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I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

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Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#51
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of interest, have you ever worked with equipment like this? Or in an environment that contains this type of equipment? Trying to avoid a personal attack here. But having worked in environments that deal with high voltage equipment, and high power lasers, been through the safety training, and also been prevented by co-workers from touching/doing something that would have seriously injured me. I’ve developed a heal…

Not junon, but I agree with them. I have a chemistry degree, years of chemical safety training, years of practice as a fire artist and performer, and a huge fan of all these high energy science channels. My hobby is basically doing this same kind of "don't try at home" content, sans uploading it, and in fact the thought has crossed my mind to start a channel. There is only so much "don't try this at home" disclaimers…

Again, at no point have in endorsed censorship. In fact I quite explicitly said I don’t endorse censorship.

I just saying that people can do a better job of sign posting the risks, and pointing people to resources to help them learn about the risks, and how to mitigate them, without having to sacrifice fingers and toes.

> you are probably a dumbshit teenager doing dumbshit stuff without adults knowing.

Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to help them understand the risks. We’ve all been dumb shit teenagers at some point. The lucky one have adult mentors that help do dumb shit without killing themselves, I don’t see why we can’t aspire to make videos that provide that guidance to everyone.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#52
post #14

I wonder, how many people will give themselves RF burns or permanent laser damage to their eyesight trying to replicate stuff they see in these click-baity videos? YouTube is full of content that tries to give the impression of a random, edgy, not-quite-knowing-what-they're-doing guy just messing around with stuff in their parent's garage, woefully ignoring all safety concerns on camera. I'm sure many of their viewer…

I have an issue with your accounting. Educational videos like this lead to interest in science and technology. Some of those people will then become scientist/engineers/innovators. They may make contributions directly related to these topics. For example microwave beaming of energy that would eliminate our dependence on coal. These innovations will save hundreds of thousands of lives and create a better world.

Yet you choose to focus on the extremely tiny (and of yet no statistically provided citation) number of people that might be harmed by playing with the power of science that is simply beyond them.

So taking the total accounting into consideration; it would be unethical not to promote this content.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#53

Each of those laser array chips is ~$300 when bought as a factory reject from China. He has 9 of them... Is YouTube really profitable enough to spend $2.5k just in parts, not to mention the other components and a few days to assemble test and film this?

Styropyro has been making videos with high view counts for around ten years.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#54
post #49
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the guy was lucky that his laser goggles which were designed for 0.5 watts also worked for 700 watts.

StryoPyro is 100% aware of the ratings for his goggles.

Why is he not promoting a more safe way to do things, though?

Often the safety measures take about as much time as setting up the experiment itself. In these videos, it looks nothing like that.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#55
post #21
post #14

I wonder, how many people will give themselves RF burns or permanent laser damage to their eyesight trying to replicate stuff they see in these click-baity videos? YouTube is full of content that tries to give the impression of a random, edgy, not-quite-knowing-what-they're-doing guy just messing around with stuff in their parent's garage, woefully ignoring all safety concerns on camera. I'm sure many of their viewer…

This isn't a clickbaitey video. This is styropyro, one of the most knowledgeable YouTubers when it comes to lasers and the related engineering. He's not just some dude who hooks up lasers to a wall outlet. He knows very well what he's doing. He always makes a point about proper laser safety. Another one is Photonicinduction, an electrical engineer that plays with insane voltages in his attic basically. I'd never want…

Styropyro is one of the most universally reviled science YouTube channels among practicing scientists. Beyond doing really dumb shit, he runs an absolute cesspool of a discord server overrun with 14 year olds who build very dangerous laser contraptions, and then buy the cheapest, shittiest laser safety goggles, which are completely ineffective. He makes doing dangerous things in a completely unprepared way look cool.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#56
post #21
post #14

I wonder, how many people will give themselves RF burns or permanent laser damage to their eyesight trying to replicate stuff they see in these click-baity videos? YouTube is full of content that tries to give the impression of a random, edgy, not-quite-knowing-what-they're-doing guy just messing around with stuff in their parent's garage, woefully ignoring all safety concerns on camera. I'm sure many of their viewer…

This isn't a clickbaitey video. This is styropyro, one of the most knowledgeable YouTubers when it comes to lasers and the related engineering. He's not just some dude who hooks up lasers to a wall outlet. He knows very well what he's doing. He always makes a point about proper laser safety. Another one is Photonicinduction, an electrical engineer that plays with insane voltages in his attic basically. I'd never want…

Parent didn't mention censorship.

You're considering that everyone watching this video knows who styropyro is and have watched all his past videos, including the ones with safety instructions (which may sound like a waste of time to some people with other cooler videos to watch). This looks like the curse of knowledge at play, because there is a demographic that may think it's fine to try this at home. My suggestion would be to simply include more visual disclaimers, because his presentation makes it look like it isn't dangerous, despite him warning sometimes (but always half joking). The current disclaimers are easily missed since there are some people who skip the video to the good parts and don't watch everything.

And just making clear that I want him to keep the jokes (like the moment at 3:20). Those are the best parts. ElectroBOOM does stuff like that too and it's great, but I think it conveys better how painful/dangerous it is. Perhaps if he includes an intro where he warns without jokes, and then adds some visual warnings throughout the video, would be enough. For instance, in this joke, it wasn't shown to a newcomer what he did to ensure it's safe to poke the microwave around like that.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#57
post #55
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a clickbaitey video. This is styropyro, one of the most knowledgeable YouTubers when it comes to lasers and the related engineering. He's not just some dude who hooks up lasers to a wall outlet. He knows very well what he's doing. He always makes a point about proper laser safety. Another one is Photonicinduction, an electrical engineer that plays with insane voltages in his attic basically. I'd never want…

Styropyro is one of the most universally reviled science YouTube channels among practicing scientists. Beyond doing really dumb shit, he runs an absolute cesspool of a discord server overrun with 14 year olds who build very dangerous laser contraptions, and then buy the cheapest, shittiest laser safety goggles, which are completely ineffective. He makes doing dangerous things in a completely unprepared way look cool.

No joke about that discord. It's abysmal.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#58
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If some idiot thinks they're god and wants to emulate something they're clearly not capable of doing safely It can be difficult to know if you’re capable of doing something safely. Unfortunately you only find out that you’re not capable when it goes wrong. There’s a reason why labs and engineering firms force people through long detailed safety training courses. There’s a lot of things out there that can kill or se…

> It can be difficult to know if you’re capable of doing something safely Not really. Opening up electronics, fiddling with them, and then plugging them in, is pretty typically considered dangerous. It's such a ridiculous argument to say we should be censoring this stuff because it's dangerous to the untrained. Should we censor professional cooking videos where they chop food really fast with sharp knives? Someone co…

I would rather see my kid risk a burn taking lasers and motors apart, versus her risking depression and body dysmorphic disorder from passively following toxic video game streamers and Instagram influencers.

The amount of gatekeeping-cum-concern trolling in the tech community is as abundant as it is timeless. I hope more of the next generation of young scientists get their start from nilered, photonicinduction, styropyro, etc.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#59

Each of those laser array chips is ~$300 when bought as a factory reject from China. He has 9 of them... Is YouTube really profitable enough to spend $2.5k just in parts, not to mention the other components and a few days to assemble test and film this?

I have no idea if true but I've heard a heuristic is 1 subscriber equals $1/year.

Re: I converted my microwave into a laser oven [video]

#60
post #55
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a clickbaitey video. This is styropyro, one of the most knowledgeable YouTubers when it comes to lasers and the related engineering. He's not just some dude who hooks up lasers to a wall outlet. He knows very well what he's doing. He always makes a point about proper laser safety. Another one is Photonicinduction, an electrical engineer that plays with insane voltages in his attic basically. I'd never want…

Styropyro is one of the most universally reviled science YouTube channels among practicing scientists. Beyond doing really dumb shit, he runs an absolute cesspool of a discord server overrun with 14 year olds who build very dangerous laser contraptions, and then buy the cheapest, shittiest laser safety goggles, which are completely ineffective. He makes doing dangerous things in a completely unprepared way look cool.

Any "scientist" who "reviles" styropyro is no more than a gatekeeping elitist with a chance of envy. He clearly knows what he's doing, stresses safety all the time, and makes great, informative, entertaining content. I've never seen him do anything dumb or unsafe.
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