Video: 108-year-old lightbulb
posted at 6:33 pm on May 7, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Impressive in the same way that well preserved corpses are impressive: Someone long ago had a scientific insight that was way ahead of its time, and here’s the tangible proof. I guarantee you, if I joined the fire department there, I’d end up accidentally breaking it somehow on the first day.
Yes, it really does have its own website. Exit question observation: Dude, they’re throwing barbecues for a lightbulb.
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Pretty damn cool.
Spirit of 1776 on May 7, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Slow news day?
Viscount_Bolingbroke on May 7, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Too bad Congressional libtards have outlawed it! Will there be a ceremony when they have to take it down?
SouthernGent on May 7, 2008 at 6:37 PM
This lightbulb featured in Mythbusters once, I think. It doesn’t seem to be really useful in terms of actually providing much light though.
Vanceone on May 7, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Sniff … the bulb’s site is down …
corona on May 7, 2008 at 6:37 PM
RESPECT THE BULB, CHUMP.
Allahpundit on May 7, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Discovery’s Myth Busters did a story on the bulb a few years back. Interesting to say the least.
Roebuck on May 7, 2008 at 6:40 PM
Mythbusters is filmed in my ‘hood. Maybe I can stop next time I’m rolling through Pleasanton to see the amazing bulb myself…
fanderbiles on May 7, 2008 at 6:44 PM
Has Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. blessed it yet?
Entelechy on May 7, 2008 at 6:48 PM
I question the timing.
Scribbler on May 7, 2008 at 6:53 PM
And the lighting, too.
Scribbler on May 7, 2008 at 6:53 PM
I remember the Mythbusters where they paid a visit to the bulb.
doubleplusundead on May 7, 2008 at 6:56 PM
Run a common low-low wattage bulb continuously, not turning it on or off, and it will last a really long time. It is the heating/cooling which causes the bulb filament to weaken and eventually burn out. Turn the same bulb on and off 100 times a day and it won’t last very long.
Snidely Whiplash on May 7, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Dude, are you sure its a “bulb” that should be respected?
Andy in Agoura Hills on May 7, 2008 at 6:57 PM
I saw a segment about that light bulb on a news program maybe ten years ago and have occasionally thought about it in the years since, most recently within the last month or so, though I don’t remember what sparked the memory.
FloatingRock on May 7, 2008 at 6:59 PM
Roger that Allah.
I wish most of our news days were filled with these stories. The world would be such a nicer place.
Thanks for posting the story.
winemkr on May 7, 2008 at 7:01 PM
I kept waiting for the bit where it would be noted as one of the few things older than McCain. MSNBC is just losing their touch….
rw on May 7, 2008 at 7:01 PM
That bulb makes Gaia angry. AlGore kill this bulb.
mred on May 7, 2008 at 7:04 PM
Allah, I love you =P
emmaline1138 on May 7, 2008 at 7:05 PM
I love that bulb!
Domino on May 7, 2008 at 7:06 PM
I first learn about this bulb on an episode of Mythbusters……….Hmmm, 108 years of constant use.
THERE`S THE CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!!!!
ThePrez on May 7, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Well, sure, you’re all thinking, “WTF? A friggin’ party????”
But hey, if a 4-watt light bulb is the most impressive thing about your town, I say run with it.
Splashman on May 7, 2008 at 7:15 PM
How many polar bears did this bulb drown? Anyone think of that?
Chuck Schick on May 7, 2008 at 7:16 PM
As we sit here and admire the lightbulb just imagine what the bulb’s creator would think of the website on which it is currently featured.
EJDolbow on May 7, 2008 at 7:20 PM
I respect the bulb, but can it bring Hope and Change the way my chosen Obamassiah can? I think not. It doesn’t even have mercury in it!
Viscount_Bolingbroke on May 7, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Snidely Whiplash? Where you been, man?
GarandFan on May 7, 2008 at 7:23 PM
One of my best firneds comes from Livermore, CA. And yes, the bulb is a big enough deal to them for annual festivities. He showed me the site a few years ago and there was a Bulb Cam in which you could watch the bulb. Yeah, really.
Wineaholic on May 7, 2008 at 7:23 PM
Add me to those who recognised the lightbulb immediately from Mythbusters just from the picture.
Long live the lightbulb!
Canadian Infidel on May 7, 2008 at 7:27 PM
AllahPundit,I really get a kick out of the slow news
day comments,if people have a problem they can skip
the thread to the next!
Hey,does this bulb represent the Light of hope for
Hillary,Ha Ha,and do they have a Light Bulb beer dance,
LightBulb Parade,LightBulb Casino Night,Light Bulb
Pancake Breakfast event,the ideas are limitless,Ha Ha!
canopfor on May 7, 2008 at 7:36 PM
heh…the lightbulb website is down.
I’ve been actually fascinated with this lightbulb ever since I heard about it as a kid. From what I heard, anyone who breaks the thing would be immediately fired. And every fire chief just want to make it through their tenure without it going out.
JetBoy on May 7, 2008 at 7:36 PM
Not to try to out-do FloatingRock, but I remember seeing a news segment about the bulb on TV about 25 years ago. At the time, I think they said that they had turned it off briefly once to move it, but I could be mistaken.
Like FloatingRock, I also thought about the bulb recently. It was during a conversation at work about the outlawing of incandescent bulbs, when I sarcastically wondered if the fire co. would be required to retire it.
SynthSmith on May 7, 2008 at 7:44 PM
RESPECT THE BULB!
Watch out folks I do believe Allah has declared it the…
O-Bulb-Messia
FloridaBill on May 7, 2008 at 7:51 PM
That’s MY job. I am a professional klutz, thank you very much.
They did a story on the bulb last night on our local NBC channel. That’s a quality light bulb right there.
wherestherum on May 7, 2008 at 7:51 PM
I always thought that some of the first light bulbs made by Edison (it was him, wasn’t it?) were designed from the get-go to burn indefinitely and that later it was the light bulb companies who intentionally weakened them so they wouldn’t.
Mindcrime on May 7, 2008 at 7:56 PM
I wonder what the candle power on that thing is…
CollegeGirl on May 7, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Still better than modern art.
Maxx on May 7, 2008 at 8:12 PM
Respect the bulb? I respect the guys who made it!
MNDavenotPC on May 7, 2008 at 8:13 PM
From the way they so lovingly talk about the bulb, I don’t think that person would get out of Livermore alive! Not surprising, I guess, when one considers that the bulb is probably older than 99% percent of the town.
highhopes on May 7, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Pretty impressive, esp. considering the el cheapo bulbs from Wal-Mart barely last a month.
CP on May 7, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Remember when the Taliban blew up the Buddhas? That’s how it’s going to be when the CFL Nazis come to that firehouse in their green shirts with little tree armbands on. Talk about your night of broken glass!
Kafir on May 7, 2008 at 8:35 PM
For 108 years this lightbulb contributed to global warming, and they celebrate it?
hadsil on May 7, 2008 at 8:37 PM
This extremely non-green bulb is raping Mother Earth. It should be destroyed immediately.
Django on May 7, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Ayup, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.
Geronimo on May 7, 2008 at 8:54 PM
The life of an incandescent filament is greatly reduced by turning the light on and off. Hot, cold, hot, cold etc. In theory and if the voltage remained fairly constant any light bulb would burn forever if you turn it on just one time.
repvoter on May 7, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Well, I saw it less than 25 years ago, but it may have been as many as 15 or 20. It was certainly many years before Myth Busters was around though—so I still rank pretty highly. : )
I often think about the bulb when I use a dimmer switch on a light.
FloatingRock on May 7, 2008 at 9:10 PM
I’ve been looking/hoping for something other than the Obama/Hillary stuff. I do respect the bulb.
4shoes on May 7, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Tying women to railroad tracks????
ScottG on May 7, 2008 at 9:44 PM
McCAIN TAPS BULB FOR RUNNING MATE
“We’re about the same age, equally as dim!”
Rhinoboy on May 7, 2008 at 9:49 PM
ROTFLMAO!
MrLynn on May 7, 2008 at 10:07 PM
Don’t think so. The hot tungsten filament (in modern bulbs) is vaporizing and giving off tungsten atoms, so the filament is gradually getting thinner, and will eventually break. Or so I think, anyway.
MrLynn on May 7, 2008 at 10:10 PM
They just don’t build them like they used to. If I had a few of those bulb, I wouldn’t have to worry about the coming phase out of incandescent bulbs!
clancy_wiggum on May 7, 2008 at 10:22 PM
Dm this is the very bulb that has created global warming (or is that worming) EVIL EVIL EVIL!! KILL IT!
lol
sarc/off
allrsn on May 7, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Did McCain originally screw it in?
Is Obama as half as bright as it?
profitsbeard on May 7, 2008 at 10:42 PM
Makes me want to throw a barbecue for the rock
I found in the basement. Sniff.
Texyank on May 7, 2008 at 10:45 PM
any bulb ran at a fraction of its voltage rating will last almost indefinitely. That bulb must be rated for 1000volts or something. cool. WHy dont they make them like that anymore? eh, because we’d only buy one for each room and that would be it.
johnnyU on May 7, 2008 at 11:20 PM
you can tell by its color that it is under voltage. you can also tell that is has not been used.
allrsn on May 7, 2008 at 11:34 PM
That’s pretty damned cool.
Went to the light bulb’s web page - sad to see that there wasn’t a live webcam, since the video linked showed a camera aimed right at the thing.
anyway, very cool.
/the lightbulb is older than McCain. ……… Older.
wise_man on May 8, 2008 at 12:12 AM
I’d go to a barbecue to celebrate James K. Polk’s birthday. What the Hell do I care? Free food is free food.
It’s that “bulb cam” Website that freaks me out. If somebody catches me watching that, please kill me. I’d do it myself, but by that point I’d probably be so apathetic I couldn’t even muster the energy to pull the trigger.
logis on May 8, 2008 at 12:15 AM
Dude… the bulb is 108 friggin years old. I don’t care what voltage it’s running at. Actually, the filament is very thick, hence the long life. I’m amazed that it hasn’t been broken by a ladder or earthquake or something.
cannonball on May 8, 2008 at 12:37 AM
It’s a hell of an argument against CFLs.
Seriously though, that’s an impressive achievement. I want one of those suckers.
MadisonConservative on May 8, 2008 at 1:13 AM
It’s said that little things called “electrons” are running through that bulb and that they’re 14,000,000,000 years old. Respect the electrons!
Kralizec on May 8, 2008 at 2:31 AM
I must be getting old… I found that fascinating.
BTW, Where was that made? U.S.A. - Chicka, Chicka, Yeah. :)
Claypigeon on May 8, 2008 at 4:32 AM
No way is this cooler than the Yule Log.
Coronagold on May 8, 2008 at 7:08 AM
One candle?
James on May 8, 2008 at 7:37 AM
Fortunately, we’ve progressed to the modern florescent bulb that contains toxic mercury and emits an icky pulsating yellow light.
hepcat on May 8, 2008 at 7:58 AM
These days, they make everything to break - so we have to buy, buy, buy.
Carol on May 8, 2008 at 8:41 AM
Why don’t my GE bulbs last this long?
Maxx on May 8, 2008 at 9:30 AM
More amazing…it has more brightness than Hillary and Obama combined.
Sensei Ern on May 8, 2008 at 10:20 AM
WTF? That must not stand, It needs to be destroyed immediatly and replaced with a nice mercury rich florescent.
TheSitRep on May 8, 2008 at 10:34 AM
I wonder how much you could get for it if you “kidnapped” the bulb?
Just sayin’…
wearyman on May 8, 2008 at 12:25 PM
If the electric company made lightbulbs they would be free and they would never burn out because a burned out bulb is not using electricity.
crosspatch on May 8, 2008 at 4:35 PM