http://xkcd.com/214/

Methyl tertiary-butile ether > NFPA 704 > Phosphine > Fumigation
   > Methyl isocyanate
   > Hydrogen cyanide
   > Iodoform
   > Chloripicrin
     > Activated charcole > Strychnine > Anticonvulsant

Something is wrong with my brain. I always seem to end up looking at 
deadly poisons, powerful explosives, dangerous natural phenomina, 
powerful computer viruses, rare ways to die...

Phosphine is nice. It gets a 4-4-2 on the NFPA 704 chart. It's a gas 
that's wickedly poisonous, corrosive, highly flammable (*and* burns to 
produce *another* poison), and just all-round nasty.

And then there's methyl isocyanate. It burns your eyes, skin and lungs 
on contact. It's liquid at room temperature, but it rapidly gets hot if 
you get it wet. It's also stupidly flammable. In a confined damp space 
it'll probably explode. On top of that, it can react *with itself* if 
catalysed by any of several commonly-ocurring metal impurities. Pretty 
frickin' evil, right?

And that everybody's favourit, strychnine. It screws up nerve 
conduction, causing dramatic muscle spasms, leading to a spectacular and 
vivid death by suffocation. Weirdly, this one used to be used as a 
medicine not so long ago... When I clicked the link, I instantly 
recognised the molecule. It appears on the cover artwork of the 
Prodigy's "Poison" single. (Unsurprisingly enough...)

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Invisible wrote:
> And that everybody's favourit, strychnine.

I actually prefer Dimethylmercury. Relatively toxic, absorbable through
skin or air, and it goes right through most laboratory plastics.

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Sabrina Kilian wrote:

> I actually prefer Dimethylmercury. Relatively toxic, absorbable through
> skin or air, and it goes right through most laboratory plastics.

How about hydroflouric acid? Absorbed through the skin, and it disolves 
your bones. Apparently the treatment for it is... not fun.

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On 1/7/2010 6:36 AM, Invisible wrote:
> http://xkcd.com/214/
>
> Methyl tertiary-butile ether > NFPA 704 > Phosphine > Fumigation
>  > Methyl isocyanate
>  > Hydrogen cyanide
>  > Iodoform
>  > Chloripicrin
>  > Activated charcole > Strychnine > Anticonvulsant

Yeah, wikipedia does that to me, too ... :) More fun is when I start 
looking up foul-smelling compounds, Butyric acid is always a classic. 
Thiols of course ... always fun. Then there's Isonitrile ... never 
experienced this one first-hand, but looking it up, it's the stuff of 
legend.

Guess how I found that one... (hint, look it up on wikipedia...)

-- 
~Mike

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On 01/07/10 08:40, Invisible wrote:
> Sabrina Kilian wrote:
>
>> I actually prefer Dimethylmercury. Relatively toxic, absorbable through
>> skin or air, and it goes right through most laboratory plastics.
>
> How about hydroflouric acid? Absorbed through the skin, and it disolves
> your bones. Apparently the treatment for it is... not fun.

	One drop of conc HF on your skin can kill you. But I'd rather die from 
it than dimethyl mercury:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn

-- 
I'm addicted to placebos. I'd give them up, but it wouldn't make any 
difference. - Steven Wright

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Neeum Zawan wrote:

>     One drop of conc HF on your skin can kill you. But I'd rather die 
> from it than dimethyl mercury:
> 
>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn

Wait - they named an award after a woman who worked in chemistry and 
died a horrible, gruesome death as a result?

And this is to *encourage* more women into chemistry...?? o_O

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:4b58d296$1@news.povray.org...
> Neeum Zawan wrote:
> >     One drop of conc HF on your skin can kill you. But
I'd rather die
> > from it than dimethyl mercury:
> >  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn
> Wait - they named an award after a woman who worked in
chemistry and
> died a horrible, gruesome death as a result?
> And this is to *encourage* more women into chemistry...??
o_O


Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning... Wikipedia says:

She had carried test tubes containing radioactive isotopes
in her pocket and stored them in her desk drawer, remarking
on the pretty blue-green light that the substances gave off
in the dark.

~db

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DungBeatle wrote:

> Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning...

Ah yes. But that name is attached to the Marie Curie Cancer Trust - 
people trying to *prevent* others from dying horribly like she did. This 
seems a more appropriate association.

> She had carried test tubes containing radioactive isotopes
> in her pocket and stored them in her desk drawer, remarking
> on the pretty blue-green light that the substances gave off
> in the dark.

Heh, well, why wouldn't you? I mean, if you had no idea this stuff was 
dangerous...

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"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:4b59727a$1@news.povray.org...
> DungBeatle wrote:
> > Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning...
> Ah yes. But that name is attached to the Marie Curie
Cancer Trust -
> people trying to *prevent* others from dying horribly like
she did. This
> seems a more appropriate association.


The "curie" is a unit of radioactivity.. :)

> > She had carried test tubes containing radioactive
isotopes
> > in her pocket and stored them in her desk drawer,
remarking
> > on the pretty blue-green light that the substances gave
off
> > in the dark.
>
> Heh, well, why wouldn't you? I mean, if you had no idea
this stuff was
> dangerous...

I'm not sure if I would. Maybe, me being a scientist, I
would
try placing these test tubes in with some rats and see what
happens first...

~db

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>>> She had carried test tubes containing radioactive
> isotopes
>>> in her pocket and stored them in her desk drawer,
> remarking
>>> on the pretty blue-green light that the substances gave
> off
>>> in the dark.
>> Heh, well, why wouldn't you? I mean, if you had no idea
> this stuff was
>> dangerous...
> 
> I'm not sure if I would. Maybe, me being a scientist, I
> would
> try placing these test tubes in with some rats and see what
> happens first...

Well, most chemicals can't hurt you if they don't actually touch you. 
Radioactive ones are unique in that they *can*... ;-)

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