Difference between revisions of "Kewls"

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This article or section has been classified as Whimsy. It may contain humor and in-jokes from the Sciencemadness Discussion Board which are definitely not scientifically proven and probably shouldn't be taken seriously.

Kewls are people, usually adolescents, who are primarily interested in energetic materials and possibly other dangerous materials and have little to no interest in actual chemistry. Kewls are generally considered to be a nuisance to legitimate amateur chemists, similarly to Cooks.

How to identify kewls

Kewls often are interested in synthesizing common explosives, like acetone peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, or flash powder. They have little regard for safety and are primarily interested in making the biggest "boom" they can, often bragging about making unsafely large amounts of sensitive explosives. Often, they refuse to conduct a forum or literature search and instead start threads on topics which have been covered repeatedly.

Synthesizing toxic gases such as phosgene or phosphine is another interest of some kewls which has resulted in a death of a Sciencemadness member, Myfanwy.

What to do about them

Some kewls are actually interested in chemistry - their interest grew out of a fascination for explosives. It may help to direct them to references which are related to their interests.

Others are just want to blow things up, and have little or no interest in the underlying chemistry.

Since kewls will likely find procedures for conducting their dangerous practices no matter what, it is advised that instead of being ignored, they are provided with the proper information to insure that what they do is safe. One can only hope that in the future they will move on from such dangerous behavior to developing a genuine interest in chemistry.