This edition of Snail Mail features household power sources, wacky potato-inspired crafts, and a history of electric cars. Below is an excerpt – you can read the whole booklet by subscribing to Snail Mail here!
Potatoes are conductive (electricity can travel through them easily), and they have ingredients similar to our household batteries. This means we can turn them into a power source by adding just a few things: zinc and copper. Put a copper penny in one end of a potato, and a zinc-plated screw in the other. Add a bit of wire to each metal, and then connect those wires to an LED light or another small electronic. It forms a circuit! There’s a chemical reaction happening between the metal and the potato liquids that can last several days. Is there a potato powered future in sight?