts, and Earth is at an electrical potential voltage of zero volts, pylons create electric fields between the cables they carry and the ground.
Box denies that he aimed to draw attention to the potential dangers of powerlines, ‘For me, it was just the amazement of taking something that’s invisible and making it visible,’ he says. ‘When it worked, I thought: ‘This is amazing.’’

Check out this Quicktime panorama of Richard Box’s FIELD project.

richard-box-field.jpg

Keep in mind that the bulbs do not necessarily glow that bright on their own. Many of the images taken of bulbs in these scenarios are long exposures. However, the bulbs do glow enough to see with the naked eye, so the awe in seeing this occurrence will surely still be there if you were to try this for yourself.

Cool! I’d love to try this one day. :)

from → Art & Design, Photos, Science

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107 Comments leave one →
2008 February 5
joyce

that’s like the prestige!

[Reply]

Aaron reply on September 15th, 2008 12:43 am:

It’s like the movie ‘The Prestige’ because the character played by Davie Bowie in that movie was Nikolai Tesla, the guy who discovered this years ago. Like way back in the 30’s or something. Richard Box, an artist-in-residence at Bristol University’s physics department, was NOT one of the first people to discover the phenomenon. Tesla was alive from 1856 to 1943. Many thought he was either an alien who fell to earth or had some kind of secret alien info. There are probably tons of things that he discovered that have been suppressed… not to mention all the stuff that Edison stole from him and claimed to invent himself.

[Reply]

zach reply on October 25th, 2008 10:16 am:

like remote controll before 1910. Look Tesla up.. it’s amazing… but you wont find him in the smithsonian… Edison had controll over that.

AAAAhhh Tesla… the father of Alternating Current.

[Reply]

John reply on November 13th, 2008 4:31 pm:

‘ OR SELECT *’

[Reply]

2008 February 5
hoho

this reminds me of bleach.

[Reply]

DaVince reply on September 13th, 2008 6:38 am:

What, does bleach glow in the dark under electrically loaded fields too? :P

[Reply]

rofl reply on September 13th, 2008 9:46 pm:

FAIL.

[Reply]

LOL reply on September 13th, 2008 10:12 pm:

LOLOLOLOLOL hoemuhgawd.

*facepalm*

[Reply]

You are both reply on September 14th, 2008 2:53 pm:

nerds.

[Reply]

Ian Jade reply on November 16th, 2008 4:37 am:

Nerds = A group of people that’s more knowledgeable and culturally integrated than you.

[Reply]

Ian Jade reply on November 16th, 2008 4:34 am:

I thought of it too.

[Reply]

2008 February 5
Doobybrain

RE: hoho
like the cleaning solution?

[Reply]

2008 February 5
yun

I think he means the band, but I could be wrong.

[Reply]

2008 September 9
beantown

funny how the one on the ground in the first picture is not glowing.

[Reply]

blmartech reply on September 12th, 2008 6:32 am:

umm thats because the conductor on the end of the tube is not touching the ground. it has to be a circuit, by sticking one end in the ground you are making the magnetic field go through the upper conductor through the tube out the bottom conductor and into the ground, if it doesnt stick in the ground it cannot light, pointing this out would be stating the obvious and expected results.

[Reply]

Rich reply on September 12th, 2008 9:41 am:

Actually, it has to do with the orientation of the EM field and its interaction with the ground. There’s no need for the metal conductor to come in contact with the Earth in this case since the field propagates through space. Even if a person held the bulb above his head it would still glow. You see this a lot when people are playing with Tesla coils.

[Reply]

Matt reply on September 13th, 2008 10:16 pm:

You’re right Rich. In this case, I think it’s because the ground was moist. And because it’s not as close to the power lines. Interestingly enough, When you grab the tube in the middle (and even hold it up over your head), it glows brightest by your hand.

(I took the picture, inspired by Box)

[Reply]

2008 September 9
SamuRai

lol Beantown …..
I was thinking the same thing !

Why has knowone else picked this up ?

[Reply]

2008 September 9
Keido

Funny coincidence. I just today watched a lecture explaining this exact phenomenon (electric potential), with a demonstration:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-02Electricity-and-MagnetismSpring2002/VideoAndCaptions/index.htm

Lecture #4 … the demonstration starts around 43 minutes into it.
They’re doing the same thing here on a bigger, more artistic scale. Pretty cool.

[Reply]

2008 September 9
Keido

The lecture I just mentioned is on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldJhMDuOGxY

[Reply]

2008 September 10
DragonOak

Similar to Tesla’s energy field experiments that was intended to provided free energy to everyone

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2008 September 10
LithiumPhoenix

You seem stunned…

I’m most stunned by the fact nobody has noticed this is an ‘overlay’… Check the guy in the picture… so electromagnetic energy causes you to become semi-transparent… you can see the background through him… follow the treeline if that helps..

[Reply]

Oyster reply on September 12th, 2008 1:43 am:

“Many of the images taken of bulbs in these scenarios are long exposures. ” Walk into the scene - walk out of the scene, both you and the background is captured in the picture (double exposure). This is not an overlay.

You can do this with a 5 - 10 watt transmitter and a small tube. Hold the tube next to the antenna and have someone key-up the mic. I’ve done this with the old CB radios and a black light tube. New meaning to cool light. The EM radiation is probably not too good for you though. I’ve also heard loud static come from a car radio when it was turned off while I drove by a large high-powered radar site. I try to avoid those places.

[Reply]

Lithium Pheonix's mom reply on September 13th, 2008 12:56 pm:

“”I’m most stunned by the fact nobody has noticed this is an ‘overlay’… Check the guy in the picture… so electromagnetic energy causes you to become semi-transparent… you can see the background through him… follow the treeline if that helps..”"

The guy says in the post that the pictures are taken with a long exposure. Try again.

[Reply]

Matt reply on September 13th, 2008 10:19 pm:

I took the picture at the top. The subject walked out of the frame halfway through the 30 second exposure to get that effect. I’m stunned you don’t have power lines, a fluorescent, and 10 minutes to try it yourself. Then again, I didn’t believe it until I tried it.

[Reply]

2008 September 10
Bilybob

Same thing happened on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier when someone was carrying bulbs in front of aircraft when the technician “accidentally” activated the radar. This was before the days of safety switching that prevented from happening when the plane wasn’t actually flying.

[Reply]

Alan reply on September 12th, 2008 8:06 pm:

I learned the same trick when I was in the Navy!

[Reply]

2008 September 11
DHT

This isn’t new, and the guy from Bristol didn’t “discover” it. This has been known for a long time. Around 1983 I went to the Museum of Science(?) in Denver, Colorado, and they handed out flourescent tubes to the audience during a demonstration of a Tesla coil. They said the same thing would happen under power lines, so when we got back home, of course we had to try it. So I can guarantee this was known at least 25 years ago.

It is a neat art display, though!

[Reply]

2008 September 11
Paul

The one laying on the ground doesn’t glow because both of its ends are at the same potential (same distance from the power line). The ones standing vertical experience a greater potential at the part of the bulb closest to the power lines (and are grounded where they touch the ground.)

As for him being translucent, they stated that it’s a time-lapse photo…maybe he started the camera and then ran into position causing a transparent effect.

Maybe it’s all photoshopped four our amusement.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
chiron613

This is old stuff - almost 100 years old. Nikola Tesla was running *incandescent* lights from high-voltage fields. Fluorescents are much easier to illuminate - require a much less intense field to get the effect.

I don’t know what those guys in Bristol were up to, but they certainly didn’t “discover” this effect.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
mjt

Nothing new.

We used to do this when we (friends of mine and me)
were teens, back in the early 70’s

[Reply]

poppycock reply on September 14th, 2008 1:58 am:

Man….you’re old!!

[Reply]

2008 September 12
UM

“Richard Box, an artist-in-residence at Bristol University’s physics department, was one of the first people to discover the phenomenon.”

yeah really. they make it sound like he was making a breakthrough disovery or something. stupid media hyping up semi cool storys. do your research bastards

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Praxil

It was on the prestige because Tesla was on of the originators of the phenomenon. He was one kooky son of a bitch.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
phil e. drifter

it makes sense, in that, as part of our electro-magnetic field, (as one would surmise the electrons are ‘rushing’ upward’ to meet the poles to which they are attracted naturally) they would receive their charges and only as they can confrontationally output it in their electronic sources….

[Reply]

DALLAS DOC reply on September 15th, 2008 4:25 pm:

FAKE FAKE FAKE

[Reply]

Mr. The Truck reply on September 16th, 2008 4:56 pm:

TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS… go bother someone else…you don’t belong.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Pu Niao

That’s awesome. Imagine finding a spot you like, plug a flourescent bulb into that spot and watch it light up.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
meneame.net

Tubos fluorescentes y las líneas de alta tensión…

El campo electromagnético de una linea de alta tensión es más intenso de lo que parece. Unas fotos sorprendentes de una instalación de tubos fluorescentes como los que tienes en la cocina, pero aquí en mitad del campo….

Trackback
2008 September 12
Emily

reminds me of radiohead….

[Reply]

2008 September 12
jason Kidd

This is obviously shopped! And you people are trying to sound like you know anything about science. You don’t. It is photoshopped. duh!

[Reply]

blmartech reply on September 12th, 2008 12:40 pm:

maybe it is shopped but it has nothing to do with the fact the tubes are lit, maybe he photoshoped a zit off his forehead, as far as the lights no reason to photoshop reality…

[Reply]

Mr. The Truck reply on September 16th, 2008 4:59 pm:

@jason Kidd: Wow, a retard on the internet? Poor Kidd. At least your mother thinks you’re special.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Jack Harrison

I have tried this at my home - major overhead power lines border my property. Nothing I tried produced any sort of glow. Might not be a bad thing, really, but I could not get it to work. My neighbors were probably wondering what in heck that odd man was doing in the field at night wandering around with light bulbs!

[Reply]

Lehk reply on September 14th, 2008 7:31 pm:

depends on what type of wires you have, if they are direct current (HVDC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVDC) transmission lines they won’t light up a tube at all.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
dantestorment

Technically, the effect Tesla demonstrated (like in The Prestige) wasn’t the same thing, even though this is commonly shown with Tesla coils. Tesla electrified the actual ground around his laboratory, so that sticking a lightbulb in the ground was essentially the same as screwing it into a socket. The effect shown in the article wouldn’t work with typical lightbulbs because they don’t have the same florescent coating on the inside, as they work by heating a tungsten resistor to the point where it becomes white hot.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Evis T

As other people have said, look up the works of Nicola Tesla for more information. Some of his work is fascinating, including the idea of long range wireless energy and electricity transport using the earth itself as a conductor.

[Reply]

2008 September 12
tRollex

its photoshopped. i can tell from the shadows and from having seen many in my time.

[Reply]

Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:58 pm:

congrats you are like the 50th person to make this incorrect statement!

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Alan

Where do all these “it’s shopped” people come from? I need to know where to place the roach motels!

[Reply]

Brianef reply on September 14th, 2008 10:47 pm:

You can thank an xkcd joke for that (pretty good webcomic actually).
On the other hand: The Joke Has Gotten OLD!

[Reply]

2008 September 12
David R

Yeah, thanks for the no big deal internet science thing. Almost a good Hoaxbusters.com item. My science class in 1966 (nineteen SIXTY SIX) did this experiment in high school. We had power lines running over the track field. We had a great science teacher butwe had no internet, so we could not pretend we were smart as the owners of Doobybrain say they are. We got the same result they did. Oooh! What a “current” discovery (get it..?). The only thing truth about this segment of Doobybrain is the doobie part. They must’ve smoke a few this time. Best regards, Orenthal-NuclearGlowB.S.113M

[Reply]

2008 September 12
Squirrels in Science « Lemur King’s Folly

[...] Waves, electromagnetic fields… ohhhhhh yeah.   Check out electric fields. [...]

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2008 September 13
the0ne

I wouldn’t stand there too long

[Reply]

2008 September 13
mollyjo

I’m just glad I’m not paying for it. Near field blah.

[Reply]

2008 September 13
Variable

No way did he ‘discover’ this phenomenon. It’s been known about for decades. Back in the late 70s I wrote a newspaper article about a trailer park which was right under power lines. The residents all lit their homes for free with tubes and covered them over when they wanted the lights out.

[Reply]

Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:50 pm:

and now they all have cancer…

[Reply]

2008 September 13
thetawaves

similar thing happens if you touch one end of a flourescent bulb to a Plasma Ball…the entire thing lights up like a christmas tree!

[Reply]

2008 September 13
Josephine938

COOL!

[Reply]

2008 September 13
Tommy

So, instead of wearing the magnetic jewelry we can just move under the tranmission lines?

Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Reply]

2008 September 13
Nathan

A “long exposure,” huh?

Well, those clouds don’t look like “long exposure” clouds. Clouds are rarely motionless, so they show blurring in a long exposure. And if that person walked into the frame and then out again, there would be some evidence of his entry and exit. Unless, of course, “long exposure” allows x-ray vision. LOL

[Reply]

2008 September 13
Matt

I took the first photo (30 second exposure). It wasn’t photoshopped, except to make the colors and contrast better (and to get rid of a zit). My friend stood in the frame then he left halfway through exposure. The slower the exposure the less evidence of something moving through the frame (this is nothing new I can assure you). As for the clouds, there probably is a little movement or blur, but it wasn’t a windy day either.

[Reply]

2008 September 14
EFG

i heard that you can make glow-in-the-dark fluid using bleach and ammonia

[Reply]

Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:51 pm:

no but you can kill yourself… give it a try!

[Reply]

2008 September 14
dorris

@ EFG

omg it works!!! i love you man

[Reply]

2008 September 14
Mike

@EFG

my grandma told me that they used to always do that back-in-the-day

[Reply]

2008 September 14
fccfu

looks fake to me…photoshopped

[Reply]

Mr. The Truck reply on September 16th, 2008 5:07 pm:

Wow, I thought the same exact thing the first time I saw your mom.

[Reply]

2008 September 14
fccfu

totally photo shopped, look at the kids shirt you can see the mountains through him

[Reply]

Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:52 pm:

long exposure ever heard of it fuck-face

[Reply]

John reply on November 13th, 2008 4:31 pm:

Your idiots. Science is science. 1 = 1

Fluorescent bulbs glow in electromagnetic fields.

[Reply]

2008 September 14
ame

I’ve never seen it done But I do know of Tesla.
As was pointed out. Quite a lot was known and discussed, in the 50’s and 60’s, reguarding Tesla’s researches in High freq. and magnetic fields. Such a display is possible I suppose and may be the cause of the mild electric shocks I received while viewing planets through a high powered telescope which was mounted nearly under a run of high tension lines. 1962, Lakewood. calif.
Flatly stating that Tesla was some sort of Kook, as was done on this forum recently, really bothers me quite a lot.
I’ve been a bit surprised to see that the children of the 80’s and 90’s grew up to believe this.
Winding a coil specificly to light a floresent was information easily found in the 60’s in widely published Boys hobby publications.
If you really think Tesla is some sort of Kook then I advise you to disreguard the fringe alien Tesla web sites and read what Tesla wrote about his own researches.
Follow the example of a bunch of 14 yr. old boys in the 60’s, wind a coil for yourself and stick a floresent into the field….

[Reply]

2008 September 14
Ryan G

Definately not an overlay.

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2008 September 14
Roger RamJet

They knew this stuff back in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. My mother was glowing some tubes underneath some powerlines when that UFO hit the ground. The government still will not admit they actually have an alien in the basement of the Smithstonian - and that he is actually still alive! One day all of this will come out and everyone will know of the great UFO coverup. Meantime, these pictures were shopped - I have seen a few shopped pictures in my day, and these are really poorly completed. For one thing, if the tubes were really glowing from EMF’s, there would be a rainbow hue around each tube - I know this because I called my momma last night as asked her - and that is one of the few things she remembers from 1947.

[Reply]

Mr. The Truck reply on September 16th, 2008 5:05 pm:

What your momma didn’t tell you was that she rescued a body with SEVERE head trauma from some crash and nursed it back to health…just around the time you were born. Coincidence?

[Reply]

Roger RamJet reply on October 8th, 2008 8:24 am:

R U my daddy??

[Reply]

2008 September 14
nelvz

fake.

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2008 September 14
w4rth

i would love to run through there with a big stick and just break them all.

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Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:53 pm:

your fucking stupid

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2008 September 14
Choey

I’ve seen tubes light up from nearby lightening bolts too.

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2008 September 14
Raheel

fake. the guy is transparent, thus proving that picture is photo shopped.

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Brianef reply on September 14th, 2008 10:51 pm:

Read comments before posting.
(If this is an attempt to mimic xkcd’s ingeniousness than: The Joke Is OLD)

[Reply]

2008 September 15
aj

Wouldn’t this officially be theft? The juice powering those lights isn’t free.

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Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:54 pm:

its not taking “juice” its using the magnetic field

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aj reply on September 30th, 2008 10:10 pm:

The magnetic field is induced from the current in the wire. Using this field to generate a current does remove power from the line. The energy in those bulbs doesn’t come out of nowhere. You can do the same thing on a larger scale to steal electricity from power lines, you don’t ever have to touch the power line. You set up a coil of wire close to the line and a current will be induced in the coil. Definitely theft, cool theft, but theft none the less.

[Reply]

2008 September 15
Nature of Bangladesh

I couldn’t think of this. So wireless lighting is possible!!

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2008 September 15
Fail

Box definitely was not one of the first to discover this……..radio men in WWII found this out also when working on VLF radio transmitter sites.

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2008 September 16
GuelphGuy

If you don’t know anything about photography or Photoshop please just keep your stupid and ignorant remarks to yourself.
Its funny how these kind of posts either get people who know what they are talking about or complete idiots… there is nothing in between anymore.

It is obviously a long exposure and the subject is moving his body and waving his arm(s). If someone wanted to ‘fake’ this photo they wouldn’t need to do a double exposure. Just doing a double exposure would take more time and effort than just ‘Photoshopping’ it in the first place.

If you don’t like the post don’t take the time to read it and get lost!

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2008 September 16
omega

huh, my parents live in a house right under some of those high-power lines, and in the garage they have a fluorescent light just like this… I noticed when I was young that it still gave some light at night when it was turned off, interesting to finally see the link between those cables and the light :)

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2008 September 16
DALLAS DOC

All, please don’t waste time admiring this !! its FAKE !! the reason is the following -
The Frequency of Transmitting AC on those overheads is low (50-60Hz) even though the voltage is high, the radiation is not powerful enough to glow Fluorescent lights.

Its basic EM theory my friends !!

A more complex setup is required to get it glowing !!

Cheers !!

Dallas DOC

[Reply]

2008 September 16
Terra

Tesla figured this out awhile go… very pretty, but years behind science.

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2008 September 16
Chris G.

Helloooooo cancer!

[Reply]

alexis reply on October 23rd, 2008 12:41 pm:

how would you get cancer ?

[Reply]

2008 September 17
Thomas

you could a lightsaber battle with the fluorescent tubes, that would be awesome.

[Reply]

Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:55 pm:

you could also learn common english and grammar.

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2008 September 17
stumblingclown

if this was real then other electrical circuits could run off the magnetic fluxs from the power lines…free energy…this is fake…fake…fake..

[Reply]

aj reply on September 30th, 2008 10:12 pm:

Yes you can, and its not free it reduces the energy being delivered by the transmission line.

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2008 September 17
cody

i used to take mushrooms and have star wars fights under the power lines

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Jim smith reply on September 24th, 2008 11:56 pm:

sounds like another fine american citizen.

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2008 September 18
The Guild of Scientific Troubadours » Glowing under the wires.

[...] Here, this is science art you can try at home: Ordinary fluorescent lights + power lines = GLOW. [...]

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2008 September 18
brad

um, real.
there is no doubt to these photos.

[Reply]

2008 October 2
poorguy

this trick has been known for years

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2008 October 5
maxwell

If this was one of the ‘discoveries’ of Bristol universities’ physics department, I can’t wait to see what else they will unveil next - perhaps the phenomenon of electron flow in electric cables?

[Reply]

2008 October 6
Dirk

Whaaaa…impressing ! The guy learnt his physics…
or he has seen the Prestige… as mentioned above.

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2008 October 8
Ben Doingit

“was one of the first people to discover the phenomenon”. Oh really? When was this? We used to do exactly this at our party spot under the power lines, back in mid 1980’s.

Ain’t nothing new…

[Reply]

2008 October 9
Foshizzle

THIS IS SWWWWEEEEETTT.. I bet if you were baked it would be even better. ;)

[Reply]

2008 November 9
Electromagnetic fields cause fluorescent bulbs to glow | Doobybrain.com | Matt Castille

[...] Electromagnetic fields cause fluorescent bulbs to glow | Doobybrain.com] Category : [...]

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