Insulated-gate bipolar transistor

So Zach's contraption uses hollow copper pipe that usually carries coolant and a power supply to pulse them.

As you might imagine, said power supply is fairly hefty, using a couple of microwave oven transformers that are switched through IGBTs in a flyback formation, so kiloamps or kill-o-amps.

Be careful Next up is Andy or Uncle Andy's electronic busy board is fun for kids and hackers.

We love a good busy board around here.

Modern power electronics can convert AC to DC and DC to DC at very high power and very high voltage.

Thyristors, IGBTs, IGCTs, and especially modular multilevel converters, those are what make modern high-voltage DC transmission possible at scale.

So the exact capability that lost Edison the war is now a commodity.

It's a commodity you buy from a vendor.