4 ms·
React is not a good term to use here but rather interact. Saying something reacts means that we are moving around electrons and possibly forming covalent or ion
by alan-hn 2y ago
React is not a good term to use here but rather interact. Saying something reacts means that we are moving around electrons and possibly forming covalent or ionic bonds. Intermolecular interactions are quite a bit different
- ttyprintk 2y agoOr displace, in this case exotic xenon for ambient argon and nitrogen.
- devilbunny 2y agoArgon is basically a rounding error in atmospheric gases. Xenon has been the gas anesthetic of the future for a long time now. It does have one set of good qualities: it's not halogenated (like all common gas anesthetics), but it's nonflammable (there are very good anesthetic gases, like cyclopropane, that are extremely flammable and have thus been totally phased out of use), and because it's such a heavy atom, it essentially never leaves the atmosphere - no matter how much you use, you can always recapture it from the atmosphere. It's not particularly cheap, though.
- ttyprintk 2y agoMuch higher quality comment than mine above. I suppose from the article that a dose of Xenon is $300 of gas, of which $50-$80 is not immediately reclaimed by a rebreather.