why do power lines have those white and orange plastic balls on them?
399405
They probably come standard that way.  \nOr perhaps there's plans to build roads or airports nearby.\nMaybe so if they fall in the water, they float? And then you won't get electrocuted.\nOr maybe it's a secret code for UFOs.
129120
There is a commercial with people wearing those.  I think it is just computer graphics--they don't really exist.
284537
They are ridges in the concrete. It's supposed to make a roaring sound to alert drivers that they are running off the road. My Dad calls then waa waa lines because of the sound they make.
568450
Overhead power-lines have a high voltage AC current flowing through them, so create a radiating magnetic field for some distance all around the wires.  When this radiated (moving, because the electricity in the cables is changing direction 60 times a second) passes through the aerial on your radio, it is likely to be at some of the same wavelengths/frequencies as something you are trying to receive deliberatly, so you get "the buzz".\n\nCheck this website out for more:
77473
"I Stand Alone" is correct.  The corona phenomenon is produced in high tension transmission lines because the voltage in these wires (anywhere from 85,000 to 550,000V) ionizes the air around the wire, making the visible pink or purple glow, or "corona".
185051
They tend to be either vibrating models (vibrating pillows) or strobe.  Like the doorbell/telephone, strobe lights work very well in this application.
1079297
They did it to add some extra "umph" or "power" to the ball.  Kind of like what major league baseball did to the baseball a few years ago.  You can see this change on some of these shots.....it's like the ball is coming out of a canon.
918098
plastic pvc plastic with thousands of little rubber bands wrapped around a little ball with water in it thats the core . throw one in the fire and stand back. its pretty cool
1059903
Tree Branches.....\n\nThey switched because power lines are uniform in size, easy to grip, and there are no leaves in the way so you can see if a predator is sneaking up on you, or spot a tasty snack easier.
871854
that is weird i think it has to do with drugs in that area i know when they r on power lines it means that so maybe the same principle applies
1080744
they are little (or big) balls made from styrofoam.  it is a synthetic material, very lightweight and floats.
626175
They're the left-overs from injection molding.\n\nThey use lots of tiny tubes that they inject moulten rubber into the tire mold. The little dinguses are the leftover excess rubber from the injection process.\n\nOr else, they're tiny antennas for extra-terestrial communications.
533141
Because they use a lightning rod to conduct the current directly to the ground.
984497
1) Ironically, these are usually bright orange - not black, and an orange plane would look dumb.\n2) The plane would be too heavy to make it off the ground.\n3) The "black boxes" are able to survive because of their small size and lack of joints. If they were the size and shape of a plane, they wouldn't be able to withstand the same kind of stress.
614892
their balls are just for decoration.
1077289
The red balls collect static electricity in the air and eliminates even the slight possibilities of shorthing two separate wires that could cause a massive blackout in the region.\nThe gray balls emit high frequency sounds that are very disturbing to the birds so that the birds do not sit on the wires and short them.\nBoth colors have transmitters that alert the pilots that fly by also.
152701
It goes from the substation to people's homes because of the difference in "electrical potential" which is measured in volts.  In the U.S., this difference is about 110 volts (relative to the earth or "ground").  Think of a ball rolling down a hill.  It goes from high potential (the top of the hill) to low potential (the bottom of the hill).\n\nAs to what direction it goes, it doesn't realy matter in one sense.  Electricity running through a light bulb will light it up regardless of the direction that the electrons are going.  So the power stations actually use alternating currents.  This means the levels of voltage go from high to very low (negative) several times per second (in fact it changes 60 times per second in the U.S., hence it's called 60 hertz).  So for a while the electrons flow one way, and then they flow the other.