The whole "things I won't work with" category is a good read: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with...

along with the related category, "how not to do it": http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/how_not_to_do_it/

It remains, with its chemical relatives, off in a part of chemical science that's safe from human exploitation.

Although Sodium Azide is used in systems which save thousands of lives every year - car airbags.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_azide

A drawing of the molecule (ClN3): http://chemeo.com/cid/31-110-4 just looking at it, you think, ouch! Insane high level of bounds tension coupled with a Cl detonator.

Say it yourself a few times: "I love software"

Previous submissions:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148425 (with discussion)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1560128

I love this series of blog posts, especially since I have studied a bit of organic chemistry and loved that lab work (a very one-sided love affair).

As an old "fan" of rocket fuels in general and peroxides in particular, I still giggle a bit nervously at the chemical formula FOOF...

Edit: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_won... "If the paper weren't laid out in complete grammatical sentences and published in JACS, you'd swear it was the work of a violent lunatic."

Sometimes I forget that there's entire armies of geeks that do crazy complex things other than compyooterz.