Showdown at ...

the LN2 corral.

My most recent interesting find is this clip - which I found on Retrospectacle: A Neuroscience Blog. Who needs DC comics when this Brainiac has the ultimate showdown of Thermite versus Liquid Nitrogen.



As Shelley described on her website: Thermite is a mixture of iron oxide and aluminum. When ignited, the aluminum is oxidized and the iron oxide is reduced. If you put it in a terracotta flower pot with a sheet of metal covering the hole at the bottom, the thin strip will melt just as the reaction has completed and allow a column of molten iron to pour straight downward.