The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
smithsonianmag.com
The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#2“There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference.” Psychologist and philosopher William James, under the effects of nitrous oxide.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#3As a kid growing up in the 80's and 90's in St. Louis - nitrous "whippets" were sold in every grocery and convenience store. I never considered myself a drug user when I was a teen - because every drug I enjoyed (nitrous, cough syrup, caffeine pills) were all legally available....unlike those dirty hippies and their marijuana!
It's been decades since I hit a balloon - but man those moments when I did were incredible.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#4“There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference.” Psychologist and philosopher William James, under the effects of nitrous oxide.
You gotta imagine his voice is like a rich bass, two octaves below James Earl Jones
[Inhaling nitrous has a voice effect more or less opposite that of helium]
I should mention that I have taken to purchasing bottles of Heavy Whipping Cream, for recreational culinary purposes, i.e. I simply drink the stuff straight, as if it were a bottle of milk. Yum.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#5[deleted]
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#6I had hoped this was going to be about N2O as an oxidizer for rocketry.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#7As a kid growing up in the 80's and 90's in St. Louis - nitrous "whippets" were sold in every grocery and convenience store. I never considered myself a drug user when I was a teen - because every drug I enjoyed (nitrous, cough syrup, caffeine pills) were all legally available....unlike those dirty hippies and their marijuana! It's been decades since I hit a balloon - but man those moments when I did were incredible.
many years ago an old wizard once said to me in passing 'the gas brings you closer to god', and ever since i have been reminded many times that he was very wise in his knowledge of magic
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#8Sorry for the horribly off-topic post, but as a car enthusiast, nitrous used to be one of the cheapest ways to make your car faster.
However, recent price fluctuations (and making sure nitrous is reserved for medical uses first), along with the advent of a market flooded with cheap turbos from China, have made nitrous not worth the investment.
One promising technology that may gain some traction is compressed air [https://casupercharging.com/]. It's still a forced induction method and relatively simple to install compared to procharging or supercharging. That said, forced air has some major drawbacks — a very large tank, for one.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#9“There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference.” Psychologist and philosopher William James, under the effects of nitrous oxide.
I've had very similar thoughts to this while on nitrous oxide. In the moment it makes sense, but it's both very hard to describe, and very hard to retain post NO2.
Re: The Long History of Nitrous Oxide
#10Sorry for the horribly off-topic post, but as a car enthusiast, nitrous used to be one of the cheapest ways to make your car faster. However, recent price fluctuations (and making sure nitrous is reserved for medical uses first), along with the advent of a market flooded with cheap turbos from China, have made nitrous not worth the investment. One promising technology that may gain some traction is compressed air [ h…
There's no real need to reserve nitrous oxide for medical (including dental) use. It's not a scarce natural resource or anything and can be manufactured cheaply from commodity inputs. Medical use has been steadily declining due to concerns over side effects and availability of superior alternatives for anesthesia.