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Nitroglycerin Mystery Solved

Posted by michael on from the funny-as-a-heart-attack dept.

Amon Hobbes writes "It seems that some scientists at Duke University have unravelled the mysteries of How Nitroglycerin works [the heart medication]."

25 comments

  1. VA Research^WLinux^WSoftware Stock Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    How many shares of VA software does it take to change a lightbulb?

    All of them, VA stock is worth less than a lightbulb.

    Whats the difference between buying a lottery ticket and buying a share of VA software?

    With the lottery, they is still a chance you might profit.

    Whats the difference between VA software stock and a box of anvils thrown off an airplane?

    VA software stock falls faster.

    Why did Santa Claus buy 5000 shares of VA software stock?

    He wanted to leave naughty children something worth less then coal

    What would you have to sell to buy all the shares of LNUX?

    One share of microsoft.

    1. Re:VA Research^WLinux^WSoftware Stock Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent post good sir... I haven't read any thing better than that on Slashdot EVER (except of course for the PWP's)

    2. Re:VA Research^WLinux^WSoftware Stock Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I haven't read any thing better than that on Slashdot EVER

      You must have missed The Tiny Toy, aka Cancer Girl.

  2. such a big deal? by tps12 · · Score: 1

    Chemical potential energy is transformed into heat energy. You break some bonds, you're gonna get some energy out of it. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

    Whether you use that to make bombs or cure heart disease, I don't care, the principle is the same.

    Hey, could this be used in laptop batteries? How sweet would it be to have a TNT-powered Crusoe Linux box?

    --

    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
    1. Re:such a big deal? by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 3, Funny

      So if I experience chest pains, I should swallow a grenade? Seems like that might work once...

      --

      This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander

    2. Re:such a big deal? by Raskolnk · · Score: 1, Troll

      Aren't you a smarty! That high-school chemistry class really clued you in didn't it. Read the article dumbass, you don't understand what the 'mystery' is.

      --
      Don't blame me, I get all my opinions from my Ouija board.
    3. Re:such a big deal? by alienmole · · Score: 1

      Better be careful, with comprehension skills like yours, you're ripe for being trolled...

    4. Re:such a big deal? by Governerd · · Score: 3, Informative

      No. Only nitroglycerine in its pure form is explosive. In fact, pure nitro is never even used in grenades because it is so very unstable. A nitroglycerine grenade would probably never make it out of the factory, exploding sometime during the assembly process. Dynamite is essentially nitro in an inert matrix -- even sugar and clay were tried during the early days. However, when given in very small doses and rendered non-explosive by dilution with chemically inert materials, it can do really good things for heart patients.

    5. Re:such a big deal? by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 4, Informative

      Now I must disagree. Nitroglycerine is made by combining Nitric acid with glycerin, very simply put. The second step to the process is filtering all the excess Nitrc acid out of the 'soup' Now why is this important? Because nitric acid makes Nitroglycerine unstable. Now, pure nitroglycerine is MUCH MUCH more stable then it is with impurities. There is actually an equation for the temperature of spontanious combustion based on the amount of Nitric acid left in the mixture.

      Now, making a grenade out of nitroglycerin is easy, you just do the same thing you do with TNT and dynamite. You mix the Nitro with fine-powder sawdust, and it holds it in an easly managable paste.

      --
      Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
    6. Re:such a big deal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GRRRR.....New on /. more bumb posts from ,oh well.
      The article, if one spent the 5 mins. to read it was about how the body metabolizes and builds up a resistance to the medicinal effects of notro not 'I wonder, if I bite this pill will my head go BOOM.'

      -Things can always be that bad, unless they're worse-

  3. science "mysteries": a slashdot myth by tps12 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Okay, I am sick of this. Any article about scientific research that runs on slashdot always has to refer to the problem as a "mystery."

    Now I understand they might be a little over CmdrTaco's head, but come on, it's not like these "mysteries" are going to be solved by Inspector Gadget or anything.

    It's not "mysterious" or "magical." There's no "witchcraft" involved. It's science: hard work and research. A flash of inspiration.

    Pick up a cheap paperback if you want mystery. Here on slashdot we deal with facts and cold hard proof.

    --

    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
    1. Re:science "mysteries": a slashdot myth by Lars+T. · · Score: 2

      Read this and be quiet when grown-ups talk.

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  4. not only that by tps12 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Apparently, this guy also thinks he's Fox Mulder. "The Truth is Out There," asshole.

    --

    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
  5. Uhhh.... by espresso_now · · Score: 1

    Cool?

    --
    Of course, and I highly suspect it, I may be talking out of my ass. -oqti
  6. I wish they'd figure out the other Nitro mystery by billcopc · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The other mystery: why don't they make bigger NOS bottles for street drag cars ? =)

    (offtopic, I know.. but I'm pretty sure a ride in the car would sufficiently shock any cardiac back to health - or just kill them swiftly)

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  7. I would just like to say.... by Catskul · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...You are an idiot.

    Sorry for the flame, but I just had to get that off my chest.

    --

    Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
  8. I already knew how it worked by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    i've known for several years how nitroglycerin works, it goes boom real good :D

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  9. Where's the CLIT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two AC first posts? Where's CLIT or at least UTM?

  10. Sorry by Amon+Hobbes · · Score: 1

    I was just posting stuff I thought was in the interest of science. Didn't want to be a choad about things.

  11. OK, but who was the first guy to try it??? by sphealey · · Score: 2
    Who was the first person to get the bright idea to try EATING nitroglycerin? Wouldn't that seem a bit, well, dangerous to you?

    sPh

    1. Re:OK, but who was the first guy to try it??? by Captoo · · Score: 1

      I've been told that you don't actually need to eat it to experience the effects. Simply getting enough of it on your bare skin is supposed to be enough to cause an accelerated heart rate. Does anybody out there know if this is true? Maybe it was this effect that convinced people to start putting it in pills.

    2. Re:OK, but who was the first guy to try it??? by Captoo · · Score: 1

      Then again, if I got a lot of it on my skin, I'd probably have an increased heart rate simply because I'd be afraid of exploding! :)