My new favorite site of the day: United Nuclear’s Chemicals & Exotic Metals which appears to be a page for people doing experiments with home-brewed fireworks, magnetic levitation, and neutron activation experiments. On a single page, they have D2O, Beryllium pellets, and lead sheeting as well as various fireworks coloring agents like BaCO3 and (NH4)2Cr2O7. They also have great warning messages on their magnets:
Beware – you must think ahead when moving these magnets.
If carrying one into another room, carefully plan the route you will be taking. Computers & monitors will be affected in an entire room. Loose metallic objects and other magnets may become airborne and fly considerable distances – and at great speed – to attach themselves to this magnet. If you get caught in between the two, you can get injured.
Two of these magnets close together can create an almost unbelievable magnetic field that can be very dangerous. Of all the unique items we offer for sale, we consider these two items the most dangerous of all. Our normal packing & shipping personnel refuse to package these magnets – our engineers have to do it. This is no joke and we cannot stress it strongly enough – that you must be extremely careful – and know what you’re doing with these magnets. Take Note: Two of the 3″ x 1″ disc magnets can very easily break your arm if they get out of control.
Axially Magnetized (the top & bottom flat faces are the north & south poles).
We can only ship these magnets by ground UPS – they cannot be shipped via air as it will interfere with the aircraft’s navigational equipment.
With warnings like that, I think I must buy one…
[tags]science, toys, boom[/tags]
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very interesting…cheers!!!!