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Using Cinnamon In the Production of Nanoparticles

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-about-the-brown-sugar? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at the University of Missouri used cinnamon to replace almost all toxic chemicals needed for making gold nanoparticles used in electronics and healthcare products. Nanoparticle production requires the use of extremely dangerous and toxic chemicals. While the nanotechnology industry is expected to produce large quantities of useful nanoparticles in the near future, the entire production process could be detrimental to the environment."

91 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. EXCELLENT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Now the grey goo will have a homey, delightful odor as it consumes our planet!*

    *(Yes, I'm aware 'grey goo' is impossible. Shuddup)

    1. Re:EXCELLENT! by wizardforce · · Score: 1

      We *are* the grey goo. We're effectively using the chemical by products of one form of nanotechnology (life) to kick start another.

      --
      Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    2. Re:EXCELLENT! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      A World of Goo is definately possible. I just downloaded it from Steam the other day!

    3. Re:EXCELLENT! by camperslo · · Score: 3, Funny

      In the heat of competition expect more projects to turn to toast. ...waiting for an Apple-cinnamon edible phone

  2. And now by Stregano · · Score: 1

    The particles will smell terrific

    --
    The world is how you make it
  3. Cinnamon? by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They should taste my nano-apfelstrudel!

  4. And... by NecroPuppy · · Score: 1

    ...a pinch of oregano, 'cause you know a little goes a long way.

    --
    I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
  5. Hmm, food-embedded electronics? by intellitech · · Score: 2

    I think advertisers just creamed themselves.

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
  6. You got... by MrQuacker · · Score: 5, Funny
    I can see it now...

    -- You got cinnamon on my gold!
    -- You got gold on my cinnamon!
    -- Woah, wtf is *that*!?

    1. Re:You got... by camperdave · · Score: 1

      I can see it now...

      -- You got cinnamon on my gold!
      -- You got gold on my cinnamon!
      -- Woah, wtf is *that*!?

      Mine!
      I saw it first.
      No you didn't.
      Did to. Now let go!
      ...and so on.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:You got... by sconeu · · Score: 1

      You're obviously too young to have seen the classic Reese's commercial:

      "You got chocolate in my peanut butter!"
      "You got peanut butter in my chocolate!"

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    3. Re:You got... by hedwards · · Score: 2

      Classic? You do realize that "classic" isn't a synonym for old, right? Somethings belong in the past and should remain buried there.

    4. Re:You got... by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure I follow, that commercial is a classic.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    5. Re:You got... by Stregano · · Score: 1

      I am sorry, but I find that offensive since that is my mother's "special nickname" at her job as a dancer. She still refuses to tell me what kind of dancing she does, which is odd

      --
      The world is how you make it
    6. Re:You got... by alienzed · · Score: 2

      cinagold or goldamon? hmm, the second one sounds like a Pokemon...

      --
      Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
    7. Re:You got... by camperdave · · Score: 1

      I am familiar with the commercial. Despite my youthful appearance and rugged good looks, I was born before the invention of the microwave oven and the internet. No, I was making a bid for a +5 funny by extrapolating the conversation. However, the moderators are in a humourless mood today.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    8. Re:You got... by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 1

      Yo momma?

      --
      Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
  7. 21st century alchemy by UBfusion · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Something tells me that this is going to end like the biofuel scam, where forests are vanishing to produce a more pollutant fuel than gasoline... Killing natural spices to produce gold in some industries' pockets.

    1. Re:21st century alchemy by macraig · · Score: 1

      Yeah... just how many cinnamon plantations are there? Land for more cinnamon trees or more gated communities?

      Or... we could just deal with overpopulation....

    2. Re:21st century alchemy by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I happen to have a birthright to drive two ton machines two hours between work and my gated community, thank you very much.

      *shows you his birthright certificate* :D

      PS: Just because the number key is there it doesn't mean you should use it any time you want to write a number. Save it for the really big numbers - when you use it for a number with three digits or less your perceived IQ drops by roughly 10-15 points per digit less than four - i.e. typing 300 drops your perceived IQ by ten to fifteen points, typing 30 drops it by twenty to thirty points, and typing 3 drops it by thirty to forty-five points. You should always type out three hundred thirty-three, but for 3,333 it is fine to switch to numerals.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    3. Re:21st century alchemy by twidarkling · · Score: 1

      I hate to interrupt a well-deserved smackdown, but you'll find any official style guide advocates the switch to numerals for any number over ninety-nine, if it's not a round number. For example, 333, but three hundred. Journalism style guides actually go for any number over ten.

      --
      Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
    4. Re:21st century alchemy by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      The future shall prove you wrong, enjoy your poverty or wars over oil.

    5. Re:21st century alchemy by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 1

      when you use it for a number with three digits or less your perceived IQ drops by roughly 10-15 points per digit less than four

      Metahumor?

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
    6. Re:21st century alchemy by lgw · · Score: 1

      Nah, just lgw's rule of the internet: every spelling, grammar, or style post must contain a spelling, grammar, or style error.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    7. Re:21st century alchemy by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 1

      +5 Informative

      --
      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
  8. Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by TheOtherChimeraTwin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, that explains Cinnabon.

    1. Re:Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

      Does this mean they'll start putting gold in their Caramel Cinnabons? For what they charge for those things, there ought to be gold in them!

      --
      My blog
    2. Re:Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by Stregano · · Score: 1

      or a 360 game or something.

      --
      The world is how you make it
    3. Re:Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      Its an industrial reagent.

      Its a desert topping.

    4. Re:Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by oh-dark-thirty · · Score: 1

      ...and Goldschlager..

  9. The Spice.. Of Course! by trollertron3000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Once again it is proved - the spice is the worm. The worm is the spice.

    --
    Tiger Blooded Bi-Winning Machine
    1. Re:The Spice.. Of Course! by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 3, Funny

      And, of course, he who controls the spice controls the universe!

      *buys cinnamon*

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  10. I hope it's true but: by geekoid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    “Our gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they are also biologically active against cancer cells,”

    A) How can you be benign AND active?.

    B) everything is poisonous. It's the dose them makes the poison.

    C) I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?

    D) How much energy will go into harvesting more cinnamon?

    I hope is true because Oz. to Oz Cinnamon will be a safer product to use in the process, but it's not magic.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:I hope it's true but: by BradleyUffner · · Score: 5, Funny

      “Our gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they are also biologically active against cancer cells,”

      A) How can you be benign AND active?.

      B) everything is poisonous. It's the dose them makes the poison.

      C) I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?

      D) How much energy will go into harvesting more cinnamon?

      I hope is true because Oz. to Oz Cinnamon will be a safer product to use in the process, but it's not magic.

      A: Magic
      B: Cinnamon is all natural, and there for only hurts bad things. It's good for your skin too!
      C1: Elves, C2: Free Range Hamsters
      D: None

    2. Re:I hope it's true but: by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      Your post needs more wizards.

    3. Re:I hope it's true but: by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      A) The two aren't mutually exclusive, look up the definition of benign. Also consider yoghurt. Active, and benign. It's not malicious or harmful, but it's an active culture.

      b) Now you're being pedantic

      c) that i'll agree on, unlesss they mean that it doesnt need us to add any and it's using it's own charge or something

      D) That's my big concern.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    4. Re:I hope it's true but: by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?

      Jeeze, did you read the damn thing? They mix gold salts and cinnamon in water and get gold nanoparticles.

      There is no electricity because there is no electricity. It's a purely chemical process.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    5. Re:I hope it's true but: by mangu · · Score: 1

      I hope is true because Oz. to Oz Cinnamon will be a safer product to use in the process, but it's not magic.

      I know anything about Australia is always accepted at /., but this one is about scientists at the University of Missouri. This has nothing to do wit Oz.

    6. Re:I hope it's true but: by geekoid · · Score: 1

      well it's sure not benign to the cancer cell. I know, see b)

      b) I know. The whole article was written like it's a magic process.

      d) Not really a big concern for me. If the toxic chemicals are as nasty as others in similar industries, then spending a lot of energy harvesting cinnamon is better then poisoning the water supply . And of course the energy going into make the chemicals and so on.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    7. Re:I hope it's true but: by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Its a big 'O' because I was happy to type it.

      you can't unread that!

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    8. Re:I hope it's true but: by not-my-real-name · · Score: 3, Funny

      I put on my robe and wizard hat...

      --
      un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
    9. Re:I hope it's true but: by Froggie · · Score: 1

      As I read the article, when you mix cinnamon and gold nanoparticles in solution, one of the products is gold nanoparticles. I presume the non-toxic byproduct is cinnamon flavoured water.

  11. For the lulz. by ethan961 · · Score: 1

    I bet there was a little voice inside their heads that said they should do this for the lulz and to show how we sometimes really over complicate things.

  12. Where's Paul? by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 1

    Let the spice wars begin.

    --
    I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
  13. Not likely by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Real Cinnamon is rare and expensive, toxic chemicals usually aren't. Which do you think China's going to decide to use?

    1. Re:Not likely by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Exactamundo. Cinnamon isn't exactly expensive unless you're getting something fancy, but it's a lot more expensive than putting some practically-free chemicals into a vat and running some electricity from coal through them.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Not likely by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Which is why most people use fake cinnamon, cassia. Which is grown in china, so maybe they will use that.

    3. Re:Not likely by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Real cinnamon is fairly expensive, cassia is cheap. In the USA cassiabark is often labeled as cinnamon.

    4. Re:Not likely by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 2

      I wonder if there is a practical difference for industrial purposes.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    5. Re:Not likely by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 2

      The two come from the same genus and are extremely similar. This is why cassia can be sold as low-grade "cinnamon" - it is nearly identical to the Sri Lanka variety.

      For manufacturing purposes I doubt there is any significant difference.

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
    6. Re:Not likely by stms · · Score: 1

      Real Cinnamon is rare and expensive, toxic chemicals usually aren't. Which do you think China's going to decide to use?

      The one that consumers are willing to buy...

    7. Re:Not likely by c0lo · · Score: 4, Informative
      Here's a map with the top world producers of Cinnamon in 2005. China has 10 yellow bubbles (=10% of the world's top producer) meaning in 2005 it produced 60,000 tones of cinnamon.

      For comparison, the entire world's gold production of 2006 was 2,310 tons.

      Me thinks that the world risks running out of gold faster than China of cinnamon... but hey, I might be mistaken.

      However, on another track, TFA says:

      They mixed gold salts with a common spice – cinnamon – and stirred the mixture in water to synthesize gold nanoparticles.

      Now, unless one finds a method to obtain gold salts by using plain cooking salt (Ok... I'll make a concession and allow capsicum powder as well), this step may require indeed the use of toxic chemicals.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    8. Re:Not likely by Khyber · · Score: 4, Informative

      In my area of industry, chemically speaking there is a *HUGE* difference.

      True cinnamon works as an insecticide.

      Cassiabark extract does NOT.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    9. Re:Not likely by Khyber · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Distill the oils of both.

      Put a toothpick in each oil sample and let it soak it up.

      I'll bet twenty bucks you can hold the cassia in your mouth while the cinnamon one will blister you.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    10. Re:Not likely by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Oh wow the same genus, I suggest you substitute the fruit of Solanum atropurpureum for Solanum lycopersicum in your next salad or sandwich.

      These two are farther apart then cassia and cinnamon, but those two are not quite the same either, surely not nearly identical. Their coumarin levels are quite different for instance.

    11. Re:Not likely by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      If it is anything like the cinnamon case consumers in the EU will have no problem getting the real thing and us Americans will have to order it online and pay through the nose.

    12. Re:Not likely by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      The tomato is not the only thing in the genus Solanum, does this mean I should be allowed to sell poisonous fruits as tomatoes?

    13. Re:Not likely by jrumney · · Score: 1

      China has 9 yellow bubbles. One of those 10 bubbles you are counting belongs to Vietnam.

    14. Re:Not likely by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Those numbers are completely meaning less to determine when we will run out.

      You need to look at total available and compare it to total used over a period of time.

      If we need to use 10,000 times the cinnamon then gold, that would change things now, wouldn't it?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    15. Re:Not likely by c0lo · · Score: 1

      Those numbers are completely meaning less to determine when we will run out.

      Theoretically, you are right.

      ------ In no way the following is intended to be flamebite/troll (at most, karma whoring) -------

      It would be advisable, based on this theory and the above poster's estimate for a rate of 20000/1, to invest in cinnamon plantations, but keep the following points in mind:
      1. cinnamon is more renewable than the Earth's gold resource - advantage? Yes, suply limited only on short periods of time ("world cinnamon crisis" will be different than "world oil crisis")
      2. on long term I reckon we'll still run out of Earth's gold sonner than we run out of cinnamon. Need to plan the exit strategy from the "cinnamon plantation investment" (or see what other metals in demand would "nano-particulate" with cinnamon).

      Some other info to consider before deciding to invest:
      a. estimate of the world's gold consumption for industrial purposes at the present 10%
      b. total gold demand for Q3 2010 - 992 tones with a Y2Y increase of 12% (the demand for jewellery increasing by 8% - 4 countries sucking in 63% from this - the ones less affected by the world crisis, US is not among them)
      c. use of gold as nanoparticles here (a bit old, 2007). But a bit of google-fu would orient the savvy investor better.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    16. Re:Not likely by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Ah, but it is. Most people eat what's called "Cassia" which is a spice from Asia that is similar to Cinnamon but is definitely not Cinnamon. They label it as such, but as with most things it's a lie.

    17. Re:Not likely by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Ah...cinnamon toothpicks! That takes me back. In junior high I used to make them and sell them at school. Ten cents for one, a quarter for three. I used to shoplift those little vials of cinnamon oil from K-mart. Pour onto a plate, add toothpicks, let soak overnight. Put them into a sandwich baggie the next day and I had enough money to buy ice cream at lunch all week. For extra fun, I'd soak one or two in clove oil and mix them in with the rest.

      I've tried relating this story to others before and I only get blank looks. I suppose it was a Texas thing to enjoy super strong cinnamon toothpicks.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    18. Re:Not likely by guttergod · · Score: 1

      Now, unless one finds a method to obtain gold salts by using plain cooking salt (Ok... I'll make a concession and allow capsicum powder as well), this step may require indeed the use of toxic chemicals.

      Who said anything about not using toxic chemicals? They used cinnamon to replace "almost all toxic chemicals".

      --

      Apple built a platform for their ideas, Google built one for everyone's.

    19. Re:Not likely by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Definitely a Texas/Louisiana thing, I haven't seen it happen anywhere else.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  14. Using nano in the production of nanoposts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    By using the word nano and variations, like nanoparticles and nanotechnology, a nanoposting can include the word five times.

    1. Re:Using nano in the production of nanoposts by konohitowa · · Score: 1

      The next major release will include an accurate counter.

    2. Re:Using nano in the production of nanoposts by Bigjeff5 · · Score: 1

      And a one-sentence critique can use the word six.

      A bit hypocritical aren't we?

      --
      Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
  15. looks like someone discovered Goldschläger by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    Gold? Cinnamon? It's a delicious discovery for science! See, it's not toxic at all, we can drink a ton of it!

  16. As a representative for Wrigley's... by Wilson+of+Waste · · Score: 1

    That BIG RED freshness will last right through it. Your production goes on and on as you use this...

  17. Melange? by michael1221988 · · Score: 1

    So Melange really is just cinnamon!?

  18. Food nerds by Lord_of_the_nerf · · Score: 1

    Looking forward to Heston Blumenthal's Gold Nanoparticle Flavoured 'Sounds of Science'.

  19. Re:Incense and Peppermints . . . by Professr3 · · Score: 1

    My eyes are bleeding

  20. First step in their process: by qbwiz · · Score: 2

    Make cinnamon into a highly toxic chemical.

    --
    Ewige Blumenkraft.
  21. Re:The spice must flow! by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

    I was looking for a Dune reference! thanx guy

    --
    Balderdash!
  22. meh by BluBrick · · Score: 1

    Using cinnamon with gold is nothing particularly new!

    --
    Ahh - My eye!
    The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
  23. The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The actual article talks about how gold nanoparticles are often made with super-strong reducing agents like sodium borohydride and how this is awesomely bad for the environment.

    What the article doesn't mention is who made the very first gold nanoparticles, or how they were made.

    It was Michael Faraday (yes, that Faraday), who made them using a reducing agent called. . . phosphorus. Horribly toxic, world-destroying . . . Oh, wait, it's safe. Never mind.

    There are 80 thousand ways to make AuNPs, the reason the strong reducing agents are usually used is because it's simply a quicker reaction, or because you want them there to activate something else you are sticking to the surface of the nanoparticle.

    Now, the part about the cinnamon extracts stabilizing the AuNPs in physiological conditions, that might be more impressive - I'm not familiar with work in that area. But the toxicity part is nothing more than a cry for attention.

    --
    My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
    1. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nice; but nowadays the toxic hydrazine and sodium borohydride are used. Then how do you come to say 'the "toxicity" part is bullshit' in your topic?

      That said, phosphorus itself is not completely harm-free itself ...

      They are only sometimes used. There are lots of current (last five years) papers where they aren't used, NaBH4 and N2H4 are just extreme examples being used - phosphorus is still used, as is sodium ascorbate (also known as vitamin C). Hell, the lab down the hall from mine makes AuNPs via laser ablation and deposition - no reducing agent needed at all, just a vacuum.

      Phosphorus is only dangerous if you eat it on the multi-gram scale or if you heat it, and frankly, anyone who does that gets what they deserve. If you're worried about waste, elemental phosphorus will oxidize pretty quickly with contact with air (and gold nanoparticles) and become biocompatible phosphates.

      Yes, white phosphorus is pyrophoric, but it's the less stable of the two allotropes, and it's pretty hard to make, so you don't need to worry about it being a sideproduct.

      --
      My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
    2. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by failedlogic · · Score: 1

      The use of pesticides and fungicides to treat cinnamon trees will still pose an environmental problem perhaps even more so if there is an increased demand. And many of the countries where Cinnamon is grown, probably don't have the same environmental standards than 'Western' countries. That is, pesticides and fungicides that were banned by the EPA 50 years ago might still be used in these countries.

    3. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 1

      Maybe "bullshit" wasn't the proper term. Maybe "taken out of context, omitting selectively omitting other relevant information and over-inflating the importance of the article in a hope to get published" is more appropriate. But it doesn't roll off the tongue as well.

      --
      My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
    4. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 1

      Or "nano." It's how I do it ;-)

      --
      My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
    5. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 1

      Better give them cinnamon instead, so they don't turn cancerous. Unless that's what you want.

      --
      My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
  24. except for the coumarin by slew · · Score: 1

    Gold? Cinnamon? It's a delicious discovery for science! See, it's not toxic at all, we can drink a ton of it!

    Even without the toxic-by-the-ton ethyl-alcohol in Goldschläger, true cinnamon actually contains a small amount of coumarin (used as rat poison in concentrated forms, or processed into a blood thinner for heart surgery patients)...

    And of course if Goldschläger cheaped out and uses the "fake" cassia cinnamon, it would actually have even more coumarin...

    On the other hand, a Goldschläger challenge seems much less harmful than a cinnamon challenge (a description of which used to be on wikipedia, but apparently it's been edited out after this revision)

  25. No he isn't! by denzacar · · Score: 1

    He's just resting.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  26. Unfortunately... by mswhippingboy · · Score: 1

    the DEA has moved to make spice illegal, so we have to go back to using the extremely toxic chemicals to make our gold nanoparticles...

    --
    Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.
  27. There Goes Cinnamon by b4upoo · · Score: 1

    Every time a new use is found for something we seem to pay through the neck. Rice, corn, potatoes and wheat can all make fuel for your car or be mixed with gasoline. Anyone priced a bag of spuds lately. Corn is now so expensive that there have been riots in Mexico as they can't make their taco shells. If cinnamon finds industrial uses my toast may never be the same.

  28. Different salts...? by LongearedBat · · Score: 1

    They mixed gold salts with a common spice – cinnamon – and stirred the mixture in water

    I wonder, how does gold salt taste compared to iodised salt? And with a pinch of cinnamon thrown in... I might have to try it with the rice porridge for xmas.

  29. full text by soupman55 · · Score: 1

    http://www.springerlink.com/content/r26726612j2r8336/fulltext.html

  30. Melange... by mcnazar · · Score: 1

    "I see you do much working with the spice... you make paper... plastics... and isn't that chemical explosives?"....

  31. The spice... by jgrabell · · Score: 1

    The spice... nanoparticles... travelling without moving... Arrakis... desert planet...

  32. To the three wise men who discovered this... by kjcole · · Score: 1

    Do Frankincense and Myrrh also work?

  33. Tigers hate this approach... by SeeSp0tRun · · Score: 1

    Tigers hate cinnamon, everybody knows that.

    --
    Something witty.