Eleven things I learned in Organic Chemistry:

I wasn’t sure if I would continue with this blog after the semester ended, but I kind of miss it, so…

I guess I’ll keep writing it.

But, if you’re reading this, you already knew that. Well then, let’s get to the interesting bit!

In O. Chem, I learned-

11.) How to draw a damn good hexagon in under two seconds.

Glorious, is it not?

10.) It is completely possible to get a cramp in your thumb.

9.) It is completely impossible to get rid of a cramp in your thumb.

8.) I can take notes in my sleep.

7.) My hair is an excellent indicator of my stress level.

6.) Chemistry teachers really do know how to make meth, and will explain the process in great detail.

5.) There are many compounds that explode upon contact with water.

Labs involving these compounds will, invariably, occur on days when there is a thunderstorm.

4.) The aforementioned compounds are kept in the same rooms as equipment worth several hundred dollars.

3.) The aforementioned rooms do not have security cameras.

2.) Some people aren't joking when they say their homework could kill them.

1.) No matter how much time you have to sink into studying for O. Chem, your dogs will still love you.

Zombie Safety Series: I’ve Got Good News and Bad News

It’s Dead Week, and everyone’s walking around like shambling corpses, so it seemed only fitting to write about zombies.

The other day, I realized my Safety Series was overlooking a crucial fact. I never considered how the zombie virus was transmitted. If it’s only transmissible by bite, everything I said still goes. However…

If the virus is airborne, we’re all doomed.

Doomed.

On the bright side, history and biology set good precedents for the complete non-airborne-ness of the zombie virus. The thing you have to remember is that viruses are (sort of) living things, and all living things have been hard-wired to survive and reproduce. For viruses, that means forming new populations by infecting new hosts. Therefore, any given virus wants to infect as many hosts as possible.

Really virulent viruses (and I think we can all agree the zombie virus qualifies as really virulent) tend to be waterborne. (The relevant info is about halfway through the video, but the whole thing is worth watching.) Airborne viruses, like the common cold, tend to be less nasty. After all, airborne viruses need their hosts up and walking around and breathing on people. The Black Plague, on the other hand, is just as capable of riding in fleas that bite dying people as it is capable of riding in fleas that bite non-dying people. This all seems to indicate that the zombie virus is transmissible by fluids only.

Here’s the rub. This virus’s symptoms are rather unique. While the zombie virus does kill its hosts, it also keeps them walking around. And anything still walking around is still capable of passing on an airborne pathogen.

So, the bad news is I really have no idea whether the virus would be airborne or not. The good news is I hear there’s a sale on gas masks at the local supermarket.