Make:

I wonder if they make power bar with a GFI, or if it only applies to outlets? It might provide a bit of safety when doing something like this.

Also use a bar with a resettable fuse (10/15A).

My highschool physics teacher used to do this every year. It was pretty legendary. FYI: I would recommend doing it in a well-ventilated room. Electrified pickle is... aweful.

I built a pickle lamp in high school (thanks to Penn & Teller for inspiring me). It's pretty sweet and it always entertains people. I'll try to find it and upload some photos to the MAKE Flickr pool.

A GFI/RCD will only protect you from picklecution if the pickle in question is correctly earthed in the first place.

I am unaware of any gherkins which provide this feature.

The circuit breaker idea is not a bad one, though, if only because it'd be quite possible for deeply inserted contacts to touch and short out as the pickle does its thing.

This was done a long time ago at a DEC laboratory where they tested the luminescence of a few varieties of pickles in a study called "Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems." Search Google for "digital pickle luminescence".

we used to do this all the time in college. my roommate and i built a rig by stripping the end of an extension cord and attaching a fork at each end. we picked up a bunch of the 'pickle in a pouch' from the local walmart so could do it whenever requested. i recommend doing it outside, and if you want a real treat try eating the pickle afterwards.

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