February 12, 2026
Glow wars, assemble
The "Crown of Nobles" Noble Gas Tube Display
Space engineer builds a glowing noble-gas crown — comments go full nerd vs wow
TLDR: A space engineer built a glowing noble-gas desk crown using a plasma ball and kept the design private for safety. The comments erupted into nerdy Xenon physics, Radon half-life jokes, and links to more gas gadgets, with a side of creator comeback drama. It’s science class meets reality TV
A space engineer turned a plasma-ball base and five glass tubes into a shimmering “Crown of Nobles,” a desk display of glowing gases like Xenon, Neon, and Krypton — then said he wouldn’t share CAD files because high-voltage safety. The build itself is simple, but the comments? Pure chaos. One camp went full professor mode. User pfdietz broke down why heavy gases like Xenon win in space propulsion — basically, heavier ions mean more oomph — and the thread cheered and argued like it was a science bowl. Meanwhile, rob74’s Radon moment became a meme: they floated the idea of using Radon, then admitted a decimal-point faceplant and that it’d only last “a few days.” Cue the “Radon is a weekend-only guest” jokes. On the softer side, annshress swooned with “Beautiful,” while samlinnfer dropped a rabbit hole of gas art with links to the plasma toroid video and DIY gear. Then the spicy subplot: donkey_brains shaded the creator’s past “debacle,” hinting this glow-up could be a redemption arc. Verdict: mesmerizing desk toy, nerd-splaining vs vibes, and a sprinkle of comeback drama. The nobles are lit, and so is the comment section
Key Points
- •Xenon is highlighted as a high-performing, non-reactive propellant for spacecraft ion thrusters; lighter noble gases and reactive solid-storable alternatives exist.
- •The author built a desktop noble-gas tube display and sourced a five-pack of tubes from Amazon due to lack of xenon-only options.
- •A plasma ball base was repurposed as a high-voltage RF source, chosen for cost, ease, portability, and relative safety.
- •Typical plasma lamp outputs are cited at ~35 kHz and 2–5 kV; the 5 W supply implies ~2.5 mA max current, within safer AC exposure ranges.
- •Direct measurements with an oscilloscope and HV probe showed mid‑20 kHz frequency and ~1.5 kVpp minimum; the author declines sharing CAD files due to safety concerns.