Off-topic: danger of 120v mains?

[Magnus Danielson]

From: Vic Vector <maddock at execpc.com>
Subject: Re: Off-topic: danger of 120v mains?
Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 13:42:04 -0600

> I recall one of my litany of stupid childhood experiments, removing a plug from
> an outlet half way and dropping a laminated piece of C shaped ferrite core I had
> pulled from a transformer on top of the two exposed prongs.
> 
> Lots of sparks, lots of black marks on the wall, and neat 1 cm long cutouts on 
> the ferrite piece.
> 
> Then there's the time I microwaved Jell-O for 12 minutes and placed the jar on a
> cold windowsill. It exploded, I bled a lot. (superheated water experiments are
> neat too).
> 
> I guess we're all lucky we're not dead.

You see, both the voltages and the frequencies are pick such that it
will literary burn out the part of the population that would cause
really big troubles later on. This was all done in the spirit of
natural selection and survival of the fitest. Either you know that you
should not do that, or better yeat, not come up with the idea, or you
just plainly survived and got to do it full time.

We in the later category are the selected ones ;)

Cheers,
Magnus