One of my claims to fame.

[ffutures]

Just discovered one of my old articles on New Scientist's web site:

Roll of Dishonour

And no, they wouldn't give me an honourable mention in the Darwin Awards. I asked...

Comments

[very-true-thing.livejournal.com]

It reminded me a little of the fact that at one point during my school years the same teacher tried to teach me science and rugby. (Both still passions of mine, but passions that date from a later a fre years later.) When the rubber hose to the bunsen burner sprung a leak and a flame appeared in a rather unexpected place, he commented that he had never seen me move so quick.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

One of my science teachers was also a PE teacher as it happens. VERY good at shouting at people if they did something dangerous!

I've seen the leaky hose thing a few times - also split hoses, hoses not attached to gas taps properly, etc. It's surprising how rarely things like that cause serious problems.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't realize the lab was such a dangerous place! Have you had any other notable accidents since then? I can't recall any accidents from science classes, but my teachers didn't demonstrate too many experiments.

On a related note, have you heard about the new "Breaking Bad" series? Its about a science teacher who finds out he has inoperable lung cancer and goes into the Meth production business with a former student in order to generate some financial security for his family. I've watched the first couple of episodes and it has some interesting chemistry related scenes. From what I can tell, they try to get the science right. It comes on the American Movie Classics (AMC) channel.

In a related question, is Meth addiction a bad problem in the UK? Its pretty bad in the U.S., especially in many rural areas. The cold medicine ingredient for Meth is no longer stocked on the shelves in stores. You have to ask for it at the pharmacy window and can only buy a limited amount.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I try very hard to avoid accidents - usually I'm the person who has to clean up the mess. But since I wrote that I've had a silver fulminate explosion and a potassium explosion (both my fault), seen someone else make the classic "put the wrong chemical in the Chlorine generator" mistake and managed to get the fume cupboard shut and everyone safely clear before it exploded, and had to deal with a very bad chemical spillage (an intruded vandalised a chemical store) which ended with multiple sodium explosions during the cleanup. Remarkably nobody got hurt in any of that. Also a few cuts, shocks, etc.

Haven't heard about the show - don't think meth is much of a problem here, but I could be wrong.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Meth is pretty rare in the UK, there's always been quite a lot of cheaper (and better) alternatives, Meth has never really taken off.

When the price dropped massively for Cocaine a few years ago, there did start to be an increase in crack addiction though.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a bigger hoover is called for next time?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

A basic non-return valve would have done the trick, or just turning off the tap - but if I ever do something like this again I will insist on getting the correct compressor, no point tempting fate.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Either that or ensure you have a camera running to capture the resultant explosion.

[raygungothic.livejournal.com]

Nice article!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - unfortunaely New Scientist don't seem to like that sort of thing any more, they took a couple of my articles in the nineties then droppped the "random people working in science write about odd stuff" column in which it appeared.

[raygungothic.livejournal.com]

NS seems rather weak these days, which is sad.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Marcus, I salute you on your survival over the years. If I had a job like yours, I fear I would be as death prone as Hank and Dean Venture.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Seriously, the most dangerous thing I do is probably riding a motorbike. Labs really aren't that dangerous unless you screw up spectacularly.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

I know I would find a way to kill or seriously maim myself if I worked with chemicals.

My grandfather won a motorcycle when I was 15. He had the thing sold before he took delivery of it. After having a couple of car wrecks, I had to conclude that he had the right idea.