Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
I like this idea, only I think it should be run by the government.

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Lava Light Bulb

Projects pleasing images on the walls, ceiling, and lampshade
  (+19)(+19)
(+19)
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This would be a standard incandescent bulb, with a double wall. The space between the walls would contain a viscous liquid, not unlike what current lava lamps have, that would swirl around and "project" soothing swirling images on the ceiling and/or lampshade. The inner wall would be frosted for diffusion of light, and the outer wall would be clear, and perhaps slightly lensed to allow for better image projection.
rmd6502, Aug 03 2005

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       Intriguing. I would love one of these. [+]
pooduck, Aug 03 2005
  

       Any ideas about what would cause the proposed circulation within the envelope? I don't think it would work like a lava lamp because there's probably not much temperature differential between points on (in? around?) the bulb.
half, Aug 03 2005
  

       hmm, that's a good question, half. The envelope would be heated from below by the bulb itself, maybe we could make the inner jacket "wavy" so there's a temperature differential caused by the differences in heat dissipation, which would swirl the material inside.
rmd6502, Aug 04 2005
  

       One wavy projected (+) for you.   

       How about not using the heat from the bulb itself? If you made the outer "sleeve" around one of those new, heatless fluorescent light bulbs, the same electrical source for the bulb could power a small heating element in the base of the sleeve and the lava should act similarly to a conventional lava lamp.   

       Beautiful.   

       2fries has an interesting idea, to which I will add; How about a solid state controller for an LCD envelope? (Vacuum tube purists can come up with a more wasteful design but with better tone, I am sure)
moPuddin, Aug 04 2005
  

       My sister once bought a light bulb with lots of shapes painted on it in ordinary glass-painting stuff. It projected quite well, in a blurry kind of way. I think this would work in a similarly diffuse-but-effective way. The only issue I see is the lack of a proper temperature differential, which is what makes lava lamps so pretty. 2fries might have a better system there. [+]
moomintroll, Aug 05 2005
  

       The entire bulb could spin. This would not produce peaceful languid projections, though.
bungston, Aug 05 2005
  
      
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