• @Dieterlan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      835 months ago

      Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, for mining, by doing what the meme says (I don’t know what “fossilized algae” refers to, but it makes the nitro not go boom, when it really wants to boom). After seeing what it was eventually used for (bombs. Lots and lots of bombs) he regretted ever making it. He set up the Nobel Peace Prize as a result, to try and even the scales a bit, so to speak

      • @bogdugg@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        845 months ago

        I don’t know what “fossilized algae” refers to

        Looked it up:

        Nobel found that when nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) it became safer and more convenient to handle, and this mixture he patented in 1867 as “dynamite”.

        Diatomaceous earth consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled microalgae.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel#Nobel_Prize

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

          • Ben Hur Horse Race
            link
            fedilink
            English
            305 months ago

            I’m all for being humane but I would stab a bed bug with a pin and yell “die, fucker”. Same goes for mosquitos, ticks and fleas.

            Isn’t diotemacious earth cancer causing if you breath it in?

                • @Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  45 months ago

                  Pretty sure that if you got snow in your lungs you would get pneumonia, or perhaps frostbite in your lungs. if you get frost bite in your lungs repeatedly, just as any other repeated injury it can increase your risk of cancer in those cells that are repeatedly damaged.

              • @TwoCubed@feddit.de
                link
                fedilink
                English
                2
                edit-2
                5 months ago

                In this case it’s pretty much the same risk as inhaling asbestos dust. Fun fact, in the past, beer was filtered through asbestos, which was perfectly safe because asbestos is only dangerous when inhaled. Nowadays it’s filtered through Kieselgur because its properties are pretty much identical to those of asbestos.

            • @sandalbucket@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              125 months ago

              Fortunately, diacontagious (or however you spell it) earth is not very “humane”. It cuts their wax layer as they crawl through it, leaving just enough of a gap that they can’t contain moisture, and they dehydrate / mummify to death.

              This fun fact brought me much comfort while I lied in bed, slapping every itch and wincing at every breeze.

              • @DrRatso@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                55 months ago

                DE is abrasive, and that does help, but the main reason it works is because it is a desiccant, so like a silica packet it dehydrates the insect.

          • @Quereller
            link
            English
            35 months ago

            Not when you mix it with nitroglycerin.

    • @hydroptic@sopuli.xyzOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      255 months ago

      Ah, a fun little joke I can do with the nitroglycerin I definitely don’t have because that would probably be illegal

        • @LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          15
          edit-2
          5 months ago

          As a bonus, if we already have a heart condition and an abundant supply of prescription nitroglycerin tabs, we can perform the aforementioned prank to give all our friends heart attacks too! 😄

          • @Chetzemoka@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            4
            edit-2
            5 months ago

            I was gonna say, actually thinking about pocketing the excess next time I pull some from the Omnicell to see if this works lol

            • @DrRatso@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              45 months ago

              A tab of NTG is only 0.5mg, a drop of pure NTG (so around the size of the tab) would be in the ballpark of 125 mg, so the tablet contains very little NTG. Id wager a tiny pop if any.

              • @LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                35 months ago

                Maybe it’ll be like the 4th of July in your kitchen. It’s worth a try. Make sure to video it and let us know how it turns out.

      • @FluffyPotato@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        55 months ago

        This triggered a lost memory of watching bootleg MacGyver with some friends while getting blackout drunk celebrating Estonian reindependence after the soviet occupation collapsed. It was in German (None of us spoke German) and he was also doing something with some nitroglycerin on a truck.

  • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    315 months ago

    He was known as the “Merchant of Death” because even after he accidentally revolutionized warfare he kept profiting off of it for the rest of his life.