Photo: Stan Musilek
Maniacal laugh? Check. White lab coat? Check. Dastardly plot to control the world? Check. Only one thing left to do before you become the official mad scientist of your workplace: Outfit your cubicle with a Tesla coil. Flip on the BTC40 and it’ll snap, crackle, and dispense zaptastic 500,000-volt sparks of electricity. Similar devices were used a century ago to transmit radio signals, but ever since a Tesla appeared as a lab prop in the original Frankenstein, it has sent a very different message: The owner is a deranged genius you should not mess with. Even if you’re not stitching together cadavers in a vain effort to become godlike, the coil can strike fear in the hearts of your coworkers—it doles out painful shocks, and one stray bolt can instantly fry a laptop hard drive. Mwa-ha-ha! Fear the wrath of the electromagnetism I have unleashed, puny mortals!