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Comment by CapitalistCartr | Hacker News Reader

This appears to have a three year cycle on HN. Three years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5546450

Six years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148425

Seen it before, still a fun read though. What else could you say about a substance that will instantly set ICE on fire?!

> What else could you say about a substance that will instantly set ICE on fire?!

That's nothing! From the same series:

> The compound also a stronger oxidizing agent than oxygen itself, which also puts it into rare territory. That means that it can potentially go on to “burn” things that you would normally consider already burnt to hell and gone, and a practical consequence of that is that it’ll start roaring reactions with things like bricks and asbestos tile.

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Yes, chlorine trifluoride will set asbestos on fire.

One more from same series.

Things I Won’t Touch: Hydrofluoric Acid (2004) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10678571

(81 points by networked 100 days ago | past | web | 63 comments)

Google HN for intitle:"Things I Won't" : https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinato...

But it does not show parent's links. One more reason for a more explicit search engine.

You mean like this? https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22things%20I%20won%27t%22&sor...

This is the first time I've seen it, and I quite enjoyed it.

Yeah, its my favorite chemistry story.

If it's the first time you've seen it, I recommend going through the whole "Things I Won't Work With" archives[0]. They're a great read. "Sand Won't Save You This Time" is hilarious (from a safe distance) and where Lowe started hitting his stride.

It will also (rightfully, it's fantastic) make you look for the Ignition! PDF, because it's not every day you read a paragraph introduced with:

> It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem.

then find out said introduction is 100% on the spot.

[0] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thing...

This stuff is hilarious! I know only basic high school chemistry, but I'm able to follow most of this at a sort of "I kind of get it" level – enough to get some seriously good laughs out of it. Thanks for this, I feel like someone just told me about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time!

"Sand Won't Save You This Time" is the best one.

If you enjoy stories of Chemicals With Alarming Properties, then be sure to check out Charles Stross's short story, "A Tall Tail." (Very Big Grin)

http://www.tor.com/2012/07/20/a-tall-tail/

I stumbled upon this MeFi discussion when I searched for "Atom City Number Nine."

http://www.metafilter.com/118133/A-Tall-Tail

This is my favorite chemical that he's written about: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1053/

Not everyone knows everything :)

I don't think that comment is criticizing the dupe, just mentioning it and providing links to earlier discussions.

I love the lesson in the alt text, "Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time."

It's so true and it really is how we should look at life! Not knocking the original commenter either, just putting this out there!

Still, it should have a "(2010)" in the title.

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