PETER Venkman trapped ghosts with it.

Wikus van de Merwe (unwillingly) exploded a prawn with it.

And that's perfectly acceptable, because every kid who's been caught probing a socket with a fork learns the hard way that Electricity Is Dangerous.

But can you fight fire with it?

Yes, say a group of researchers from Harvard University.

In fact, it's actually a concept that's been kicking around for some 200 years that, for no particular reason, simply hasn't been developed.

Last week, team leader Ludovico Cademartiri showed the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society how electricity could bend, twist, turn and flicker flame.

And yes, it can even snuff it out.

Dr Cademartiri proved it for the society by shooting a beam of electricity from a "wand" at 30cm-high flames.

Almost instantly, it was snuffed out, time and time again.

The wand was channelling about the same amount of power as a high-end car stereo system, which Dr Cademartiri said was about 10 times more than he thought was necessary.

That means a similar device could be carried in a backpack - in other words, future firefighters could all be carrying portable, fire-quelling magic wands.

"Our research has shown that by applying large electric fields we can suppress flames very rapidly," he said.

"We're very excited about the results of this relatively unexplored area of research."

Which is not surprising. Rather than douse your entire home or office with thousands of litres of water or foam, your local hero simply waves his wand, parting the flames for you and your family to escape before performing an extinguishing sweep, yes?

It's about now that we'd say the future vision doesn't quite live up to the present reality, but Dr Cademartiri says there's no reason why not.

He says carbon particles, or soot, generated in the flame are the keys to its response to electric fields.

Soot particles can easily become charged. The charged particles respond to the electric field, affecting the stability of flames, he said.

"Combustion is first and foremost a chemical reaction – arguably one of the most important – but it's been somewhat neglected by most of the chemical community.

"We're trying to get a more complete picture of this very complex interaction."

While the technology is unsuited to fighting large forest fires, Dr Cademartiri envisions such electrical devices placed alongside - or replacing - water sprinklers on our ceilings.

The idea holds particular promise for enclosed spaces, such as airplanes and submarines.

Just don't cross the streams. There - we said it.

The study was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - otherwise known as DARPA - and the US Department of Energy.

- with EurekAlert