Hacker News Reader

Comment by omginternets | Hacker News Reader

This is the first time I've seen it, and I quite enjoyed it.

If it's the first time you've seen it, I recommend going through the whole "Things I Won't Work With" archives[0]. They're a great read. "Sand Won't Save You This Time" is hilarious (from a safe distance) and where Lowe started hitting his stride.

It will also (rightfully, it's fantastic) make you look for the Ignition! PDF, because it's not every day you read a paragraph introduced with:

> It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem.

then find out said introduction is 100% on the spot.

[0] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...

This stuff is hilarious! I know only basic high school chemistry, but I'm able to follow most of this at a sort of "I kind of get it" level – enough to get some seriously good laughs out of it. Thanks for this, I feel like someone just told me about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time!

"Sand Won't Save You This Time" is the best one.

If you enjoy stories of Chemicals With Alarming Properties, then be sure to check out Charles Stross's short story, "A Tall Tail." (Very Big Grin)

http://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/

I stumbled upon this MeFi discussion when I searched for "Atom City Number Nine."

http://www.metafilter.com/118133/A-Tall-Tail

This is my favorite chemical that he's written about: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Yeah, its my favorite chemistry story.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com