• Question: Isnt it dangerous to experiment on unknown substances?

    Asked by glacierbunnys to David, Rebecca, Simon, Verity, Wei on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: David Armstrong

      David Armstrong answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      It can be. When we are planning new experiments we allways find out as much as we can about any chemicals or materials we are going to use and carry out a risk assement. There are databases where you can look up how toxic something is and what risks there are to using it. This way we can keep things as safe as possible, but if you are doing something for the first time you can never been 100% certain you know what will happen.

    • Photo: Rebecca Handley

      Rebecca Handley answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I agree with David, we always try and keep things as safe as possible. But if we never experimented on the unknown, we would never find out what it was!

    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      If by dangerous you mean somethig unexpected can happen then yes. I think it also depends a lot on what kind of experiments you are talking about and which substances.

      Eg Mary Curie and her husband discovered polonium and radium, two radiactive elements and won the Nobel Prize in 1903, but because she didn’t know that radioactivity was dangerous so she ended up dying from exposure to it. We should learn from history and be careful when anything new is introduced, even though this doesn’t always happen.

    • Photo: Verity Nye

      Verity Nye answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Potentially yes. You have to figure out what are the risks, how to minimise the risks and if what you might learn is worth taking the risks.

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