Cheer up LouisB, we’re all going to die of horrible cancers if the explosions and fires don’t get us first.
[QUOTE=nameless]
Cheer up LouisB, we’re all going to die of horrible cancers if the explosions and fires don’t get us first.
[/QUOTE]
I just hope to successfully reproduce first without any major transmittable genetic damage.
[QUOTE=Andy]
XeF2 is a stable commercially available solid.
[/QUOTE]
:dubious: Stable in that you can bottle it and sell it, but it’s pretty easy to make that one “go boom”, as my roommate found out a few months ago. Luckily it was only a few mgs, and in the glovebox at that.
[QUOTE=asterion]
Or transferring it via sacrificial cannula or something?
[/QUOTE]
Isn’t eating a cannoli in the lab a bad idea?
[QUOTE=asterion]
I just hope to successfully reproduce first without any major transmittable genetic damage.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve done it twice, spending large portions of time pregnant in the lab, and my children are just fine. You wouldn’t believe how handy that third arm can be, and the twitching is barely noticable.
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew]
He’s an associate of Mr. Bimmler, I understand.
[/QUOTE]
And he’s running in the North Minehead* by-election on the National Bocialist ticket, that silly leg-before-wicket English person!
*Historically, Taunton is part of North Minehead already!
[QUOTE=jayjay]
The noble gases are the ones at the far end of the periodic table, that don’t combine with ANYTHING except in laboratory conditions: Helium, Neon, Argon, Xenon, etc.
[/QUOTE]
I heard that last one was secretly getting it on with Gabriellum, but nobody could prove it.
[QUOTE=asterion]
I just hope to successfully reproduce first without any major transmittable genetic damage.
[/QUOTE]
Looks suspiciously toward small bottle of ethidium bromide
[QUOTE=asterion]
Seriously, if it really is that moisture sensitive, why are you not using a glovebox, even if it is just one of those little disposable ones? Or transferring it via sacrificial cannula or something?
[/QUOTE]
We don’t own a glovebox, and it should be perfectly safe to use in a hood - of course, the hood has to have airflow for that to work - hence my problem.
I’m glad the dammed stuff stays in its fridge most of the year, I don’t use it much - this is the first time, actually.
[QUOTE=Rysdad]
I heard that last one was secretly getting it on with Gabriellum, but nobody could prove it.
[/QUOTE]
No, Xenon was Gore Vidal’s sequel to that story, involving sexual reassignment surgery. (Hey, it worked once for him…!)
[QUOTE=nameless]
I feel like we should have a “zany lab accidents” thread. That might be fun for everybody.
[/QUOTE]
Please!
Chemistry has always been Black Magic to me; I picture bearded guys with tall, pointed hats cackling as they pour stuff from one container to another. I picture colored smoke coiling around and I hear an occasional boom; most of all, I picture lead being transmuted to molten lead in an attempt to create gold. And eye patches are not uncommon.
A guy I always considered to be an absolute dolt became a Chemical Engineer; I have to admit I have no idea what he does. I suspect he doesn’t either.
[QUOTE=wevets]
Damn. You’ve exposed me for the biologist I am. Stupid chemists with 50 names for everything! [sub](Yes. I am being ironic)[/sub] 
[/QUOTE]
However your problem is ionic. 
I have a soft spot for lachrymators, though. Maybe you could start taking hits of sulfur dioxide? Back at GE that was part of the raw material testing, sniff it to make sure that’s what it was. Sort of like the flame test with N2. If they ever get H2 instead…