At left, Vacek Miglus, lab technician and curator of the Physics Department, uses a Tesla coil’s intense radiofrequency radiation to light three neon tubes. This makes electrons race back and forth in the tubes, which crash into the gas molecules. The molecules thus excited release their energy as visible radiation; hence the glow. Brian Stewart is pictured at right.

At left, Vacek Miglus, lab technician and curator of the Physics Department, uses a Tesla coil’s intense radiofrequency radiation to light three neon tubes. This makes electrons race back and forth in the tubes, which crash into the gas molecules. The molecules thus excited release their energy as visible radiation; hence the glow. Brian Stewart is pictured at right. (Photos by Olivia Drake)