Lightning Strike at the Museum

That's the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention (formerly the American Museum of Radio and Electricity), in Bellingham.

One of the museum's prized exhibits is an exact recreation of the wireless room of the Titanic, the ill fated "unsinkable" ship that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage one hundred years ago. The equipment in this exhibit was originally installed in one of the Titanic's sister ships.

The museum had a special fundraising event today, where visitors could have their photographs taken inside the room, which is normally only viewable through a window and a metal grill at the door. I took my photo with the door open.

While I was researching for my blip, I found this interesting story about a young man in Wales who heard the Titanic's distress signals on his homemade radio, but wasn't believed when he reported it to the local police station.

I hadn't known about the Tesla coil demonstration, but decided to blip that instead. The person in the grounded metal cage is perfectly safe because the electrical charge is only on the outside of an object. So if you're out driving during a thunderstorm and see lightning, stay in your car.

For those of you who would like to build your own Tesla coil -- don't laugh, a lot of people apparently do -- here's a link to get you started.

I posted a few more photos on Flickr.