Very good!
Diwali (end of Oct) is celebrated extensively with fireworks.
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That was a normal pastime for young scientists learning about chemistry, and far later than the 1920s - I could tell some tales about interesting experiments as a teenager… But that was before these days of terrorism. On several occasions in my professional career I was able to advise police in relation to youngsters who they considering prosecuting under terrorism legislation. Armed with some key questions they were able to elucidate that the “bomb making” was no more than perfectly normal teenage inquisitiveness/curiosity, deserving no more than a reprimand and stern warning.
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Illegal these days!
Yeah we got up to all sorts of fun in the science labs at school. Since then, a lot of the practical experiments have been scaled back due to H&S. I don’t really have an opinion on that though many whine. On one hand, making dangerous gases that resulted in evacuations seemed like a rite of passage. On the other I don’t want my kids doing the dumb s%%t I did.
So when we come back to fireworks, setting fire to a 3m long coil of magnesium in home room with no goggles or barrier might have seemed like a laugh (I had to replace the magnesium and the desk. Eventually the white dot in my vision cleared up ny itself) I can’t say it was really educational.
I think most people know if you set fire to things, they tend to burn or explode. We tend to romanticise a freer past but sometimes the only freedom taken away was the freedom to kill or mame ourselves and others - nothing valuable.
If you review all the Darwin Awards, fireworks crop up frequently.
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Where do you get news from, Martin?
You’ve just reminded me of a rather naive stand-in teacher for a chemistry class we had. She was very keen to show the class how sodium reacts with water. Having seen the experiment before some of us goaded her into cutting a much larger oily chunk than she should have.
As she slowly dropped it into a tank of water half the class gathered round closer to watch what happened, while the other half edged towards the back walls. I still remember the sound of the explosion and water running down the inside of the classroom windows.
The majority of the class were sent home to get dry clothes and I suspect a few had to get clean underpants! Great days. One of our many japes. I still don’t know how we didn’t mange to kill ourselves and many innocent bystanders!
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Singular IB please!
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So sad , had an on-line discussion with a local flood warden on the subject of science and home insurance .
Locally people are finding it more difficult to obtain insurance in certain post-codes .
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Nah, the Dolphins have been there and done that…!
SC
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We do live a wild place and these certainly are wild times.
Home insurance in parts of Australia is almost unattainable, insurance companies only want you when you don’t claim.
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And try not to pay you if you do claim. Bar stewards.
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But, the dolphins rely on us to do the heavy lifting. Without us they are screwd big time - unless they genetically evolve their fins in a “Dolphic” manner to enable dexterous survival skills.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
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When I saw the pic, I initially presumed it was Australia re Hi-Viz…! 
SC
Is that actually good or bad?
I’m as sceptical as heck about bovine methane emissions, not to mention ‘climate change’ being primarily induced by human activity before I even start about countries who won’t even adjust activity ‘just in case’ as might seem sensible from any standpoint, but leave the poor livestock alone!