October 02, 2025
Creator of styropyro videos to discuss physics and electricity
SIU Carbondale alumnus and YouTube science video creator Drake Anthony will present “100,000 Amps and Beyond From Short-circuiting a Bank of 400 Car Batteries,” a free, public lecture at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in Neckers Building, Room 440.
Anthony is the creator of styropyro, which has more than 2.8 million subscribers on YouTube. He will discuss his project to achieve currents seen in the top 1% of lightning strikes by short-circuiting a bank of 400 car batteries, in part, by engineering a switching mechanism that can handle large Lorentz forces, the combination of the magnetic and electric forces created by an electromagnetic field.
Anthony will also be available for discussions in the Neckers physics student lounge, Room 456, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. prior to his presentation.
Anthony has been posting videos to styropyro since 2006, covering topics related to lasers, chemistry and power electronics. While at SIU Carbondale, Anthony worked as a research assistant with Boyd Goodson, associate dean and chemistry and biochemistry professor in the College of Agricultural, Life, and Physical Sciences.