Did You Know?
Safety glass was invented after a lab accident involving a glass flask.
In 1903, chemist Édouard Bénédictus dropped a glass flask coated with cellulose nitrate. While the flask shattered, it retained its shape because of the plastic coating. This accident led to the development of laminated safety glass used in car windshields.
Did You Know?
Teflon was discovered through a failed refrigeration experiment.
Roy Plunkett discovered Teflon when a frozen, compressed sample of tetrafluoroethylene spontaneously polymerized. This accident created one of...
Did You Know?
The artificial sweetener cyclamate was discovered when a lab worker smoked a cigarette.
In 1937, graduate student Michael Sveda put his cigarette down on the lab bench and noticed it tasted...
Did You Know?
The bacterial nature of ulcers was discovered when a desperate researcher drank bacteria.
Barry Marshall proved that bacteria cause ulcers by drinking a broth containing H. pylori bacteria, giving himself ulcers....