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quicksilver
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I have frequently found the "reporting" less than adequate with incidents like these. I would imagine that there is something to be learned that was
incidental, other than superficialities but I doubt we will ever know it.. I used to think that it was becasue the journalists were too unfamiliar
with science but lately I've come to see that the story was geared toward the organization rather than the tragedy.
There are possibly several things that could be valuable to know from the the dynamics of the injury & one of the more serious issues are that we
will never know them. Suppose the individual was well protected and the material was sensitized in some manner? The individual was not alone; why did
he receive the "Lion's share" of the injuries? There could be some interesting elements to learn from that are obscured in this incident. If the
object of reporting on an over sight committee was to publicize it's existence, shouldn't it's findings be part of the article?
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gutter_ca
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http://www.csb.gov/assets/document/CSB_Study_TTU_FINAL.pdf
PDF of TTU case study.
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quicksilver
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VERY VALUABLE material (thank you for posting it). Quoting:
"The graduate student did not receive any formal training
for working with energetic compounds, but he stated to the CSB that he independently completed
a literature review prior to beginning work to familiarize himself with similar energetic
compounds. Safety restrictions, such as a 100 milligram limit on the amount of compound
permitted to be synthesized, were verbally communicated by the two Principal Investigators
(PIs)6 of the research to some students. It was assumed senior graduate students would transmit
the information to newer group members; however, no formal documentation system was in
place to ensure that such information was effectively communicated to students and/or that
students understood the information. Consequently, none of the students the CSB interviewed
as part of its investigation, including those directly involved in the incident, stated they were
aware of a strict 100 milligram limit. Instead, students indicated to the CSB they believed they
should work with “very small amounts,” on the order of 200 to 300 milligrams."
The student then scaled up the material to TEN GRAMS and proceeded to attempt to reduce it in size by whetting (via hexane) and using a mortar and
pestle.
"Based on experience, the two students had discovered that smaller amounts of the compound
would not ignite or explode on impact when wet with water or hexane, and they assumed
the hazards of larger quantities of NHP would be controlled in a similar manner.
After the scale-up, the more senior student observed clumps in the product, and believed
uniform particle size of the sample was important. As a result, he transferred about half of
the synthesized NHP into a mortar, added hexane, and then used a pestle to gently break
up the clumps. No formal hazard evaluation was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of using either water or hexane to mitigate the potential
explosive hazards associated with the quantity of NHP synthesized the day of the incident. At this point, the graduate student
working on the clumps was wearing goggles, but removed them and walked away from the
mortar after he finished breaking the clumps. Several individuals from the lab indicated that
the decision to wear goggles was a personal choice which they based on how dangerous an
activity was perceived to be.
The more senior student working with NHP returned to the mortar but did not replace his goggles while he stirred the NHP “one more
time.” At this point, the compound detonated."
EDIT:
I wish many people would read that PDF as it's food for thought on many levels. Not excluding some of the ways we loose the ability to have labs at
our schools & universities.
[Edited on 30-10-2011 by quicksilver]
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albqbrian
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And one with H2O2 and Acetic Anhydride...
A chemist at Northwestern University was seriously injured.
http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/2011/01/explosion-from-aq...
Maybe all academic types who deal with these things need to go for a Day at Work kind of thing with folks who deal with explosives for a living. Maybe
a few demos on sensitivity, radical ideas like shields, etc.
I was subbing at my kids school and watched a chem teacher demonstrate fractional distillation. He was using cyclohexane and some other HC. Heating
with a bunsen burner he held in his hand. All the while closely surrounded by twenty kids! I was back in the far corner of the room watching in
horror. Luckily nothing happened. The next day I brought this up to the head of the science dept. His answer was, well some of these old-timers (the
heater had been at the school 15 yrs or so) do things a little differently than some of us are used to. No shit sherlock. The next year the head guy
was gone and Mr. Bunsen Burner is still there.
Yes without chemistry life itself, and often death; would be impossible. Or something like that...
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franklyn
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Know what you're doing before you do it
Murphy's Laws
www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html
http://murphyslaws.net
" Nature , to be commanded , must be obeyed "
- Francis Bacon
" It's not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them "
- T.S. Eliot
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Die Deister, die ich rief .... the spirits that I called...
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Goethe (1797) is a classic German poem that begins
when a powerful sorcerer retires from his workshop tasking his young apprentice
with the chore of filling a large vat with water. The lazy apprentice, tired of fetching
water with a bucket , uses his master's magic and enchants a broom to complete
the task for him. When the broom comes alive and begins fetching the water the
apprentice is delighted ! Alas the boy is not fully trained in the magic he is attempting
to yield and the broom will not cease filling the vat with water even after it is full.
Before long the workshop is flooded and apprentice is unable to control the spell he
has cast. In desperation he takes an axe and splits the broom in two but this only
makes things worse. Now the two pieces of the broom come alive and begin fetching
water anew at twice the speed. The workshop is now overflowing and the apprentice
has no choice but to call his master for help. When all seems lost the Sorcerer appears
to call off the magic spell and the brooms fall lifeless to the floor. The Sorcerer's final
warning to the boy is that those untrained in the art of black magic risk great danger
by calling upon spirits they are not capable of controlling.
A sequence in the animated Disney film " Fantasia " depicts a hapless Mickey Mouse
as the sorcerer's apprentice.
<iframe sandbox width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XChxLGnIwCU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Oops ! I Did It Again
- Britney Spears
Lyrics
www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Oops-I-Did-It-Again-lyrics-B...
<iframe sandbox width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mvtDHH_IfP8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
She Blinded Me With Science
- Thomas Dolby
<iframe sandbox width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tBIps187MKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Wizzard
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Franklyn- I can't tell if your post is on topic, or if it's spam.
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franklyn
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Wizard , I can't tell if your commentary results from
an idle uneventful day or you are just trolling.
Actually it's just a continuance of my previous observations here _
www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14587#pid1891...
Mnemonic association goes a long way to instilling healthy safety
practice. O O P S for example can be rembered as the acronym
Oblivious Of Personal Safety
Its standard training doctrine in the military to link indoctrination in the
mind of the trainee with sex.
P.S.
You ought to get out more.
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Wizzard
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I realize that, Franklyn, and although "She Blinded me with Science" is a timeless piece (which I happen to enjoy), the Youtube music videos and
analysis of the Sorcer's Apprentice story as useful information relevant to a ¾ year old thread is all I was bringing into question. Perhaps your
post was incomplete? You did not mention 'OOPS" (which is a great acronym, I'd never heard it before) in the post, or the one from which your
observations were being continued from, nearly 2 years ago.
Not a personal attack, my friend. I enjoy many of your posts, they are especially colorful and are sprinkled with good links.
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