Badass Periodic Elements

The science nerd in me loved this list on Buzzfeed.  I loved it so much, I'm straight up copying and pasting this.

The Thirteen Most Badass Periodic Elements

13. Iridium (Ir) - #77

Why it's badass: This sweet-ass bad boy is the second densest element AND the most corrosive-resistant. That's right: iridium is so suave, it can't be affected by water, chemicals or acids. One of the rarest elements in the earth's crust, it likely comprised part of the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Its platinum-like exterior is as flinty as the cool steel in its heart.

Badass power ranking: 13. Steve McQueen getting a prison tattoo.

Source: images-of-elements.com

12. Curium (Cm) - #96

Why it's badass: Hey, what are you up to, curium? "Oh, just GLOWING IN THE DARK because I'm so radioactive." This element, named after Marie Curie, is made by bombarding plutonium with helium ions. It's so dangerous that it's rarely created on earth, although Mars rovers had it in their xray spectrometers.

Badass power ranking: 12. That high school bully who took your lunch and made you cry.

Source: images-of-elements.com

11. Krypton (Kr) - #36

Why it's badass: Krypton is a noble gas that makes up LASERS and part of the atmosphere of Mars. It's white when cooled and solidified, but colorless, odorless and tasteless as a gas.

Badass power ranking: 11, like Chuck Norris with a hangnail.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

10. Francium (Fr) - #87

Why it's badass: Francium only has a half life of only about 10 minutes and exists only as single atoms which suddenly appear like soap bubbles and then vanish just as quickly. When the MCs come in its face it's like mace, 'cause francium backs them off with the quills.

Ranking: 10. Always carries nunchucks.

Source: theodoregray.com

9. Chlorine (Cl) - #17

Why it's badass: Incredibly toxic, but also essential to life, chlorine makes up a great deal of the earth's oceans and is heavier than air. Disinfects everything, but don't drink it.

Badass power ranking: 9. Chlorine has never cried, ever.

Source: chemistryland.com

8. Helium (He) - #2

Why it's badass: Helium was discovered on the sun before it was found on the earth. It's inert but doesn't give a shit. It makes you talk funny. Liquid helium is literally the coolest element, forming only at -269 degrees Celsius. What's cooler than cool? LIQUID HELIUM.

Badass power ranking: 8, like a shot of ghost pepper-flavored whiskey.

Image by (Shutterstock)

7. Bromine (Br) - #17

Why it's badass: The only liquid nonmetallic element, bromine is a neavy, reddish liquid that will literally burn a hole through your skin. It can only be transported in lead tanks because trucks don't carry bromine, bromine carries trucks.

Badass power ranking: 7. Go ahead and make bromine's day.

Source: whenchemistsattack.com

6. Carbon (C) - #6

Why it's badass: Carbon comprises 20% of the weight of living organisms. It's fucking diamonds. Makes your pencils. Makes coal. Makes your life.

Badass power ranking: 6, like a sleek motorcycle backing you into God's garage.

Image by (Shutterstock)

5. Potassium (K) - #19

Why it's badass: It's the eighth most abundant element on earth, but sweet-ass potassium is never found free in nature, because it's so reactive. Pure potassium is a soft metal that can be cut with a knife, but don't let its cuddly nature fool you: when you drop this shit in water, potassium can ignite the hydrogen gas it creates to start a fire. IN water.

Badass power ranking: 5. Chugging a glass of boiling water with a chaser of boiling water.

Source: imgur.com

4. Arsenic (As) - #33

Why it's badass: It's naturally occurring, but that doesn't mean it won't kill Emma Bovary AND you. It'll do really gross things to your skin, too. Seriously, don't Google image it.

Badass powering ranking: 4, since arsenic actually played Ryan Gosling in Drive.

Source: bionerd

3. Gold (Au) - #79

Why it's badass: It's fucking GOLD. It conducts heat and electricity. It's not very reactive, but that's because everyone knows to step off when gold walks by. It's fucking shiny as hell. GOLD.

Badass ranking: 3. Gold knows what it wants, and it isn't your bullshit.

Source: kidspast.com

2. Mercury (Hg) - #80

Why it's badass: The only metal that's liquid at room temperature, mercury is incredibly toxic. A coin fucking FLOATS in it. (See above.) It dissolves gold and silver. Volcanoes and coal-powered power plants alike vomit it out. It gets in fish.

Badass ranking: 2. Mercury will fuck your shit up. Don't even.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

1. Hydrogen (H) - #1

Why it's badass: The lightest element, hydrogen makes up 90% of the visible universe and is the raw fuel for stars. It combines to form some things you might have heard of: water (H2O), ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), table sugar (C12H22O11), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). One proton and one electron -- that's all you fucking need.

Badass power ranking: Hell yeah, it's number one.

Source: wunderground.com

What Do You Do Again?

I get that question a lot.  When I tell someone I'm an industrial hygienist, I get a quick look of confusion that quickly goes away because most usually, they think it's type of dental hygiene.  Not quite Sherlock.

According to the American Industrial Hygine Association, which I'm a member of :), Industrial Hygiene is the "Science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, prevention, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace which may cause sickness, impaired health and well being, or significant discomfort among workers or among citizens of the community."   So essentially, my job is to look out for the health and safety of the workforce.  I seek out hazards and try to remediate.

In my particular case, I work at a proving ground where research and development and testing, as well as various industrial operations, take place.

Some of the things I do:

-Indoor air quality assessments.  This is my least favorite thing to do.  I have people complain to me that something in the building is making them extremely sick.  I come in and check to see if the the place is ripe for mold growth (there's certain conditions that will help spawn spontaneous mold).  I look to see if the HVAC has been cleaned, which in my case, is the biggest culprit.  One time, house plants were causing asthmatic symptoms in someone that sat across the room.  Another time, people were complaining of this horrible odor and thought it was a gas leak.  Turns out, a mouse died behind a copier and the decomposition was causing offgassing.  Now you can kind of see why I don't like doing these.

-Ventilation assessments.  You ever get a sleepy, lethargic feeling in the afternoon at work?  Well, it could be for a couple of reasons.  You didn't get enough sleep and you're on a caffiene crash.  You had a huge lunch.  Or there's too much carbon dioxide, which happens when there isn't decent air circulation.  Either the HVAC isn't pulling enough fresh air or you just need to open a window.  Machine shops, weld shops, auto shops, they all have to have certain ventialtion requirements.  That's where I come in and actually measure the airflow.  Chemical hoods in the laboratories also have certain airflow requirements that I have to check on. 

-Exposure assessments.  There's federal exposure limits for just about every workplace hazard out there.  The biggest ones I deal with are noise, chemical and particulate hazards.  I figure out how much noise someone is exposed to in a typical day by measuring decibels and then determine if hearing protection is required or if there's a way to reduce the noise hazard.  Lead and silica are two of the biggest contaminates I assess.  At the worksite, I pull air through a pump and onto a filter.  Whatever is on the filter is then analyzed and from there, I know how much lead or silica people are being exposed to and try to remediate that.  Exposure assessments are my favorite things to do.  Because I'm at a proving ground, I get to see and do some not-so-typical stuff.

-Design and blueprint review.  This is more of the technical stuff that I'm still getting used to.  Blueprints are friggin hard to read and interpret, for me at least.  But anyway, this is where I get a first look at construction projects.  This is where I can see if ventilation is going to be sufficient.  It's better to catch issues at this stage than pay all sorts of money later on.   

-Risk assessments/program reviews.  This is where I look at a process or program and seek out any hazards that can get mitigated.

-Respirator selection assessments.  Obviously, certain contaminants you just can't get rid of and will have to work in it.  Well, I have to figure out what kind respirators are appropriate for that.

-Confined space monitoring.  Another fun one.  There are federal guidelines regarding confined spaces.  I have to make sure confined spaces meet those guidelines and are safe to enter.  The coolest space I've worked with and have gone in was a submarine that was in development.  It sucked because I was doing crazy overtime, but it was right by the water and provided an amazing view.

-Worker's comp claims.  Every now and again, someone will try to put a workers compensation claim.  If it involves possible past exposure to something, I then have to figure out if the claim is valid.  I've gotten some angry responses out of this, usually because the outcome wasn't what was wanted.

The good thing about what I do, is I'm not "the bad guy."  Prior to this job, I was a safety specialist and were the enforcers and were the "safety nazis."  Well, not this time around.  Industrial hygienists are seen more as consultants.  People seem to understand that I'm there to help them.  And besides, I have medical science and chemistry to back me up in an arguement if someone disagrees.  I mean, it's hard to argue with science....


These are the air samples I pull, with the filters inside.  These particular ones I was prepping to send out to our analysis lab.

And it's not cleaning teeth, thank goodness... 

Friday Favorites

Favorite Star Wars/Disney Comparison.

Favorite Levitating Cat.  Beam me up, Scotty!

Favorite Mustard Dress via birdsnest.  Not sure if the color would look okay.  I'm Asian, so I already have a yellow tint :)

Favorite Swing Set.  I don't know where this is, but we must go...

Favorite Animal Photobomb via Buzz Feed.  Look!  There's a giant dog!

My Live Studio Audience Experience

Ok, so this is a week and a half late.  But in my defense and as I stated in my last post, it was Watchathon week, and I was very occupied.  Then once that was over, I had to catch up on some sleep due to the previous tv show watching marathon.

But, back to the point of this post.

If you ever have the chance to be part of a live studio audience, do it.  I'm sure they're not all the same, but the rush you get during and after I'm assuming is similar.  The BF and I had the chance to be part of Stephen Colbert's audience during his taping of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.  I follow the show on Facebook, so every now and again, they'll post when tickets are available.  The tickets are completely free, you just have to pick a date of what's available and go from there.  The both of us are fans of Stephen and are only a couple of hours from NYC where it's filmed.  So when I saw that tickets were available, I snatched them up.

The Audience Department at the Colbert Report overbooks ticket confirmations to ensure a full audience.  Because of that, you have to make sure you get in line early enough to get a number.  That number is the order you'll get seated.  We got in line about an hour and a half before the time we were told and we were in the first twenty.  The waiting was outside and it was raining, but thankfully we were under an awning.  In that time, security gave us their spiel (no weapons or drugs, no food/drinks, no cameras, no phones).  We started getting led inside and had to go through metal detectors.  We then had to wait some more in a holding room.  I think we waited another hour.  This is the chance to use the restroom, play on your phone and take pictures.  There are tvs that play some of Colbert's best segments and kept us occupied.  Right before being led into the studio, we were told that we are the laugh track and that there are microphones everywhere.  They said, "Be exaggerated, be loud.  When Stephen gets on stage, go crazy.  He eats that shit up."  "Volume over authenticity" was a favorite quote from that night.

When the seating began, those with the coveted VIP passes got sat first.  But strangely they weren't sat in the front row like you'd think.  Then, four sets of numbers were called out and those with that number and their party were led into the audience.  They were the lucky ones that were sat right up front.  Anyway, we were all finally led to our seats.  What was so suprising was the size of the whole studio.  The stage itself is alot smaller than what appears on camera.  And there was maybe 50 seats in the audience.  Which was great, because there's honestly no bad seat that way.  Before the show, music is playing to keep everyone pumped up.  And security is watching everyone to make sure cameras and phones aren't being used, so no pictures from inside the studio! 

Before the main show, a warmup comedian comes out.  He was pretty funny, a little raunchy, but still funny and interacted with the audience.  His main job is to make sure the audience will be loud enough and to loosen us up.  The stage manager then comes out and tells us how everything will work and what cues he'll give us when we have to stand up and cheer. 

Then Stephen finally came out.  He actually does a Q&A with the audience out of character.  Random questions were asked.  What kind of BBQ, wet or dry?  Thoughts on the new Pope?  Do you find yourself slipping into character often?  Did you know today is National Tolkien Reading Day (which he is a huge Tolkien fan and started to speak in Elvish and was completely awesome).  Seeing him out of character was so neat.  He's still funny, but you could tell he was more serious in real life.

When taping finally started, the audience went crazy.  Stephen sat down at the desk and told us to sit down and we didn't, which you can see on the show.  Stephen ate it up and loved it.  The show was coming back from a two week break, so the show's crew was refreshed and the energy was just excited, which was so cool to see.

Stephen made a couple of mistakes and had to do reshoots.  Which, you can't even tell when watching the taped show that there was even an edit.  During the "commercial breaks", the stage crew would come out and do their thing.  Makeup retouches, stage retoughes, script retouches.  And Stephen would loosen himself up by dancing, singing and making faces.

And then, the taping ended and we go home.  While Stephen leaves, the rest of the crew hangs around to thank the audience as we leave.  

Overall, we waited twice as long as the taping actually lasted.  But it was worth it and an awesome experience.  We even made it on camera a couple of times.  I'm already looking forward to the next live taping I can get the opportunity to go to.

We got our numbers!

The holding room, with Colbert on in the background.

My awesome friend, Amber was able to get a screenshot of us.