This Crystal Is ELECTRIC

There's a few minerals that exhibit something called piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity, which mean that either heat or pressure can turn them electric. Here's a demo from the SciShow Rocks Box where you can see this for yourself - all you need is some tourmaline!

Get a monthly hand-picked rock, mineral, gem, or fossil with the SciShow Rocks Box!

Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)
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[bjornolson]

This episode is FAR more visually engaging than the “host standing before green-screen”. 🎉Love it!!!

[benjamindesjarlais]

I'm glad Savannah got a cool office setup for this one, I like the format and it fits their vibe!

[kats]

5:11 the way you said "bones?!" was really descriptive, lol. Like yes I agree with that inflection 100% because wtf 😅

[frogz]

quartz crystals used to run the clock rate of nearly every cpu/microprocessor out there and still run most digital clocks at 32.768 kHz

[golwenlothlindel]

We did this in Girl Scouts. Our troupe leader had a tourmaline which she set on a rock while cooking a marshmallow. She set it on fire, then blew it out and used the tourmaline to pull the ashes off it without disrupting the good part of the marshmallow. Pretty cool!
(Ed: spelling. Thx ppl)

[jamesuthmann]

Am I the only one old enough to have heard the Adam West-era Batman music in my head when they did the scene-change spinner at 6:12?

[halem]

I went to college (and took a geology/rocks-for-jocks class) in Maine, where tourmaline is the state mineral! It's pretty abundant there, and we spent a long time talking about all the cool properties of tourmaline, along with how pretty all the varieties are. So cool to see SciShow talking about it!

[Hunterm]

My whole job in the military revolved around this. We used the vibration of cesium crystals to keep absolute precise time with assets *very* far away.

Pretty cool stuff!!

[curtismmichaels]

I've been enjoying SciShow for a couple of years now. This has been one of the most engaging presentations, and the set design (green screen, I trust) was delightful! I hope we get to see more with this energy. Either way, I'm not going anywhere. You folks rock! (see what I did there?)

[route]

I enjoy the effect of a random hand, handing off props.

[Dubswitcher]

I have a lot of tourmaline in my rock collection. One, which I found at a mine, is a pala pink tourmaline and I had someone cut it. Love how it looks

[ericvilas]

Office Desk Savannah? This feels so new and educational and stuff! I like it!

[renocence]

Whenever I see Savannah Geary on SciShow, I just know it will be good. Did not disappoint.

[ForgottenKunai]

You didn't have to include it but I am so very glad for the basic fire safety segment about clothing and hair! I have a horror story from my high school chemistry class about my teacher with her long, unrestrained hair striking a match (thankfully the matches were terrible and the match broke, although the adrenaline rush in that moment was very real)

[Beryllahawk]

I've always loved tourmaline, not just for the colors but those shaft shaped crystals are just so cool to me. I was really surprised to learn you WEREN'T talking about quartz initially because the very first thing I thought when I saw the video title was "hey! quartz! piezoelectricity!"
So that was really cool to learn that tourmaline "did it first" in a way!! Colorful AND magical!!
Crystal vibrations in science are so great <3

[SuperKavv]

Piezoelectricity is so cool. It's also what's used to make piezo pickups for electric acoustic guitar, or just electric guitars that want an "acoustic" sound they can switch on. It works by using the vibration of the string (or body, not 100% sure, might depend on type and placement) to generate the electricity. It's also used in contact microphones and electric drum pads.

Disclaimer: Not a guitarist or electrician, so I could be off on details. I just find it fascinating.

[MixMeMcGee]

LOVE the production on this one. The presentation, set, script, sound, lights, edit, and all the the production design. Feels timeless 🫶

[prettynsleepy]

That’s so cool. I love rocks and crystals

[machinegods]

yay Savannah thumbnail :)) i'm always so happy to see them host! they're so cool .

[crackedemerald]

The hand coming from under the table reminded me of an old kids tv show.