[Lowfer] Triboluminescence

[Mark Langenfeld]

>  I opened the steel canisters which were sealed
> with what looks like electrical tape, as I would pull the tape and let
> the
> canisted spin in my fingers, at the point the tape seperated from the
> steel
> was a very bright blue corona, roughly 5/8" wide, the width of the 
tape,
> and
> fat, maybe half that of a toothpick
> 
> Kurt
> 

And you can take a roll of wintergreen LifeSavers into a dark closet and 
start snapping the individual candies in half while carefully watching 
for the resulting blue glow. This friction-induced phenomenon is loosely 
related to the piezoelectric effect, and is called triboluminescence. (I 
have no idea why it seems to be restricted to that flavor.)

Mark -- WA9ETW