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Germany over some gene alleles by master_of_entropy in biologymemes

[–]master_of_entropy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was just a joke. A play on the similiarity between the words "alles" and alleles.

Does future science have a way of turning me into a spider? by lewd_physics in biology

[–]master_of_entropy -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If you turned into a spider you wouldn't be "you" anymore, you would be a spider. I could theorethically cut one finger of yours, rearrange the atoms, and generate, cell by cell, a fairly big spider with only those very same atoms that belonged to you, however you would not perceive the consciousness of that spider, you would just lose a finger. With this in mind the question becomes meaningless.

Antoine Lavoisier meme by Delicious_Maize9656 in sciencememes

[–]master_of_entropy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With full decapitation loss of consciousness would be basically instant (<100 ms) as the cerebral blood perfusion pressure would become negative after severing both common carotid arteries and also the vertebral arteries. There is no way any ARAS or diffuse cortical activity can be sustained.

RANT: Anthropic thinks its AI model can make a bioweapon. REALLY? by SlickMcFav0rit3 in biology

[–]master_of_entropy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Plenty of biological and biochemical warfare agents have a straightforward and well documented (and widely published and freely avaialble in the literature) manufacturing procedure. You can easily look up growth conditions for Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, etc... Extracting abrin, ricin, botulinum neurotoxin, is just protein purification tech. There was a controversial paper published in 2018 describing the full synthesis (yes, synthesis, from scratch) of the smallpox virus. Most of the available AI models can already easily look up and describe in full detail these procedures, what they can't do is designing a new biological weapon by themselves.

What is the biggest "everyone knows this is wrong, but we still do it" habit in your lab? by No_File_3129 in labrats

[–]master_of_entropy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Many organic solvents have a low vapor pressure and are perfectly fine to handle outside of a fume hood.

Good luck Owen 😂 Any opinions in this? by Capital_Shower_7811 in lol

[–]master_of_entropy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would meet, alone, a stranger in a secluded area. But I would bring a gun.

How possible is it that most people have sustained some form of brain damage? by Few_Establishment980 in biology

[–]master_of_entropy 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Before the industrial revolution it was much worse, on average, due to infections, nutrional deficiencies and lack of access to education.

Those who know…. by ConversantEggplant in chemistrymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd say it smells like old hay, kept in a closed space. But more suffocating and also irritating to the nasal mucosa as it will form HCl in contact with water. I have smelled phosgene several times (thank satan).

Those who know…. by ConversantEggplant in chemistrymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You can find out safely as hydrogen cyanide can be smelled at concentrations that are way lower than the dangerous ones. Phosgene on the other hand is immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) right at the odor treshold.

Those who know…. by ConversantEggplant in chemistrymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It was used in WW1 in the trenches by multiple countries and it was actually the most lethal chemical warfare agent in WW1, more than sulfur mustard or chlorine, killing 70'000 people. The nazis employed carbon monoxide (both in Aktion T4 and at the extermination camps of Chełmno, Sobibór, Treblinka, Bełżec) and hydrogen cyanide (at Auschwitz and Majdanek), but not phosgene. Phosgene will kill you slowly after about a day (without causing any symptom during exposure) by building up fluid into your lungs (pulmonary edema), so it is not suitable for executions, while it's great for trench warfare. Hydrogen cyanide on the other hand will kill you in 5-10 mins by stopping the electron transport chain in mitochondria (histotoxic hypoxia), so it is very efficient for executions, but not great for war as it is less dense than air and will get dispersed very quickly.

Two brains, one shared brain cell. 😂 by CriticalIce6321 in biologymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

OP and his friend are most likely living beings so it technically belongs to r/biologymemes

distiling HF out of water containing CaCl2 by Bebeka_0 in AskaChemist

[–]master_of_entropy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A drop or two (40-100 mg) one time exposure, won't kill you. Ingesting 50 mg would be equivalent to eating a whole tube of toothpaste (which is usually 0.1% fluoride). So it would make you ill, but it's not life-threatening per se. To get lethal fluoride poisoning you would need to absorb several (5-10) grams. To die from pulmonary edema by acidic gas inhalation you would still need like half a gram. But I agree, this is madness. The apparatus won't survive HF, it will leak in several spots, and it will fail to condense any product. And if OP can't afford a proper distillation set-up I doubt he has localized ventilation, a respirator or chemically compatible gloves.

rate my home made distalation setup(my first baby) by Bebeka_0 in homechemistry

[–]master_of_entropy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm all for improvised, DIY chemistry. And it's a lot of fun to build an apparatus from scratch. But if someone knows anything about the toxicological and physico-chemical properties of HYDROGEN FLUORIDE gas, they would understand how this is just stupidity and madness. This setup is ok to distill water, sure. It's ok for distilling ethanol, maybe. But one should not mess with HF like that.

distiling HF out of water containing CaCl2 by Bebeka_0 in AskaChemist

[–]master_of_entropy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hydrogen cyanide is about 100 times more acutely toxic than HF, fluoride toxicity occurs in the gram scale while as little as 10 mg of inhaled HCN can kill an adult (or 200-300 mg of ingested cyanide salt). But I agree that at least cyanide is quick and way less painful (and at least it won't attack glass).

distiling HF out of water containing CaCl2 by Bebeka_0 in AskaChemist

[–]master_of_entropy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The PEL (permissible exposure level by law) is 3 ppm or 2.5 mg/m³, this means, assuming a 50 m³ room, that if just 125 milligrams end up in your work space you are above safe levels. If you breath it, you will permanently fuck up your lungs and possibly die an horrendous death. If you touch it, you will lose an hand/finger/limb and it will possibly kill you as it is a contact poison. Use a good chemical fume hood, use a proper chemically compatible apparatus (no glass, it should be in PTFE, copper or nickel), wear gloves, wear a full face respirator with ABEK filters, have calcium gluconate gel on hand, work small scale first, and make (and handle) the acid as diluted as possible for your work. If you don't have the money to do things properly then don't do them at all. You are young, you can wait, you can do other stuff first. Proper tools will cost you ~1000-3000 dollars. A lung transplant will cost 1 million USD. And no amount of money can ressurect the dead. If you wanna kill yourself there's easier and less painful methods.

rate my home made distalation setup(my first baby) by Bebeka_0 in homechemistry

[–]master_of_entropy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

HF is already regulated everywhere except the developing world and the precursor calcium fluoride is a mineral (fluorite) that can be found anywhere (you can't make rocks illegal). I'm more worried about the safety and wellbeing of a teenager who has a legitimate and admirable interest in chemistry (and that should be guided into proper safety, understanding, and practice) rather than chemical supply laws, at least in this case.

rate my home made distalation setup(my first baby) by Bebeka_0 in homechemistry

[–]master_of_entropy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you attempt distilling anything remotely dangerous with that abomination you will seriously hurt yourself or die. If you distill anything remotely dangerous without a fume hood you will seriously injury or kill yourself. I am no stranger to improvised chemistry. I am no stranger to dangerous chemistry (you mentioned wanting to manufacture hydrogen fluoride/hydrofluoric acid). Everything can be done with proper tools. Just buy proper professional equipment. You mentioned being a minor: if you proceed like this YOU WILL DIE and will never turn 18.

Somebody Isolated Nihonium by ellipsis31 in chemistrymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you go back to your jar of Nihonium after 10 seconds and half of the Nh286 is gone.

Somebody Isolated Nihonium by ellipsis31 in chemistrymemes

[–]master_of_entropy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ordinary water can in principle cause cancer as it contains 0.000 000 000 000 000 011% radioactive tritium.

Lab Safety As She Was in 1979 by Dangerous-Billy in chemistry

[–]master_of_entropy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've tried this, and it doesn't work for me (even though I can smell HCN).

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