I wanted to change it up a bit this time for my blog post. Regarding my project, we are currently working on a 3d model in a digital software called Tynker, which is much like another software called Blender. Anyway, I will update when I start building. For now, I want to talk about something different. I was just browsing the internet when I stumbled upon this cool invention made during the Soviet times in Russia (I believe) called Nixie Tube Clocks, which look really cool. They have this industrial/steampunk look to them, which I find pretty cool. But the way they work is also very interesting. They basically work like neon lamps. There are a bunch of small glass tubes and this neon gas is inside these tubes. The way the numbers show up in the tubes is through a process called gas discharge. When electrons are introduced in the gas (when you power it on) those electrons move through the gas very, very fast (at about 2 percent of the speed of light). This is how it creates this image of a number. There is a bunch more to it, but I don’t want to make this post an essay, so I will leave it at that. I really find these clocks interesting and very cool. Below is a picture of one of these clocks. This technology wasn’t originally intended to display numbers, but it has transformed, over time, to do so.
*Note, this clock has small LED’s to make it look better, but this is basically how most look like, excluding the blue lights.