Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2019 March 27

= March 27 =

Electrical engineers, do you know what this is?
Just saw this on user:Smallbones' page, who seems to be as baffled as I am as to its purpose. SpinningSpark 19:14, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * It looks like a model of a Tesla coil, although the individual turns of the coil are too large and the sphere is too small. Furthermore, it should not have a sharp protrusion on top. — Joe Kress (talk) 19:24, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * It does have a power connection, so it clearly does something other than being a model, even if that something is just a fancy street lamp. SpinningSpark 19:33, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks for pointing that out – I failed to inspect it magnified. But the wire is green which means a ground wire with no power, implying that it is protecting the structure from becoming accidentally electrified. This in turn implies that it could become electrified if lightning strikes it or it is internally electrically powered by a black (hot) and white (neutral) wire within a (hidden) conduit. It doesn't seem to be too large given the size of the ground wire. — Joe Kress (talk) 19:55, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * The second possibility seems unlikely because a green ground wire is normally bundled with its associated current-carrying wires. Thus it does not appear to be electrically powered – the ground wire only conducts the remote possibility of lightning current safely to ground water. — Joe Kress (talk) 20:36, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Oh gosh. You know why it's green? It's powering a landscaping floodlight on top and those are often green to blend in!!!--TMCk (talk) 20:54, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Retraction: It does indeed have a quad two misaligned (amateur?) brown duplex power outlets at its base with a green power cable (not a ground wire) drawing power from one outlet for something atop the sphere. Another green power cable without a visible plug is near the sphere. Thus it could be fancy power outlet shaped like a Tesla coil. — Joe Kress (talk) 21:38, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

OK, the bottom has a standard weatherproof US electrical outlet. It gets power from somewhere, probably a buried line. Plugged into the outlet is a standard US extension cord or power cord that is colored green. It looks like the extension/power cord powers a small Edison-base flood-lamp on the top. It's pretty obvious that the outlet was done by a professional and the cord/lamp was added by an amateur. I doubt that the lamp will still be functional after a PA winter.

The big sphere looks older than the rest. I would guess that the sphere is painted metal and that the rest was added later. I am guessing that the ribs under the chicken wire are a large flexible hose -- maybe a dryer hose? The chicken wire is a mystery. Maybe someone is planning on adding stucco later? --Guy Macon (talk) 21:37, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Look at the highest resolution version and zoom in on the small brown disk right below the topmost black ring. You can see where the plastic of the ring is deformed. The problem is that it looks like that brown disk is a bolt and large washer that was added and painted after the plastic part, so there goes my theory about that part being added later. --Guy Macon (talk) 21:44, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * You're closing in. BTW, the black hose is a corrugated drain pipe. There are other uses than drainage for it like in concrete work and a local said that stonework supposed to be added at some point.--TMCk (talk) 21:53, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * It's really ugly. Is it incomplete? Some sort of brick or stone cladding still to come? Andy Dingley (talk) 22:37, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * As I said according to the local there "would be stonework built around it". See the image description on commons.--TMCk (talk) 23:00, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

I'm still clueless on this. If anybody is really, really interested I could get all the way out there in a few months and take another photo and maybe ask around a bit more. Here's a wild guess that doesn't answer anything - it's a meeting point, just someplace to mark a notable place in a small former company town where almost every building looks alike. It will likely be stone clad by now - that will set it off from all other structures in town. And maybe the electrical outlets are to provide electricity for a small town picnic or somebody playing some music on the "boulevard park" where it's located (probably 1st St. and Terrace Boulevard, Google Street Maps photos are older than my pic). So in short, an ode to individuality in a town where everything is the same. In hindsight, that's what attracted me to it. Then again, it might just be a thingamajig. Smallbones( smalltalk ) 00:31, 28 March 2019 (UTC)
 * The soon-to-be covered corrugated pipe suggests some sort of function. Note the holes at the top (below the sphere) -- seems to be some sort of venting device -- dressed up to look funky. —2606:A000:1126:28D:8459:15B0:EDB2:9940 (talk) 03:31, 28 March 2019 (UTC)
 * This seems plausible - the town is in anthracite country in Pennsylvania, and it is conceivable that someone could be mining the better part of a mile under the earth there. Wnt (talk) 05:03, 28 March 2019 (UTC)


 * I can't help with the answer, but if "at the top (below the sphere)" is referring to the holes in the conical part, they could also just be for screws that mount that part to the cylinder below. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 19:49, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

What I'm intrigued by is the little, sort of horn-shaped, thing at the very top. There seems to be a whitish area above it in the image, but is it something emitting light or is it part of the nearest cloud? And there seems to be a tiny place in the rim where light looks like it's spilling over: presumably there's a little nick there. Is there a little light bulb in the horn shape or what? --76.69.46.228 (talk) 19:49, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

I decided to see if I could find the exact location of the picture using Google Street View imagery. It was an interesting challenge since we were only given the name of the town and, as noted, a lot of the houses look alike. But it's quite a small town and I did find the location, only I think it might be considered inappopriate if I posted the exact coordinates here. Let's just say it was near the middle of the northeast half of the town's built-up area.

Anyway, it turns out that the Street View imagery of the area is dated June 2012, and at that time there was also a thingumajig in the ground at or near the same location. But what it looked like in 2012 was a cubical box, about 1 foot (30 cm) wide, on a post maybe 2 feet high. The post looks like a rod or pipe driven vertically into the ground, with a white sheath around most of it, as if for insulation or for visibility. The box is a streakily discolored gray, either old wood or metal that was painted long ago; and there appears to be an opening along one bottom edge, with a wire connecting it to the post.

I like the suggestion that it has something to do with what's under the ground... my outright guess is that it's somehow for monitoring gases being released. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 20:21, 28 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Interesting guess. Near my location (in Hampshire, England), a few similar corrugated pipes (without any top or electrical connections) appeared in the turfed-over area around some newly built houses on the edge of town, which I'm fairly sure were to vent any methane (etc?) gas generated in the vegetation and soil that had been ploughed up, flattened and covered over – for a couple of months I could smell the gas when I walked past. It seems reasonable that in a similar situation someone might want to actually measure the amount and or composition of the gas. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.138.194 (talk) 12:27, 29 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Not all of the street view imagery around the post is dated. A recent image from the nearby intersection shows this pillar, whatever it is, with its sides covered in what looks like stone. --Modocc (talk) 20:35, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Can you provide a link to the image? SpinningSpark 22:11, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Image.--Modocc (talk) 22:47, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * If you try to get closer to the object in that August 2018 view, it changes to a June 2012 view (much prior to the OP's original May 2016 picture) of a thin vertical pipe/stalk with partial white cladding and a rectangular grey metal box on top. I'm inclining towards the view that it has always been intended as an ornamental feature, rather than any gas detection equipment. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.138.194 (talk) 15:11, 1 April 2019 (UTC)90.200.138.194 (talk) 15:06, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
 * This hardly could be described as an "ornamental feature" (that's what our mystery object replaced). —107.15.157.44 (talk) 16:54, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

Turku
Maybe it's one of these? These are all over Turku in Finland, but not Helsinki. Never did find out what they are. Andy Dingley (talk) 21:17, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Most likely just a barrier to protect the corner of the building.--TMCk (talk) 21:22, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
 * Nope, they're everywhere. Even some at the side of the road, amongst trees. Andy Dingley (talk) 21:48, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Got a picture of those among trees?--TMCk (talk) 21:56, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Ok. Now that (new pic) is weird and tumbling my mind.--TMCk (talk) 22:54, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Looks like those poles will stay a mystery for us unless some smart Fin elaborates here.--TMCk (talk) 23:13, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Found the answer here by the person who designed them! These are apparently ventilation pipes maintained by the district heating system, made to look good. Abecedare (talk) 23:19, 27 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Oh, nice find! And if that's what they are, it's interesting that ones of different heights would be side by side, as per the first photo. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 04:21, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

They are just crying out for googly eyes.--Shantavira|feed me 11:52, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

I know what they are. Be afraid. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 20:10, 29 March 2019 (UTC)


 * Yes, they are Daleks, but dormant in order to lull humanity into a sense of complacency. Once they have increased to sufficient numbers, they will awaken and destroy all unsuspecting humans. (They are near roads, since they move on wheels, and roads makes that far easier.) SinisterLefty (talk) 20:53, 29 March 2019 (UTC)