5 ms·
Just one of dozens of amazing passages in this book (page 48): > "... its density was a little better than that of the other acid, and it was magnificently hyp
by _xk9i 3y ago
Just one of dozens of amazing passages in this book (page 48):
> "... its density was a little better than that of the other acid, and it was magnificently hypergolic with many fuels. (I used to take advantage of this property when somebody came into my lab looking for a job. At an inconspicuous signal, one of my henchmen would drop the finger of an old rubber glove into a flask containing about 100 cc of mixed acid -and then stand back. The rubber would swell and squirm for a moment, and then a magnificent rocket-like jet of flame would rise from the flask, with appropriate hissing noises. I could usually tell from the candidate's demeanor whether he had the sort of nervous system desirable in a propellant chemist.)"
- ctrw 3y agoI think it's a bimodal distribution. On the one hand you have the unflappable who just calmly watch what happens. On the other you have the far too flappable who is already out of the lab and making good time out of the building and the state.
- borlanco 3y agoExactly this. Either they have the right stuff, or they don't.
- ctrw 3y agoBoth are the right stuff.
- borlanco 3y agoI meant what was shown in this movie [0]. In a nutshell, the ability to remain calm when the unexpected happens, to try to solve the problem, or at least to not make it worse. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_(film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_(film)
- DennisP 3y agoAlthough for some reactions, the latter is the appropriate reaction.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- TeMPOraL 3y agoAh so this is where the cartoon trope of jets of boiling fluid speeding up from a lab flask came from. I thought artists were exaggerating, but I guess not this time.