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Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

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Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#121

Post by DebtDeflation »

janalsncm wrote: post #56

In college I used a lot of nitrous. I got small cartridges and a “cracker” with a balloon. It was pretty euphoric. I stopped after recording myself taking it. I was unconscious a lot longer than I remembered being, and even though I was probably never at risk of suffocating there were long periods where I didn’t see myself breathing. That was enough. I regret the effects it may have had on my brain. It’s impossible t…

>In college I used a lot of nitrous. I got small cartridges and a “cracker” with a balloon.

That brings back memories. I remember one time falling off the bed I was sitting on, cracking my head on the concrete floor, and laying there thinking "this should really hurt, but it doesn't..........at all".

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#122

Post by lazide »

schoen wrote: post #68
ttyprintk wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. It’s the only other affordable noble gas heavier than air. Neon can float away. I would expect that would make neon safer. I’ve heard you have to stand on your head to expel argon, krypton, and xenon.

In the YouTube video linked elsewhere in this thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40805461 , someone breathing in a balloon-full of xenon gas clearly struggles to expel it afterward, remarking that he can feel its heaviness, but also visibly succeeds after just a few deep breaths. I guess this could still be dangerous if you were fully unconscious and breathing shallowly (and absolutely if you were unconsc…

Same with sulphur hexafloride, which is even heavier.

Still not a good idea to do without someone around probably.

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#123

Post by whaleofatw2022 »

eigenvalue wrote: post #43

It's fascinating to me that a pure element would have such immediate and significant effects on the human mind. I would think that this would generally require a more complex molecular shape that can fit with various receptors in the body and trigger the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Apparently, Xenon does this by acting as an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a subtype of glu…

Let's not forget the big OTC elephant in the room for NMDA, dextromethorphan

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#124

Post by lazide »

k8sagic wrote: post #109
rabite wrote: post #88

I've done Xenon a fair number of times, it is definitely the Rolls Royce of inhalants. I'd recommend it to anyone as long as you can divert a little and aren't paying for it yourself. If you don't have unlimited amounts of money, it simply is not worth it. If you're looking for a great NMDA inhalant experience I'd recommend another classic 19th century anesthetic, diethyl ether. It is extremely simple to produce -- h…

How is it compared to lsd or ketamine? Is it like suddenly an lsd trip and than suddenly out again?

“The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.”

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#125

Post by [deleted] »

cannonpr wrote: post #92

I find a lot of these casual drug use articles to be a bit naive on safety. “It does not cause metabolites or react” well it obviously modifies several biochemical processes in order to have an effect, who knows what long term effects it has on your brains computation. Our understanding of the biochemical interactions of various systems is still exceedingly immature. It’s best to say that from a safety perspective it…

[deleted]

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#126

Post by pfdietz »

It's a shame xenon is an anesthetic. If it did not have that effect, one could pressure xenon until it was the same density as the body. It would still be a gas, and one could include some oxygen in it so one wouldn't suffocate (although breathing could be more laborious, perhaps require mechanical support).

Suspended in this gas, one could be subjected to much higher acceleration without injury, up the point that density differences in the body become important.

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#127

Post by golergka »

pfdietz wrote: post #126

It's a shame xenon is an anesthetic. If it did not have that effect, one could pressure xenon until it was the same density as the body. It would still be a gas, and one could include some oxygen in it so one wouldn't suffocate (although breathing could be more laborious, perhaps require mechanical support). Suspended in this gas, one could be subjected to much higher acceleration without injury, up the point that de…

If you mean to use it for space travel, may be xenon being an anaesthetic is a feature, not a bug?

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#128

Post by tbrownaw »

jaggederest wrote: post #76
eigenvalue wrote: post #43

It's fascinating to me that a pure element would have such immediate and significant effects on the human mind. I would think that this would generally require a more complex molecular shape that can fit with various receptors in the body and trigger the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Apparently, Xenon does this by acting as an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a subtype of glu…

My understanding of mechanisms from a chemistry perspective is that the anesthetics mess with the phospholipid bilayer making up the cell membrane in a way that closes off receptors. So it makes intuitive sense that dissolving giant xenon molecules in a layer could mess with it from a pure physical perspective. What's weird, to my mind, is that other noble gases don't have any effect - you'd expect a gradient.

Xenon Hexafluoride is a thing. So it's only mostly non-reactive, and the effects don't necessarily have to be strictly from physical bulk.

Apparently Krypton and Radon are slightly reactive as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_gas_compound

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#129

Post by racional »

rabite wrote: post #95
ossobuco wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Bandera and his nazis Bandera was fighting against the Nazis by the end of the war. At any given time, he was doing what was prudent for his country and getting resources to fight the Cheka, because the Soviets were disappearing Ukrainians in the middle of the night and sending them to gulags. Appreciating Ukrainian cultural traditions is not political. "Slava Ukraini" should not be a political or offensive phrase,…

At any given time, he was doing what was prudent for his country

By which you must mean his issuing the Act of Restoration of the Ukrainian State, which famously states:

  3. The newly formed Ukrainian state will work closely with the National-Socialist Greater Germany, under the leadership of its leader Adolf Hitler which is forming a new order in Europe and the world and is helping the Ukrainian People to free itself from Moscovite occupation.

Re: Tripping on Xenon Gas (2023)

#130

Post by chatmasta »

perihelions wrote: post #105
abirch wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment reminded me of college when they taught us: you don't ride in an elevator with a nitrogen tank because it can displace the oxygen in seconds.

We broke major safety rules doing the opposite. Carrying various steel tanks up stairs that were way too heavy for two, under-gymed, college students, one step at a time, resting the tank on every step while half of it cantilevered over the edge, as we hand-stabilized it... I wanted to avoid thinking about that failure mode where you accidentally cleave some part of the gas regulator by damaging it, and that turns th…

There’s a recent video game called “The Finals” where you can throw these steel tanks and the physics works basically as you describe.
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