The nanotube professor offers me some of his coffee, but I decline. It's too late in the afternoon. Besides, he tells me he's doctored it up with condensed milk and Splenda which, ick, I only like coffee in my coffee anyway. We discuss how we find our caffeine intake has increased since we started our respective programs.
"I started bringing a Diet Coke, just in case I need extra caffeine," I tell him.
"Oh, I don't drink Cokes," he says. "Our teeth are made of calcium phosphate and these drinks have so much phosphoric acid. It's very bad for your front teeth over time to drink out of a bottle. If you use a straw it's less bad though."
I look at the ingredients label on my Diet Coke. Hmm. I knew it could dissolve nails, one of my classmates in high school chemistry did that for her term project, but of course she didn't try it on teeth. I put the can back in my little cooler and wander over to the window, near the nanotube machine, to look out at the rainstorm.
"But you don't need to worry about that machine," the chemist continues. "It uses argon which is neutral and methane which is the gas stove at the house."
"Yes, it's CH4." I nod. Which would make it safe? I'm sure that's what Sylvia Plath had in mind.
"Right! So it's what is in a propane grill, for example." He grins.
"Mmm." Next time he makes nanotubes, I'm making sure that methane sensor is on.
260 words | June 26, 2004 07:59 PM | Rocket science