How One Company Secretly Poisoned the Planet

At some point in my material science and chemistry courses, I speak bluntly to my students that most research suggests that man-made polymers are bad for us.

Some are worse than others, but most research on the effects of polymers on humans seems to suggest that there are bad effects from most man-made polymers. Some are minorly bad, but others - like the family of PFAS - are more obviously and persistently bad.

The video above is short and has a direct message: DuPont is bad (or has acted badly).

The longer video below - from Veritasium - is far longer but is much, much more informative.

If this sounds familiar, you might've seen a semi-recent movie about this story, Dark Waters.

5 Regrettable Things People Did With Uranium

Here's the list...

• Uranium glass (not actually on the list but mentioned in the introdution)
• Dentures - The uranium added to the porcelain in the 1940s helped the 'teeth' look more natural - including absorbing ultraviolet radiation like natural teeth do.
• Toys - I recognize that chemistry sets from the mid-20th century weren't remotely safe, but the current 'chemistry sets' might have swung a bit too far the other way.
• War - Not just atomic bombs here but also depleted uranium used in tank shielding and armor-piercing rounds. I've posted about this use before.
• Medicine - I hadn't heard about this use of uranium to treat diabetes before, but it sounds like it wasn't useful and was even harmful. Might want to check that whole Hippocratic thing.
• Spas - Tom Scott had a video on these spas - which sound like really bad ideas to me.

Short version - stay away from uranium, folks.

This 200-Year-Old Lighter Ignites Without a Spark

I understand that the act of creating fire at this point in our lives is trivial. 

I have a couple of piezoelectric grill lighters and a flint-based lighter in the a drawer in my kitchen. The 'pilot lights' in my gas stove, hot water heater, and furnace are all piezoelectric. If I need fire, I can have it in about two seconds.

That hasn't always been the case, of course. From prehistoric times when fire meant warmth and digestible food, the act of fire creation was miraculous and to be protected.

So the development of a 'safe' lighter that could create fire at the whims of the lighter's owner was an important step toward taming that fire.

But I certainly wouldn't want to carry around Steve Mould's Döbereiner's lamp (yes, the same Döbreiner as the periodic triads) in my pocket.