The phrase “lightning in a bottle” is usually shorthand for something rare, fleeting, or impossible to recreate. In a recent experiment, a YouTube creator took that idea almost painfully literally. A creator known as Electron Impressions used a particle accelerator to generate permanent, lightning-like structures sealed inside a clear acrylic tube, producing what looks like frozen electricity suspended in midair.
The result is a three-dimensional Lichtenberg figure, a branching electrical pattern created when intense charge fractures an insulating material from the inside. Traditionally, these figures are made in flat slabs of acrylic, where high-energy electrons are fired into the material, storing charge beneath the surface. When that charge is later released, it rips through the plastic, leaving behind tree-like paths that trace the breakdown of the material.
What makes this experiment different is the geometry. Instead of a flat block, the creator attempted to form a Lichtenberg figure inside a cylinder, turning a normally two-dimensional phenomenon into a fully three-dimensional one.
That challenge is where the particle accelerator became essential. When electrons are fired from a linear accelerator, they deposit their energy at a predictable depth based on their energy level. In flat acrylic, that makes it relatively straightforward to concentrate charge near the center. In a cylinder, firing from one direction would only load one side, producing an uneven, lopsided pattern.
Because the accelerator itself cannot rotate, the solution was to rotate the acrylic cylinder under the beam. By spinning the tube rapidly while exposing it to the electrons, charge could be distributed evenly around its circumference. The rotation speed mattered enormously. Too slow, and the charge would pool unevenly. Too fast, and the material would not absorb enough energy.
The final setup spun the cylinder at roughly 150 revolutions per minute while it passed under the beam for just one to two seconds. That brief window was enough to uniformly charge the entire tube.
Engineering the rotating system introduced another problem: radiation. The environment inside a particle accelerator is hostile enough to destroy most modern electronics almost instantly. To work around this, the rotating assembly was intentionally simple. A brushed DC motor powered by a 12-volt lead-acid battery drove the system. Lead-acid batteries were chosen specifically because they tolerate radiation better than lithium-based alternatives. A thin sheet of lead was added as shielding, and most structural parts were 3D-printed from PETG, a plastic the creator had previously tested under similar conditions.
Once charged, the acrylic cylinder was removed and deliberately discharged by tapping its side. The stored energy released in a sudden internal fracture, creating evenly distributed lightning-like branches throughout the tube. A second test piece overloaded and discharged prematurely, producing more chaotic patterns, a reminder of how narrow the margin for success can be.
Viewed through the curved surface of the cylinder, the internal structures appear magnified and almost alive due to refraction, even though the discharge forms a hollow, tube-shaped shell inside the acrylic. The finished piece looks uncannily like captured lightning, glowing and branching in three dimensions.
Beyond the visual spectacle, the experiment highlights how geometry, material science, and particle physics intersect in surprising ways. What was once a metaphor has now become a literal object, a rare case where “lightning in a bottle” is not just a phrase, but something you can actually hold in your hands.
