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2005 December Slush
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Darwin Awards
2005 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

"This will not explode."

2005 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

(I regret I cannot give an exact reference and date, but Stitches is the magazine I found this in several years ago.)

Several decades ago in a medical college, an anaesthetist was doing a safety demonstration on anaesthetic gases to a roomful of impressionable students, using a clever apparatus. It had two gas cylinders, one with flammable ether, the other with nonflammable nitrous oxide, each of which could be piped to a flask in the center, where a spark could be generated with a push of a button.

Intending to make a strong impression on the students, he demonstrated the dangerous explosive one, ether, first. It made a weak 'pop' when ignited by the spark. Next, he twisted the valve for the nitrous oxide as he confidently stated, "This will not explode."

It was a demonstration of safety and chemistry, that few of them would ever forget. The cylinder did not go pop. It exploded, loudly and violently, shattered bits of it injuring the doctor before hitting the far wall! The class stared a moment, watching the demonstrator begin to bleed. He had failed to turn off the ether! Nitrous oxide is not *flammable*, but it is an excellent *oxidiser*, and together the nitrous and ether made an excellent explosive.

Nobody was permanently injured, luckily.

Submitted on 12/29/2005

Submitted by: Tyler Montbriand
Reference: www.stitchesmagazine.com

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
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>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Neutral: Other
I can't really categorize this. Maybe it's an urban legend, maybe not...it certainly isn't a PA, and I'm not quie sure it's an HM either...but I suppose it is funny enough to let my fellow mods take a whack at it!

Jack said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I dare say that the NO (aka laughing gas) cylinder didn't explode, but rather the flask in which the ether & NO were inadvertendly mixed that exploded. Other than that, the story is quite credible and is good enough for a PA. IMO.

Jorge said:
Neutral: Personal Account

Greg said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Got to be a PA without a solid reference - I searched Stitches to no avail, but we only go back as far as Nov 2002 and might not have all the articles. Still, it's a goodie! :-)

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