06 Jun 2006
Don't Try This at Home

This is just depressing ... I can remember many, many afternoons filled with fun experiments as a kid ... to the point of making crude cannons, and putting miniature warheads on model rockets! I still have small scars on the back of my hands where the test tubes would blow up every once in a while when we brewed a particularly potent mixture. Not to mention the fun we had with electricity, erector sets and various other science toys - few of which are available at retail anymore. Was it dangerous? Certainly! Was it fun? You bet!

But it also prompted my continuing fascination with science, and created many engineers and scientists out of kids who otherwise would've done something else.

Between bullshit like the Patriot Act with it's fear of terror cells and meth labs, and liability lawyers driving us to be whimpering cowards, we're headed down the long road towards technological ignorance. And that's a shame, indeed.

Garage chemistry used to be a rite of passage for geeky kids. But in their search for terrorist cells and meth labs, authorities are making a federal case out of DIY science.

(link) [Wired]

05:57 /Technology | 2 comments | permanent link