You can short-circuit basically anything with exposed contacts and a paper clip. This isn’t specific to Chromebooks.
Pretty much any device with a USB port can be catastrophically short-circuited, because most USB ports are capable of supplying some amount of power. You can even buy “USB Killers”, which look like a thumb drive but will fry the internals of whatever they get plugged into.
IIRC USB killers work because they’re sustained high voltage. USB ports can often deal with a static discharge or over current, but a sustained 200 volts will let the magic smoke out.
You can short-circuit basically anything with exposed contacts and a paper clip. This isn’t specific to Chromebooks.
Pretty much any device with a USB port can be catastrophically short-circuited, because most USB ports are capable of supplying some amount of power. You can even buy “USB Killers”, which look like a thumb drive but will fry the internals of whatever they get plugged into.
IIRC USB killers work because they’re sustained high voltage. USB ports can often deal with a static discharge or over current, but a sustained 200 volts will let the magic smoke out.