• Question: Have you has any accidents in the science lab?

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      Asked by Joe to Conor on 17 Nov 2016.
      • Photo: Conor Cullen

        Conor Cullen answered on 17 Nov 2016:


        Hey Joe,

        That’s a good question! Well nothing too severe just yet but I once let my impatience get the better of me. We grow our materials in furnaces at temperatures between 750 C and 1000 C. When they are finished growing we cool them down slowly and I once tried to move a set of samples a short distance while they were still around 200 C… with my hands… I wouldn’t recommend doing that…

        We also use liquid nitrogen which has the opposite problem of being at -200 C, I’ve spilled tiny amounts of this onto my hands too but thankfully it just bounces off and doesn’t freeze you when its little drops.

        Thanks for your question 🙂

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