What makes neon signs glow? A 360° animation - Michael Lipman

In this 360° animation, explore the vibrant world of neon signs and learn the science of what makes them glow.

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When the Hoover Dam was completed, it created a huge source of hydroelectric power and zapped a sleepy desert town to life: Las Vegas, Nevada. With the power supply from the dam, Las Vegas soon exploded with vibrant displays. The source of these dazzling lights was electrified neon gas. In this special 360° animation, explore the colorful world of neon signs as Lippy shares what makes them glow.

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How to view this TED-Ed animated 360° video:

If you have access to a Google Cardboard viewer and a smart phone:

1. Open this video in the YouTube app on your phone.
2. Hit pause on the video.
3. Tap the 3 vertical dots on the top right corner of the view window. This will slide up a sub-menu where you will choose the quality setting of your video stream. Choose "2160s." Note that if you are not streaming over Wifi, YouTube will only allow "720s" quality.
4. Tap on the “Cardboard viewer” icon on the bottom row of the video window (it looks like a mask). This will present the video full screen in prep for the Cardboard viewer.
5. The screen is now divided into 2 halves, separated by a thin white line that runs halfway up the screen. Make sure to rotate your phone so that this thin line is coming from the bottom of the screen. This ensures proper stereoscopic depth.
6. Insert your phone into the Cardboard viewer and press play. The video will begin. Enjoy!

If you do not have access to a Cardboard or smart phone:

1. You can watch on your browser. Use your mouse to drag and explore the space above, below, and behind you. Enjoy!

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Lesson by Lippy, directed by Lippy.

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Laura Cameron Keith, Jen, Ellen Spertus, Cailin Ramsey, Markus Goldhacker, Leora Allen, Andras Radnothy, Chris, Arpita Singh, Vijayalakshmi , Marc Bilodeau, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, paul g mohney, Maya Toll, Sebastian Regez, Bruno Hannud, Andreas Voltios, Shubham Arora, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Akinola Emmanuel, Kyanta Yap, Ricardo Rendon Cepeda, Ana Maria, Benjamin & Shannon Pinder, Ernest Chow, Bela Namyslik, Alan Froese, Anika Westburg, Nick Cozby, Shawar Khan, Michael Braun-Boghos, Rohan Gupta, Elizabeth Cruz, Yujing Jiang, Sarah Lundegaard, Vladimir Ivanchenko, Georg Gusewski, Rohit Lodha, Erica Zhuang, Aaron Henson, Julio Sabatés Rodríguez, Vivian & Gilbert Lee, Fahad Nasser Chowdhury, ரமணன், John simmons, June Reiling, Khalid AlAli, Mickey Mikeworth, Nathaniel Lupus and Yansong Li.

[TEDEd]

We're so excited to share this 360° experiment with you! If you're viewing this video on desktop, try clicking and dragging to explore the space! If you're on the mobile app, move your device around to follow the action.

[_syedmx]

If your animations weren't good enough already, you managed to make a 360 degree one.
You mad lads!

[zur]

TED-Ed is ALL ROUND amazing.


I’ll see myself out.

[stephenespanol]

Literally everyone:
Spinning their phone like a crazy human

[PaleBlueEyesAreMine]

I was so distracted with the format I didn't understand a thing the first time hehehe love it tho 💖

[gayathrigopalakrishanan]

When you're so early that the only comment there is Ted ed's

[HollowStarFan]

360 and animation, I'm loving it keep up the good work.

[TedwinTansan]

I must not be the only one who stood up and go around like crazy

[kirbymarchbarcena]

Neon lights could remain for 40 years? This entertaining video can exceed beyond that.

[ziggystardust]

Yesterday I was looking for some neon lights for my room. A sign from the heavens.

[---qnnw]

Omg this is so cool had to watch twice as the first time I was too occupied with the awesome 360°animation. Keep up the amazing work . I love u guys .

[MarkWaner]

I wish I had VR set to watch it. But it is still great!

[roar]

This was awesome thanks for incorporating 360!!

[mbagaro]

This is absolutely amazing! Thanks TED-Ed and to all the animators!

[santhosh]

Dude it was super uncomfortable to watch but it was informative tho

[harryli]

9.96 million subs!! Almost 10 million. Been here since 1 mill

[quantumeinstein]

So, our Ted ed is back with same science videos and animations.


And it is also becoming smarter

So, keep it up Ted ed
And thank you for such valuable information.
🤗🤗🤗🤗

[hannesperathoner]

just amazing! thank you so much for your videos!

[mystic]

Watching this in YouTube’s VR option is pretty cool :)

[YoLoScience]

New exeprience.. thankyou for making 360 degree video. A topic which is always popping up in people's mind, with this effect is just mind blowing.. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️