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Comment by rdtsc | Hacker News Reader

Yeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments.

Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".

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This is a really good point, actually. (I'm hypothesizing here) Since to so many people so much of what they call "science" is basically magic, all of it seems much too dangerous. Especially now that most things in a halfway decent chemistry kit are probably banned or closely scrutinized by the government.

Exactly. Despite the official lip service of lamenting how we are falling behind in science, anyone finding you have beakers, Bunsen burners, and shelves of chemicals in your basement will likely report you as either a terrorist or an illegal drug maker. Science went from being boring and unpopular to being suspicious and dangerous.

I think the riskier chemicals that might be included in a chemistry kit aren't today because of the potential for lawsuits. It's also probably a lot cheaper to produce a chemistry kit with non-toxic chemicals.

The US government doesn't care much about the chemicals that might be reasonably used for chemistry experiments. The DEA watchlist is pretty specific and I don't believe the DHS/FBI/ATF are going after people buying small quantities of chemicals that have legitimate uses.

That's a very good point that I hadn't considered.

My child got one of these vinegar and soda rocket kits a few years ago. You can shoot it up all day long for a dollar.

The best part is that you set it up and back away quickly - no Estes electronic remote control firing - because they do tip over and fire sideways from time to time.

http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorers-Meteor-Rocket-Sci...

That is a cool toy. I wasn't talking specifically about them but rather commenting on how in the name of safety they have reduced chemistry lab sets to basically just vinegar + soda type things, thus sucking all the fun out of it.

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