# Favorite Fictional Chemical? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2003, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866 "2003-05-08T09:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/21 "2003-05-08T14:42:28Z")
Whatever was in the “Insanity Peppers of Quexochowhatal” (or whatever they were called) that Homer ate at the Chili Cookoff. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/22 "2003-05-08T14:47:01Z")
Love Potion No. 9. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/23 "2003-05-08T14:48:13Z")
And No. 8 too (sorry). ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/24 "2003-05-08T15:01:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Kurt Vonneguts’ **Ice-9** from _Cat’s Cradle_. It’s a configuration of the water molecule that is solid at room temperature, but turns regular water into itself on contact. Not a nice chemical, but impressive nonetheless. \*\* that was my choice as well. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/25 "2003-05-08T15:14:36Z")
**Boosterspice** - whatever age you are when you start taking it, that’s the way you remain. For hundreds of years, even. From Larry Niven’s Tales of Known Space universe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/26 "2003-05-08T15:17:50Z")
Good ol’ skrith. Couldn’t build a ringworld without it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/27 "2003-05-08T15:27:22Z")
Darn I was gonna say Chemical X. Mithril’s a good one too… Does the spice _melange_ count? ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/28 "2003-05-08T16:38:14Z")
Corbomite. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/29 "2003-05-08T16:54:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\*Corbomite. \*\* That maneuver is so 23rd century! From the 17th century I bring you the _Balsam of Fierabras_, the magical concoction that heals any wound of battle, used by _Don Quixote_. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/30 "2003-05-08T18:20:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WotNot \* > \*\*Resublimated Thiotimoline \*\* Bravo! I was sure, when I opened the thread, that I’d be the first to mention this one. For those not familiar, it’s from an Asimov short story. The molecule is so convoluted that it extends into the past and future. It has interesting properties, like being able to dissolve a moment before a solvent is added to the beaker. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/31 "2003-05-08T19:14:32Z")
I’d say Soylent Green, but we all know what that’s made of. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/32 "2003-05-08T19:34:33Z")
What? No mention of flubber? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/33 "2003-05-08T19:36:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > Energon? Nah, [Nucleon](http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/shirts/showcase.phtml?design=nucleon) is better – it raises the dead (or temporarily deactivated, at any rate), enhances your body to a more powerful form, increases your strength and vitality … might cause a bit of a problem with transforming, though. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/34 "2003-05-08T20:01:47Z")
Thiotimoline was my first choice, but on second thought I think I prefer the additive in Bob Shaw’s Slow Glass. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/35 "2003-05-08T20:15:43Z")
Gamma radiation. OK, not a chemical, but man, that stuff makes you bigger than viagra. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/36 "2003-05-08T20:20:42Z")
Can I mention the T-Virus? Not a chemical so much, but does come in handy when you need to make some zombies and don’t have time to wait on someone to die first. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/37 "2003-05-08T20:29:37Z")
Synthemesc (peet it with some moloko, that is) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/38 "2003-05-08T21:11:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*What? No mention of flubber? \*\* Flubber?! I hardly even _know_ her! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/39 "2003-05-08T21:46:25Z")
Steve, how can you bring up the Lensman series and not mention thionite? On the subject of fictional drugs there’s also bloodhype (from the Alan Dean Foster novel of that name); borloi (from Jerry Pournelle’s CoDominium/Falkenberg’s Legion series); and AUM, from Robert Anton Wilson’s “Illuminatus!.” Nuke has already been mentioned. Damn it, I want a new drug! Did they ever give a name to that slag drug from “Alien Nation”? ---
**Author:** ![Fornit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@Fornit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fornit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866/40 "2003-05-08T21:46:31Z")
what 'bout “Happy Fun Ball” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-chemical/173866.md?page=3)