Word: ethers
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...centuries of cometary science were relatively uneventful. In 1823 German Astronomer Johann Franz Encke, who calculated the orbit of a periodic comet that bears his name (it reappears every 3.3 years), insisted that the orbit of "his" comet could not be explained solely by gravity. He proposed that "ether," an invisible theoretical substance that at the time was believed to pervade space, exerted drag on the nucleus, slowing it down. After observing flares streaming from Comet Halley's surface in 1836, another German astronomer, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, conceived a more plausible concept, the fountain theory. Bessel proposed that a comet...
...defective ether bottle exploded on the third floor of Mallinckrodt Laboratory at 10:17 p.m. on Monday and started a small fire. One lab technician was taken to Cambridge Hospital, and officials there said that he was seen in the emergency room for smoke inhalation and sent home. According to the Chemistry Department, the labs were not badly damaged...
...night with a Portland prostitute. Larch gains from this experience a sense of shame, a case of gonorrhea and the conviction that he can do very nicely without any more sex in the future. During his years at Harvard Medical School, Larch develops a fondness for sniffing ether and a knowledge of the appalling problems that unwanted pregnancies bring to the poor women of Boston. The doctor settles in St. Cloud's, Maine's most "charmless" town, where he founds an orphanage. Over the years, he puts the treatment of women in trouble above the law. As he explains...
...fitness-conscious, alcohol has joined sodium and cholesterol as a substance devoutly to be avoided. The active ingredient in alcohol is ethanol, a depressant closely akin to ether. It dulls perceptions, slows reactions and contains "empty" carbohydrate calories, that is, with no nutritional value. It also relieves stress by releasing endorphins, chemicals that calm the nervous system. Many people drink to relieve stress, says John Bagshaw, a University of California associate professor of medicine, but they often cut down consumption or quit entirely when they begin an exercise program. Reason: the endorphins released by a workout preclude the need...
...then mixed with sulfuric acid, lime, potassium permanganate and more kerosene. The cream-colored substance that is left after the liquid is squeezed out is coca base, the raw material that is sent to refineries to be turned into cocaine. This transformation is accomplished by combining the paste with ether and acetone to remove impurities, and filtering the mixture through tightly woven cloth, leaving a slurry. When this is dried in its turn, it becomes concentrated cocaine hydrochloride, so potent that consumption could lead to seizures or death. The pure cocaine is cut with substances such as sugar, talcum powder...