How cold?

[Sir Trev]

This piece got me wondering on two counts:

1 - how stupid do you have to be to drink liquid nitrogen?
2 - how stupid do you have to be to sell a drink containing liquid nitrogen?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19866191

We've all seen the shattering hand in the original V series, Terminator 2 and what happens to ingredients when that mad chef Heston uses the stuff. Ingesting it has got to be a Darwinian thing.

[chezvegas85]

I think 2 is a more important point. An 18 year old girl may not of encountered any of the aforementioned tv ep/films + is likely to assume something being sold as a drink is safe to consume and hence not question it, especially when drunk. Although i didnt really catch in the article is
f the drink had nitro in the fluid, or was used in some elaborate display (glass within another glass etc)

[missyburd]

Beggars belief. I guess the lass won't have to worry too much about weight gain in future :rolleyes:

[ClunkintheUK]

That makes me shudder.

Liquid nitrogen isn't toxic, but 14g (very roughly 14ml) expands to 24 litres when it evaporates (same way the 18g/18ml of water will make 24 llitres of steam). Also either they made that with loads of liquid nitrogen, or she drank very quickly after it was made.

[chezvegas85]

Also either they made that with loads of liquid nitrogen, or she drank very quickly after it was made.

In a loud and hectic bar, with young teens showing off. Probably

C) All of the above

[Bibio]

WTF. are people really that stupid that they will drink liquid nitrogen.

[ClunkintheUK]

Unfortunately Bibio, it seems so. This is what people get darwin awards for.

Still think the bar should be shut down for such a stupid idea, but then does anyone remember those oxygen bars, where you could breathe pure oxygen (which is toxic in all but very small doses).

[JamesMio]

At the risk of getting all deep here, what's more concerning (to me at least), is that the people who are stupid enough to do this, had the money to do it.

i.e. despite being so utterly brainless, they have a disposable income. Thus, either somebody actually employs them, or (as I suspect may be the case), they're in receipt of some form of hand-out, in which case my taxes are paying for retards (like this) to do stupid things (like that).

Is there a 'stop' button anywhere, because I think I'd like to get off now please.

[Raf]

I saw that this morning, I did wonder who the hell came up with that idea.

Temperature wise it's held at about -196C, it is also very cheap costing about the same as milk.

[Bibio]

fair enough putting a few drops in a drink to get a mist on the top but anything over that then people need to have their head examined.

[dizzyblonde]

I think what concerns me is, the education vystem must be churning out some really thick numpties.
Do they not teach chemistry, physics and biology anymore?

Oh....I forgot, in my day they dropped such things for general science, so playing with liquid nitrogen is the stuff read in story books! If kids were educated properly, they wouldn't be up for a laugh in a pub with it.


Heston blooming heck has a lot to answer for too.

[Cymraeg_Atodeg]

I have had a discussion about this earlier today with one of the Chemists on my site.

Also being of a chemistry background by education and trade I can see what they were attempting to do.

The effect seems to have been to try and get the effect of "dry ice" which as most people will know is frozen Carbon Dioxide. Now, either someone though "oh no, we can't give them carbon dioxide, they'll asphyxiate! I know, we'll use Liquid Nitrogen as Nitrogen is about 78% of the composition of 'air'," or liquid Nitrogen is cheaper.

But, "dry ice" is about -78.5'c, where as, as pointed out, liquid Nitrogen is used at about -196'c, so, basically someone didn't engage the "common sense" part of the brain before thinking this was a good idea

[Specialone]

At the risk of getting all deep here, what's more concerning (to me at least), is that the people who are stupid enough to do this, had the money to do it.

i.e. despite being so utterly brainless, they have a disposable income. Thus, either somebody actually employs them, or (as I suspect may be the case), they're in receipt of some form of hand-out, in which case my taxes are paying for retards (like this) to do stupid things (like that).

Is there a 'stop' button anywhere, because I think I'd like to get off now please.

Fully agree, these people should never be allowed to operate machinery, drive a vehicle etc, there is no hope.

[ClunkintheUK]

I found a recipe for a liquid nitrogen cocktail http://chef-a-gogo.com/tag/liquid-nitrogen-cocktail/
The ingredient list is:
Liquid nitrogen martini ingredients


5 ml lychee liqueur (Use Suntory Mango liqueur if available)
50ml Absolut Mango vodka
30g very ripe mango cubes (in season)
25ml liquid nitrogen
20ml pineapple juice, freshly squeezed
5ml lime juice, freshly squeezed

The guys website is clearly that of a foodie, or atleast someone who likes different drinks. But the entire lack of understanding of this stuff is worrying. Yes it is a very good way to cool the drink down without changing the composition, but he also says to serve it quickly whilst it is still "smoking". er, excuse me?! That means that it has not all evaporated. (I got my units wrong earlier. 25ml of liquid nitrogen is just under 24l when vaoprised, done the calcs more accurately this time.)

[yorkie_chris]

If there was that much N2 in it surely the drink would just be a solid block? If that is 25ml poured into a glass how much vaporises on the way into it?

This is the problem with the youth drinking these poofter drinks. Being female she should have been served a small white wine.


Still think the bar should be shut down for such a stupid idea, but then does anyone remember those oxygen bars, where you could breathe pure oxygen (which is toxic in all but very small doses).

No it isn't...

It becomes toxic at high partial pressures... like breathing diving gasses deeper than intended. At surface pressure it can be breathed for many many hours before (fairly benign) pulmonary oxygen toxicity becomes a problem.

[Berlin]

... as we all know: Your average British 18 year old on their birthday is completely sober and lucid enough to know:
1) What's in the drink his/her mates have just bought for them and are all shouting in unison "In One! In One! In One!"
and
2) Be able to recall the physical properties of liquid nitrogen when just standing up is creating a serious challenge.

This bar had better have *very* good liability insurance!

C

[Sally]

... as we all know: Your average British 18 year old on their birthday is completely sober and lucid enough to know:
1) What's in the drink his/her mates have just bought for them and are all shouting in unison "In One! In One! In One!"
and
2) Be able to recall the physical properties of liquid nitrogen when just standing up is creating a serious challenge.

This bar had better have *very* good liability insurance!

C

+1

[Steve_God]

The use of it isn't stupid...
Using a few drops in a drink in pretty harmless (Ref: http://chemistry.about.com/od/advancedscienceprojects/a/Things-To-Do-With-Liquid-Nitrogen.htm)

The lack of understanding by the person selling the drink to educate the person about to drink the drink is the issue (Ref about past dangers of use of it: http://chemistry.about.com/b/2011/04/05/liquid-nitrogen-safety.htm)

In short, the bartender has made a f**k-up good and royally, by either:
- Using too much
- Not informing the girl to wait a few minutes until the mist has gone before she drinks it.
(there is also a third option whereby the bartender did number 2, and it was ignored... wbut who knows...)

[ClunkintheUK]

If there was that much N2 in it surely the drink would just be a solid block? If that is 25ml poured into a glass how much vaporises on the way into it?

This is the problem with the youth drinking these poofter drinks. Being female she should have been served a small white wine.



No it isn't...

It becomes toxic at high partial pressures... like breathing diving gasses deeper than intended. At surface pressure it can be breathed for many many hours before (fairly benign) pulmonary oxygen toxicity becomes a problem.

A lot vapourises on the way into the glass. I have seen a fairly sizeable (maybe a 1/2 litre) dewer of LN2 thrown across a (very well ventilated) lab floor. It didn't take very long to evaporate, Less than a minute if I remember correctly. I have heard (first hand, i.e. from the persons who saw it) of a small amount of liquid oxygen being thrown over a crowd and evaporating before it reached anybody, but did not see this myself.

Interesting effect of this is that you can put your hand into liquid nitrogen for a short period, about 1-2 seconds. It evaporates in a sleeve around your hand, which acts as an insulator around your hand, just make sure you are not wearing any metal on your hand, it acts as a conductor. It also makes pencil erasers (the big ones, not the ones on the end of a pencil) shatter catastrophically.

Sorry my bad, got confused in there somewhere. Just remember there being a spate of people going a bit funny in those oxygen bars, and from my biology lessons that pure oxygen isn't something to be encouraged, unless you know what you are doing.

[ClunkintheUK]

The use of it isn't stupid...
Using a few drops in a drink in pretty harmless (Ref: http://chemistry.about.com/od/advancedscienceprojects/a/Things-To-Do-With-Liquid-Nitrogen.htm)

The lack of understanding by the person selling the drink to educate the person about to drink the drink is the issue (Ref about past dangers of use of it: http://chemistry.about.com/b/2011/04/05/liquid-nitrogen-safety.htm)

In short, the bartender has made a f**k-up good and royally, by either:
- Using too much
- Not informing the girl to wait a few minutes until the mist has gone before she drinks it.
(there is also a third option whereby the bartender did number 2, and it was ignored... wbut who knows...)

All the reasons here why it isn't a stupid idea revolve around all involved knowing what they doing/what is involved. If your drink it while its still evaporating will give you a pretty good case of gas at best.

Yes, used properly i can see its very useful in the culinary industry, but in a bar in a town centre on a saturday night... that was always going to end in tears eventually. I would not be surprised that some bars did it, hoping they were not the ones caught out.

[gruntygiggles]

I lay the blame for this happening solely on the establishment that sold the drink. By its very nature, it's clientele are highly likely not to be capable of clear and sober thought, so no blame should be laid on the girl.

It is the bars responsibility to ensure it is aware of any potential dangers of any ingredients it uses in any way.

This girl has had to undergo surgery that will affect the rest of her life. We can take for granted tucking into a massive roast dinner or going out for a nice meal/pigging out on a take away. Not her. She will never have that pleasure again.

Either the bar didn't bother to learn the potential dangers of the use of liquid nitrogen for human consumption, didn't care, didn't train their staff properly or their staff ignored the training...it just boils down to it being their responsibility.

Poor girl.

[Steve_God]

[snip]...it just boils down to it being their responsibility...

Hate to bring humour in at this point of a serious convo, but...
Science pun intended? :p

[gruntygiggles]

Hate to bring humour in at this point of a serious convo, but...
Science pun intended? :p

Uncharacteristically for me, on this occasion, no :)

[tactcom7]

Did everyone miss this bit?

Paul Aitchison, chairman of Lancaster City Council's Licensing Act Committee, said that he was at the same bar a few months ago and tried the Nitro Jagermeister drink.Mr Aitchison, who at 20 is one of the country's youngest councillors, said: "I heard about this story this morning and I was quite shocked because I have actually tried it myself. It was quite scary to think that it could have possibly happened to me."

[Milky Bar Kid]

Think it's pretty harsh to be calling the girl an idiot. It's commonly used in these kind of things now so she probably thought it was harmless.

We've all done daft things.

[gruntygiggles]

Think it's pretty harsh to be calling the girl an idiot. It's commonly used in these kind of things now so she probably thought it was harmless.

We've all done daft things.

+1

I don't think she can in any way be called an idiot. She was in a bar, she bought a drink.

It is for them to ensure that what they sell is safe for consumption.

[dizzyblonde]

I wouldn't go so far as to say she wouldn't enjoy a Sunday roast again.
An old colleague had stomach cancer and subsequently had it removed. He said he had the gullet(pipe running from throat to stomach) made into it instead. He could still eat, but rather than food hitting the stomach and being digested, it didn't quite work the same for him, so he had to eat things in a certain manner.

I'd presume this lass will be left in a similar fashion after her stomach is removed.

[thulfi]

Well it's fortunate for her she didn't die from it.

She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bars fault.

[Thunderace]

This piece got me wondering on two counts:

1 - how stupid do you have to be to drink liquid nitrogen?
2 - how stupid do you have to be to sell a drink containing liquid nitrogen?

Pretty stupid on both counts, although young, naive and p*ssed prob'ly didn't help. It is a well known fact amongst those that know me, I would drink dirty dish water if there was alcohol in it, some people have even seen me performing spillage drills (long story), but that being said even I would refuse a drink with liquid nitrogen in it........well at least until it had been in the glass a few minutes.