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I just crossed the 1M subs mark here on YouTube! Amazingly I've gotten more than half of my subscribers in the last year alone. To top it off, YouTube sent me the coveted gold play button award and it is very shiny.

social media sillyness:
shorts channel:    / styropyroshorts  
instagram:   / styro.drake  
patreon:   / styropyro  
backup channel and b-side videos:    / @drakeanthony1155  
discord:   / discord  

Following the tradition of other science YouTubers, I decided to celebrate by making a few of my own play buttons based on chemistry, lasers, and plasma. I also took a look back on the nearly 13 years I've been making videos for YouTube as well as the advances in laser technology we've seen in that time period.

The plasma play button was driven by my newly upgraded spark gap tesla coil. I originally built that tesla coil for the overclocked plasma globe project, but it had some issues that prevented it from operating at its full potential. I changed the primary pancake coil and adjusted the coupling to the secondary, as well as did an overhaul on the rotary spark gap to make it fire more consistently. I also rewired the power supply for a 240V split phase outlet to bring the power draw to around 5kW.
The upgraded coil is INSANE and hits all of the walls of my Faraday cage. Unfortunately I toasted two of the MOTs in the PSU while filming, so I'm going to have to tear it apart again!

It's crazy how much has changed since I started making videos in 2006. I never expected to make so many videos or gain a following, it just happened I guess. Here's to many more years of crazy lasers and plasma!

Intro music:
Rise - Ethan Meixsell
Concierge - Albis