[NewCandle] Invasion of the Nanosquiddies

[Horace Heffner]

On Feb 5, 2009, at 9:39 AM, Keith Nagel wrote:

> Hey Nick et al,
>
> Here's a link to the pics of the organo-metallic squids.
>
> http://www.kpnconsulting.com/newcandle/download/nick5.htm

Wow, that's cool!

Maybe relevant or maybe not relevant memory from my young adolescence:

If you bubble acetylene gas through a silver nitrate solution you get  
a silver acetylide precipitate, which floats (and is also highly  
toxic BTW) and which, when dry, is a fairly sensitive high explosive.  
If you filter out the precipitate and spread it over aluminum foil  
you get a mold-like hairy mass growing from the boundaries with the  
foil, within a day or so.  This combination is extremely explosive  
and delicate.  Much more delicate than nitroglycerine. A slight  
flexing of the foil and it goes off. The little tendrils are what  
make it so sensitive. It's best to make very small quantities!

Makes me wonder what a silver foil might do, or some silver salt in  
the solution. Also, I wonder if K is important or whether NaI works.

Best regards,

Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/