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Apparently the first half of the 20th century was fucking awesome[1]. [1] http://www.cracked.com/article_19481_the-8-most-wildly-irresponsible-vintage-toys.htm
by slavak 15y ago
Apparently the first half of the 20th century was fucking awesome[1].
[1] http://www.cracked.com/article_19481_the-8-most-wildly-irresponsible-vintage-toys.html http://www.cracked.com/article_19481_the-8-most-wildly-irres...
- gonzo 15y agoI actually had the PowerMite tools. and several chemistry sets
- CWuestefeld 15y agoI'd never heard of the lead molding set, but I did have a set for injection molding of plastic. And yes, I did burn myself.
- jgrahamc 15y agoI'm from the second half and had some pretty cool chemistry sets as a child. I've noticed recently that all the chemistry sets are really rubbish now. Where's my strip to magnesium to set fire to?
- rdtsc 15y agoYeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments. Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".
- brudgers 15y agoMy child got one of these vinegar and soda rocket kits a few years ago. You can shoot it up all day long for a dollar. The best part is that you set it up and back away quickly - no Estes electronic remote control firing - because they do tip over and fire sideways from time to time. http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorers-Meteor-Rocket-Science/dp/B00000IS7I http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorers-Meteor-Rocket-Sci...
- rdtsc 15y agoThat is a cool toy. I wasn't talking specifically about them but rather commenting on how in the name of safety they have reduced chemistry lab sets to basically just vinegar + soda type things, thus sucking all the fun out of it.
- jordan0day 15y agoThis is a really good point, actually. (I'm hypothesizing here) Since to so many people so much of what they call "science" is basically magic, all of it seems much too dangerous. Especially now that most things in a halfway decent chemistry kit are probably banned or closely scrutinized by the government.
- rdtsc 15y agoExactly. Despite the official lip service of lamenting how we are falling behind in science, anyone finding you have beakers, Bunsen burners, and shelves of chemicals in your basement will likely report you as either a terrorist or an illegal drug maker. Science went from being boring and unpopular to being suspicious and dangerous.
- datasink 15y agoI think the riskier chemicals that might be included in a chemistry kit aren't today because of the potential for lawsuits. It's also probably a lot cheaper to produce a chemistry kit with non-toxic chemicals. The US government doesn't care much about the chemicals that might be reasonably used for chemistry experiments. The DEA watchlist is pretty specific and I don't believe the DHS/FBI/ATF are going after people buying small quantities of chemicals that have legitimate uses.
- jordan0day 15y agoThat's a very good point that I hadn't considered.
- davidcuddeback 15y agoBefore 9/11, my little sister built a cloud chamber for the science fair. This required using a small vile of Uranium, which my dad was able to obtain for her from a nearby university. This didn't require any extraordinary connections or security clearance. I think he just phoned up a professor and drove to the university to meet him. This was probably 2000 or 2001. I suspect this wouldn't be possible now, after 9/11, but I haven't tried.
- jgrahamc 15y agoAmazon.com sells Uranium ore: http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XX... or get it from United Nuclear: http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_4 http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath...
- mikeash 15y agoYou can buy uranium ore off Amazon. I'm not sure if it's the right stuff for a cloud chamber, but it looks like it: http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1326130333&sr=8-5 http://www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XX...
- Newgy 15y agoThe reviews on this are hilarious.
- aidenn0 15y agoWe used to use orange fiesta-ware when we needed a source of ionizing radiation; they used uranium as a colorant for quite some time.
- ams6110 15y agoIf you are really determined, you can refine it yourself. http://carlwillis.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/uranium-chemistry/ http://carlwillis.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/uranium-chemistry...
- lutorm 15y agoWhat a bunch of overblown crap... "wildly irresponsible" my ass! It's perfectly safe holding a piece of red-hot glass, as long as you don't hold the red-hot part. But since the red-hot part is also the part that's in the Bunsen burner, you generally don't do that. Glass has such low thermal conductivity that the part that's not heated stays at room temperature. Edit: I "played" with most of those as a "kid" (the radioactive kit excluded, that would have been awesome.) I put those words in citation marks because I wouldn't call it play, per se, and there's obviously an age limit. But, believe it or not, "kids" (something like 12 and up) are capable of being perfectly responsible and learning proper respect for things like using tools. Heck, in many countries kids are saddled with real responsibilities at those ages. Receive responsibility and you will learn responsibility. But if you lived the sheltered life that typical American kids seem to live, I guess you have no way of knowing that...
- exDM69 15y agoExactly! These were the kids that grew up to be the adults who flew to the moon and engineered the internet.
- wisty 15y agoActually, hot glass can be a lot safer than hot water. As long as it's solid it won't soak through your clothes and cling to your skin (causing 3rd degree burns). It might give you a burn (like the one I've just got from the red-hot element in my oven), but it's not like you are going to hold it in your hand going "ouch ouch ouch" - most people will drop it in a split second if it's hot.
- larholm 15y agoOh please, here in Denmark we blew glass on a school trip in 6th grade after a 5 minute introduction.
- giardini 15y agoAre there statistics that show us how hazardous such products were? I doubt that many were injured by them. We had chemistry sets and carbide cannons, played with mercury, painted with red lead, and cleaned spots off clothing with benzene. I have inadvertently taken a swig of gasoline. We played with firecrackers, cherry bombs, roman candles and rockets. We were always lectured on safety first and took those lessons to heart. I honestly can't say that I learned anything useful from the chemistry set (although at the time I believed it was an absolute necessity, something I regret putting my parents through). OTOH work in chemistry labs as an adult confirmed that I was not inclined to that profession. But from each particular encounter I learned interesting and useful facts which could later be tied into the theoretical frameworks of formal physics and chemistry. Odd thing is I wasn't allowed a BB gun until I was 16! I never shot a living thing with it - it was simply fun to hit something at a distance. Anyway I'm still alive and doing better than ever.
- eru 15y ago> Anyway I'm still alive and doing better than ever. Probably survivorship bias. Anyway, there was also an article in the New Yorker, I believe, about a guy and his father, grandfather and his son. He put up a map and showed how much each person was allowed to roam on their own at age 6. His grandfather walked five miles for fishing. His son isn't allowed to cross the road on his own.