What is the significance of the August 14 Google Doodle?

[Proton Soup]

i've done my share of wire-wound nails

 

[Danger]

The first time that I did that, at age 10 or so, I damned near set my house on fire. Who, at that age, knows that 50# wire and a couple of 'D' cells don't play friendly?

 

[Moonbear]

LOL! Yeah, we had mishaps like that in 4th or 5th grade (can't recall which) when we were first introduced to circuits and allowed to set up batteries in either series or parallel to light up light bulbs. It only takes a moment for the teacher to turn his back while students get the brilliant idea that if two batteries is better than one and four batteries better than two, all the batteries handed out to a table of students is going to be better than four...

It's hard to imagine our class was the first to contemplate this that the teacher didn't warn the class not to do it.

 

[Proton Soup]

heh, i used to fuse fine wire all the time, on purpose. young boys love fire, and many other sorts of destruction.

 

[Chi Meson]

I was working at a hands-on science center about 15 years ago. It was my very bright idea to use rechargeable D-cells in our little circuit boards, to spare the cost of replacing so many alkalines constantly.

Turns out, ni-cad batteries have very low internal resistance, and therefore a short circuit achieves wood-, plastic-, and finger-burning temperatures instantly.

Live and learn.
and burn.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The first time that I did that, at age 10 or so, I damned near set my house on fire. Who, at that age, knows that 50# wire and a couple of 'D' cells don't play friendly?

I plugged mine into 110VAC.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

There's no more TriForce. :-(

 

[Danger]

I plugged mine into 110VAC.

My first experience with household current put me off of messing with it for several years. When I was about 12, my dad's razor packed it up. I somehow instinctively knew (having no education about it) that it needed new brushes. Rather than buy new ones, I merely reinstalled the old ones backwards so as to present fresh surfaces to the armature. (I still do that, by the bye, and it works fine.) My problem was that I ignored a strand of cat hair that got into the system. I saw it, but didn't think of it as significant, so I reassembled the thing and plugged it in. When I hit the 'on' switch, the damned thing blew up in my face. After I changed my pants, I took it apart again to see what the hell had happened. Everything was fine except for a large scorch mark on the interior of the case. Apparently the hair, which I had not thought of as being conductive, shorted the circuit. I cleaned the case, put it back together, and it worked fine. I still have the thing, although I shave with a blade, and it still works like new. That was over 40 years ago that I did that. The only reason that I don't use it is that there's no electrical outlet in my bathroom. I'm thinking about it, though, since there is an outlet just outside of the bathroom. A short extension cord would make things work. (In fact, I might try that the next time that I go home.) At 3:30 this morning, after her birthday party wound down, W decided to catch the chuckwagon races in Lloydminster, which are going on today. She and one of our friends hit the road, so I stayed over here rather than go home. Lucy has plenty of food and water, so I might as well stay here until W comes back in the next couple of days. After all, she still has my cable and internet. That's why I spend all of my waking hours here.