Tesla Cannon Experiment Video Goes Viral On YouTube [Video]

Helping to raise $1.2 million for the Tesla Science Center project was apparently not enough of an accomplishment for Matt Inman of The Oatmeal blog fame; he is now dazzling the world with his “Tesla Cannon” zapping video. The enigmatic fan of science helped spearhead the charge to attract funds to purchase the property which was once home to Nikola Telsla’s lab, as previously reported on Inquisitr.

Inman armed himself with a Tesla cannon and used his pal, Matt Harding, as a test dummy for the experiment. The scientific toy is essentially a portable Tesla coil, according to Discovery News. The Oatmeal blogger held the fluorescent rod light bulb contraption as he zapped the popular YouTube channel publisher for a full 15 seconds, the Huffington Post notes. The current from the cannon’s coil travels through the body following, what is best described as, a path of least resistance.

Harding had this to say about being used as a test dummy for the benefit of scientific curiosity:

“Yes, the current is lighting the bulb. And yes, it hurt.”

The brave young man somehow manages to smile throughout the entire shocking ordeal.

Science center project president Jane Alcorn stated during an interview with The Blaze that matching funds for were appropriated by the state of New York in 2009. The grant, which allows reimbursement for the project’s land purchase, stemmed from a capital fund program.

Alcorn had this to say about the center’s progress:

“I’m a pretty tenacious person. If you believe it, work hard enough and don’t give up, you can achieve the dreams you have. This project is proof of that. We could not have done what happened without him [Inman] he generated interest through his website and his followers.”

Alcorn and a small team involved in the non-profit group have worked diligently for 17 years to make the endeavor a success.