That is awesome! I have built a still before, but not for ethanol, I wanted to purify methanol for some other reasons...The_root_of_all_evil said:I live in the posh heart of jolly old England where one of our 15 year olds was kicked out of school for downing a pint of vodka, the 6 year old boys have ponytails and earings, we used the have chair fights (Big metal chairs, throw at each other), light gas taps, brew alcohol in chemistry lessons, smash people through windows, bomb threats once a month, usual stuff.
Oh...wow, that must have been terrifying! I am sorry you had to witness something like that, e-hugs! *hugs*Sacman said:This one time when I was living with my grandparents this lady was having a fight with her boy friend in front of her house and after about 2 hours of screaming she went into her house grabbed a thing of gasoline and set herself on fire on the sidewalk screaming, "This is what you did to me!" until she was just a lump of melted person on the sidewalk...<.<
Try explaining that to panicky parents. Mostly it just meant everyone stood outside for awhile before going back in.thethingthatlurks said:Mercury? Cool! But just to point out, the stuff is essentially harmless (toxicity wise) unless you ingest it or bathe in it. Any and all fuss that was generated because of it was sadly wastedKoeryn said:You're school is a terrible place. We had fights (I actually walked over one in my freshman year, two girls fighting on the floor, I didn't notice until I was already past 'em), but no shootings on campus, no burnings, or stabbings. LOTS of mercury spills though. Lots, and LOTS. Especially my senior year. Was kind of hilarious.![]()
Sure, here's my basic heavy metal poisoning warning (incidentally, I'm a chemist): mercury is able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and wreck all sorts of havoc in your brain, particularly in children. That being said, the risk of poisoning by physical contact alone is essentially nil, given that the skin cannot absorb metals as efficiently as the digestive system. Of course, if you kid is stupid enough to see a puddle of silvery metal and decides to swallow a handful...well, that's probably for the best, from an evolution standpoint.Koeryn said:Try explaining that to panicky parents. Mostly it just meant everyone stood outside for awhile before going back in.thethingthatlurks said:Mercury? Cool! But just to point out, the stuff is essentially harmless (toxicity wise) unless you ingest it or bathe in it. Any and all fuss that was generated because of it was sadly wastedKoeryn said:You're school is a terrible place. We had fights (I actually walked over one in my freshman year, two girls fighting on the floor, I didn't notice until I was already past 'em), but no shootings on campus, no burnings, or stabbings. LOTS of mercury spills though. Lots, and LOTS. Especially my senior year. Was kind of hilarious.![]()
Too tired to think of how I was going to respond, so I'll just say 'agreed'.thethingthatlurks said:Sure, here's my basic heavy metal poisoning warning (incidentally, I'm a chemist): mercury is able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and wreck all sorts of havoc in your brain, particularly in children. That being said, the risk of poisoning by physical contact alone is essentially nil, given that the skin cannot absorb metals as efficiently as the digestive system. Of course, if you kid is stupid enough to see a puddle of silvery metal and decides to swallow a handful...well, that's probably for the best, from an evolution standpoint.Koeryn said:thethingthatlurks said:Mercury? Cool! But just to point out, the stuff is essentially harmless (toxicity wise) unless you ingest it or bathe in it. Any and all fuss that was generated because of it was sadly wastedKoeryn said:You're school is a terrible place. We had fights (I actually walked over one in my freshman year, two girls fighting on the floor, I didn't notice until I was already past 'em), but no shootings on campus, no burnings, or stabbings. LOTS of mercury spills though. Lots, and LOTS. Especially my senior year. Was kind of hilarious.![]()
Try explaining that to panicky parents. Mostly it just meant everyone stood outside for awhile before going back in.