Terrella
by Bill Parker
In the centre of a large glass sphere filled with diluted inert gas sits a small metal globe (Terrella stands, belittlingly, for terra = earth). At the push of a button, a "solar wind" is triggered by applying an electrical voltage; the gas becomes a pale, artificial aurora borealis through ionisation (plasma). The magnetic field of the North Pole can be changed, also at the push of a button, and the northern lights can thus be "manipulated".
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