Power strip failure analysis

A brand-new power strip emitted a loud pop and left a soot mark on my friend's hand when he plugged it into the wall. No devices were attached to the power strip. I decided to take the thing apart to see what failed. The circuit breaker in the household electrical system did NOT trip during this event.

My guess is that a very fine piece of wire bridged the neutral and hot terminals on the switch. When power was applied, the whisker vaporized.

How a liquid lens works (electrowetting)

A liquid lens works by changing the shape of a water drop by creating an electrostatic field that pulls on the water molecules. I show how water can be affected by a high voltage supply and an electrostatically charged comb.

The process by which the droplet changes shape is known as electrowetting.

Projector HID arc light mounted into a desk lamp

I combined the High Intensity Discharge bulb and power supply from an old LCD with a desk lamp to create a 270W spotlight. I bypassed the power supply's interlocks and shorted an optocoupler to cause the power supply to always turn the lamp on when AC power is applied. I used an inline power switch to control the device. The desk lamp's existing wiring is able to withstand the high starting voltage of the HID lamp (probably a few KV). Once the arc strikes, the voltage is much lower and the current much higher.

Freeze-drying Jello gelatin with an improved cold trap

I built an improved cold trap from an aluminum pan and a stainless steel bowl. It held more ice than my original copper pipe cold trap, but the 100ml of water from the gelatin still managed to almost plug up the trap.

Yeast cells under the microscope

These bakers' yeast cells might be reproducing in the video. It's hard to tell if its just movement from the water under the cover slip