Was This The WEIRDEST Discovery of an Element Ever?

[@Chemistorian]

The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/chemistorian10241

[@olivere5497]

@@Chemistorian is skillshare a copyrighted trade mark? My mates used to organise free events called skillshares where people would teach how to code or fix stuff or grow veg.

[@LanceFleming-d2z]

Why do you speak like you have a speech impediment?

[@LanceFleming-d2z]

Your voice is annoying, distraction

[@olivere5497]

@@LanceFleming-d2z me?

[@eanjan8812]

So can’t you do an actual video on actual alchemy instead of the going the ignorant route thinking they meant literal gold.

[@michaelobrien9053]

Oh yes, the piss boiling man. I’m sure his neighbors loved him.

[@EMC273]

XD

[@custos3249]

If you think that's bad, consider the processes behind "pure finders."

[@boxsterman77]

And when the smell finally dissipated, then came the flies.

[@olivere5497]

Pee was used by leather tanners.

[@Mold____AscorbicAcid]

And nilered​@@olivere5497

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

Sounds like Monty Python logic. If piss is yellow and gold is yellow, they MUST be the same thing! Boil the piss!!

[@pencilpauli9442]

Such associations would have been common. Sympathetic magic worked (or rather didn't work) in the same way. A rhinoceros horn is a bit phallic so if you kill the animal and cut off the poor thing's horn, grind it down, then ingest the powder, it will give you a stiffy.

[@MadScientist267]

Success is but a series of failures sitting at a benchmark.

[@ominous-omnipresent-they]

Boil the urine until thou hast bathe in the light of the Almighty!

[@xxDOTH3DEWxx]

Boil the piss!!!

[@Daniel-yn2lh]

OMG you're right I could actually see that, maybe put it in the HOLY HAND GRENADE 😂😂

[@No-uc6fg]

I'd say that THE weirdest and most ridiculous way of discovering an element was UC Berkeley asking the US military to detonate a goddamned Nuke on the pacific coast, have a jet fly through the shroom cloud then analyze the particles and dust found on the jet, which indeed helped them discover elements 99 and 100.

[@HeyItsDyl]

Thats not weird, that’s just American 🦅🇺🇸💥

[@olivere5497]

​@@HeyItsDylcan you handle it bruh?

[@olivere5497]

Thats not weird, they knew exactly what to expect as the table of elements is predictable. What i dont get is how would they get a sample and test it before it half life's it ass out of there. 'Heheheh, so long mo-fos!'

[@asandax6]

​@@olivere5497 Half life just means half of it is gone by that point not all. So trace amounts will be detected.

[@olivere5497]

@@asandax6 but if its half life is a few seconds, what exactly could they on that airplane apart from just lie? If i was a scientist i'd be pretty cheesed off, its my first big job out of MIT and im literally flying through an atomic dust cloud with a tampon sticking out the window.

[@ColtWadstein]

Phosphorus is a cool name I guess, but I'd have called it 'Urinium'.

[@DoubleMrE]

Does that come from Uranus? Oh wait…. 😂😂😂

[@SubvertTheState]

​@@DoubleMrE That would be Uranium. "Urinium?" No, Uranium.

[@KWifler]

Ah, that explains its (fake) green glow in the movies! They mixed up the two!

[@flowerofash4439]

more like pisspirus

[@thecannonball34]

But it isn't a metal.

[@seekvapes9641]

"What if we find a substance that could turn any metal into gold?" "That would be awesome, imagine what it would do it we ate it?" "I'm pretty sure that would grant us immortality!" "That sounds like a reasonable prediction, can't argue with that."

[@Yora21]

That's where Alchemy is very different from Chemistry. Alchemy assumes the existence of all kinds of magical phenomenons and its goals are more about a spiritual metamorphosis rather than just figuring out how ordinary matter works. There are many additional steps in the magical logic of Alchemy that make that sequence of reasoning a lot less random and insane. (Though still completely wrong.)

[@wahhnopfp]

@@Yora21 Had it described to me once as the same (in a sense) as the difference between Astronomy and Astrology. Both are looking at stars (elements), one's just spiritual about it. You can think of Alchemy As Alt-Chemistry. Sort of like pseudoscience vs science.

[@sootuckchoong7077]

I'll experiment how to use my urine to make gold.

[@pauldreze3414]

l’or perdrait sa valeur.

[@yourtrunkrattles4398]

Laugh all you want but this pee method is a classified Cia document.... but why

[@quantumview8151]

The image of an entire factory that boils piss is nauseating

[@unknownhuman1000]

As also the smell would be.

[@quantumview8151]

@@unknownhuman1000 that's what i was meaning

[@coryearnest9464]

Sounds like heaven to Pissbois and Girls lmfao

[@Yora21]

They wouldn't have been the only ones. The whole leather and fabric industry had been doing this on a large scale for centuries.

[@wilhelmschmidt7240]

You always knew when you were near a tannery.

[@amosbackstrom5366]

"Somewhat that belonged to the body of man..." I'm surprised Boyle didn't try bones, which would have yielded far more phosphorus. Probably illegal, but when has that stopped the greatest minds of a time?

[@newperve]

Human bones might be hard to legally obtain, but animal bones are available at your local butcher.

[@amosbackstrom5366]

@newperve Yes, but alas, Human exceptionalism was a significant bias. This material was derived from a man, who's "life essence" is indisputably greater than a lowly beast.

[@C0lon0]

It was the 17th century, you could easily get human bones if you was a famous scientist.

[@boxsterman77]

And I’m surprised you didn’t caught on the he literally discovered it so how could he know it was more abundant in bones.

[@justinokraski3796]

The bones from many battlefields were ground into dust for use as fertilizers

[@stickyfox]

My chemistry professor called phosphorus the only element derived from its chemical symbol.

[@KnockKnockShows]

Next time I'm caught bottling my urine I'll play the 'It's for science' card.

[@astrokitty.404]

next time??? could thou enlighten us on how you got caught the first time (if u did)

[@unknownhuman1000]

Did this as a kid.

[@jaredf6205]

As everyone knows, you can't pause a multiplayer game... What am I supposed to do?

[@DH-.]

Amazon drivers always have piss bottles, never shake their hands.

[@TotalDec]

I've seen bottles of pee outside my Drs. office. It was strange at first. Then, I realized ppl were trying to beat UA's.

[@EMC273]

This is such a fascinating and hilarious story of the discovery of phosphorus. Keep doing the good work, my king.

[@Ethyn_Jackson]

I'm ashamed to admit there's a mountain dew bottle in my room synthesizing some phosphorus.

[@ColtWadstein]

Hey, you gotta dew what you gotta dew.

[@Erewhon2024]

@Ethyn_Jackson Matter is conserved. The P from your pee isn't being synthesized (created), but it is being concentrated as water evaporates, and chemical/microbial action is probably changing the molecules of which the phosphorus is a part (organic stuff like phopholipids and nucleic acids are probably being broken down to release orthophosphates into the water.

[@младенец]

Brother ew

[@randal_gibbons]

Now try using a Styrofoam cup. Notify us of your findings.

[@bghiggy]

Brother please go throw that away. You aren't going to create the philosophers stone, it's just gross.

[@NonBinary_Star]

Imagine hangin out, out back, casually simmering a behemoth vat of 1500 GALLONS! of putrid urine🌞 ...birds fallin out trees ... squirrels throwin up acorns ...what a delight

[@stuartgmk]

😂😂😂

[@jacoblecoy3700]

All of the crocks might leave the Down Under.

[@williamhines525]

A, It was hard to read without laughing, but yeh.lol😅

[@RichardStasiak-v6t]

This is like the Monty Python insurance sketch where the guy collects gallons of urine just to prove he's serious about getting insurance.

[@jmchez]

I don't know if it's true but I heard that, in the past, Chemistry professors would tell their students that if a 17th century alchemist could distill phosphorus, certainly a 19th /20th century student could do it too. As one would expect, gullible students would recount how they were in huge trouble with their parents or landlords because the stench would not go away. The BBC did film a chemist recreating Brandt's experiment. He used about 4 liters of urine and got phosphorus but complained that the stench was almost unbearable.

[@ThootenTootinTabootin]

You build up a tolerance. Source: I'm actually a gross human being

[@bunsenn5064]

I love how arguably the weirdest discovery of an element was also the very first chemical element discovered in the modern era.

[@U.Inferno]

I can turn Iron into gold by throwing a shit ton of Iodine at it really really fast

[@davidripley2916]

Wait ✋️ till you get the leccy bill for your LINAC lol 😆 You gonna need the Gold to pay it off

[@jesscorbin5981]

You must know Cody then; he produces tons of magnetite

[@voornaam3191]

Great, and if you produce tons and tons and tons, when do you expect the price of your gold to be only half of what you received at your first deals? There are countries where there is so much gold, people preferred alumin(i)um jewelry.

[@fritsdaalmans5589]

There's an Asimov story about that in one of his Foundation books

[@Aurochs330]

I love these videos. Every single one is an obscure story that I would’ve otherwise never heard about. Cheers!

[@splotters]

Discovered in Dresden and used to destroy Dresden.

[@Jo-JoandTaffy]

That guy really just didnt want to tell anyone that he liked playing with piss.

[@muffinbra]

[@tompetty85]

😂😂😂

[@truthtoad]

Is this where the phrase "pissing away a fortune" came from?

[@eeveeofalltrades4780]

That's a phrase?

[@antonkovalenko364]

Got 'em.

[@sirsnipermonkey]

More likely linked to alcohol and the diuretic effect

[@thecasualape6689]

no. it is however where the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn gets it's name from. as the recipe for a philosopher stone was believed to be the first urine in the morning after a night of restful sleep. something to do with chemicals present during sleep that arent the rest of the day and storing up of minerals etc over night.

[@johnknoefler]

No, actually it means you've wasted all your money on wine and beer and pissed it away.

[@aurelianocaballero2232]

Amazing story! It answered two questions: how phosphorus was found and why alchemists are unpopular.

[@ElectronicsGuy666]

When I was a kid I peed in a pot and boiled it on the stove to make my brother mad. It worked. It was only boiling for about 2 min and stunk up the house for days. I can’t imagine 7000L of weeks old urine jfc

[@L14MA]

First vid of this channel I've watched, and it's great. Looks like I'm watching the back catalogue.

[@Guranga93]

''Can't talk right now, I'm boiling PISS'' -Hennig Brandt

[@martintuma9974]

Vaše hovna, naše radost (your sh*ts, our joy)

[@johnbrimmer9403]

One night , at a music festival, my tripping friend burst into our camp declaring his piss is the source of eternal life! He explained that while he was relieving himself in the woods, he had a vision of a magnificent female that told him that the key to eternal life flows from within him. Lol😅 true story

[@TheVenomousTransparency]

I want some of his lsd…

[@VeteranVandal]

We now know how to transmute and we concluded that it's not worth actually doing it, it's cheaper in all kinds of ways to not use gold.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Piss poor, means you sold your urine for money to the weekly collector

[@albdim1]

Fantastic video! Fantastic! Please, make more of these. Every student who, unfortunately, has hated Chemistry because of school, will start, hopefully, discovering its fun and love it. You are an Alchemist, you know...

[@pablocardona8158]

Just found this cannel, I never really got chemistry, the classes were too boring, your videos helped me realize how beautiful and interesting chem history really is, defintely subscribing🎉

[@Chemistorian]

That’s amazing to hear, welcome aboard! 👨‍🔬

[@lashark06]

The irony is that brannt was very close to the truth, the stone isn't about wealth it's about health....

[@pierreetienneschneider6731]

Yep, he discovered a very essential nutrient 😊 Which strangely in the form he obtained, P4, white phosphorus, is stupidly toxic. But in it's phosphate form, if you don't have enough, you can't make ATP or new DNA and you die quite quickly.

[@void________]

Wait how did he know the layer was salty??🤢

[@pablovi77]

Because it’s a crystal

[@madrat9633]

Breaks off makes crystals

[@lilahfeuquay5351]

AWE>BUMMER >THESE "OTHER" > REPLIES>are:["BORING"]> ((" YA'LL KNOW > "DARN / "GOOD n' WELL"➡[["BRANDT"]]➡PUT \"THAT"\TO HIS👅😝😛🤮👅-->Just For a lil' ➡"SALT*LICKER'S" \"PROOF" of 🧠"KNOWLEDGE"\‼> Being : [AN "ALCHEMIST"🧙‍♂"SCIENTIST"/❕➡[YES]❗➡[INDEED]❗➡👨‍🔬"SCIENTIFICALLY"↔"MADDENING"

[@wesdiego08]

Same thing I said

[@echo.messenger]

😂

[@Jermsy212]

So Ricky’s dad was just an alchemist collecting all his piss jugs…

[@TomTomlin-d2u]

Fakn way she goes. Lmao

[@davidripley2916]

Now I wanna build a piss Catapult

[@DoctorRed79]

Greasy…

[@zaptainkuboom5520]

He was always telling people, "pissforus", that's how he came up with with the name

[@LittleW00d]

John Emsley really missed a fantastic opportunity to call his book "The striking and illuminating history of phosphorus"

[@MadScientist267]

Dude had him a fascination that the whole town would have known about. There's no way he did this without someone catching on. It isn't like they knew about scrubbers 🤣

[@naradaian]

No one - who couldn't afford a pot to kids in had an opinion that mattered

[@wilhelmschmidt7240]

I always saw alchemy as a primitive precursor to chemistry. It also uses one of the most fundamental techniques of human discovery... F around and find out.

[@screechingtoad2683]

Alchemy may be pseudoscience, but it laid the foundation for true chemistry

[@horse433]

Its not pseudoscience. And “true” chemistry? You sound dogmatic

[@SpidermanandhisAmazingFriends]

​@@horse433 The premise behind alchemy is utter hooey.

[@horse433]

@@SpidermanandhisAmazingFriends what is hooey? Examing the world, life, time? Testing? Speculation? Notes? Science has become a baby blanket for you guys. We know why you love science. There’s a type of person who loves science. I won’t say it cus you guys can’t handle much. ♿️♿️

[@SpidermanandhisAmazingFriends]

@@horse433 Yeah you're right, I shouldn't poo-poo alchemists for all their progress on the philosopher's stone.

[@screechingtoad2683]

@horse433 while their theories were wrong, their experiments led to chemistry

[@dreamfletcher779]

3:00 he did this because putrefaction was well-known to be the first step in the alchemical Magnum Opus ("the great work"-- the endeavor to create the Philosopher's Stone). There were different models for the steps of the work -- putrefaction being called Nigredo in some -- but they all began with putrefaction. The idea is that the original material is "reborn" as the Stone-- it must "die" first.

[@auntiecarol]

Fun fact: Brandt rhymes with lant (an English word meaning "stale urine"), derived from the Old English "hland", which is what we called 'urine' before those pesky Normans invaded and made use all start using fancy Latinate words.

[@LH-rr1iz]

That why we got the name lanter?

[@bxdanny]

I had wondered why the coatings on CRT screens were called phosphors, when they don't necessarily contain phosphorus. This "light-bearing"meaning must be the reason.

[@happyvirus6590]

4:27 You could say he continued his *gold-digging*

[@WowEureka]

"Man, why are you drinking so much, you've had like 100 bottles now, why?" "SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION!" :/

[@AngelStickman]

This is my favorite chemistry history story to tell!

[@TnT_F0X]

Considering Zoologists have seen an orangutan mix plants and rub it in a wound... yeah I think we've been studying chemistry for a while.

[@padalan2504]

3:00 It's not unclear, it's a part of the alchemical process, the Nigredo, leaving things to ferment, rot or charring them. Which is then followed by Albedo, the purification process, ie boiling and distilling. The urine stays yellow throughout the process, which could be interpreted as the Citrinitas, which could also be used to describe any sort of chemical reaction. And it resulted in something red, which was assumed to be the mythical Rubedo. The poor man likely thought that he has gotten further than anyone else in the goal of making the Magnum opus.

[@Jordan-o6w1f]

Urine turns black pretty quickly when left out.

[@Lily_the_puggle]

I can't believe I watched a 20-minute video of guys fighting over how to cook piss.

[@kjamison5951]

King Charles II: “Phosphorus is made by reducing urine and boiling it at very high temperatures? Are you taking the piss?”

[@kjamison5951]

Boyle: “How didst thou make this phosphorus, good and kindly sir?” Brandt: “It was a piece of piss.”

[@davidripley2916]

You're on the Naughty Step for that one. . . 😂

[@Flint-Dibble-the-Don]

"Super easy. Barely an inconvenience."

[@davidturner9783]

Props for saying "Philosopher's Stone" that many times and not saying Harry Potter once.

[@ulisesdiale4004]

17:04 in some hispanic countries we call the matches 'fósforos' which is the same word for the element itself

[@camgrl69]

I can hear the Sam o nella background music omg

[@thecannonball34]

Hey kids

[@voornaam3191]

That changing metals into gold reminds me of our childhood dog. It was a Rutherford retriever, and no matter how tiny the balls you threw away, it would ALWAYS find them and bring them back.

[@luizmenezes9971]

So, alchemists failed at converting lead to gold, but succeeded at converting piss into war crimes. That's good enough for me.

[@Albanian_Accountant]

This would make an AWESOME dramedy movie plot

[@FelonyVideos]

Imagine all the elements that were "right there, under his nose" that he didn't discover... (Somewhere in there is a joke about a pot to piss in, aka, potassium.) Also, how in the world did he get his hands on 1500 gallons of piss, and keep it a secret? 😂

[@RalfStephan]

An elephant can do that in one go.

[@nickshevlin4063]

Urine was readily available back then as it was used A LOT in the leather tanning/curing process. It is where the saying "Piss-poor" comes from as poor people would pee in a pot the sell it to the tanners (and alchemists) "Piss-poor-Pete" and some were "so poor they didn't have a pot to piss in". IF you wondered where those sayings come from, that is it.

[@karlm9584]

My father told me this story when I was 3 or 4. It led to some interesting and very smelly "experiments" involving various jars and bottles of piss stashed around the house to be forgotten and rediscovered months later. In later years, I was very good at chemistry and almost studied it at university.

[@sean..L]

Chrysocolla is a rock you sometimes see at gem shows.

[@BernardoTorres-w5e]

What an interesting narration , I nevera had any idea that the history of phosphorus was so interesting. I am from Colombia.

[@xCoolMrDimas]

Love the content, keep it up!

[@GrahamCarr-pb4fu]

Great Reply !! We've sent you a 3 Litre container of it from our Laboratory !!!

[@Microtonal_Cats]

5:05 I feel like that painting (especially adding the gothic background) may have inspired the first sci-fi book, "Frankenstein."

[@soundcloud938]

great vid m8

[@reatcas]

13:00 never tell anyone what you know that's the first of two rules for success

[@zephyrna6249]

I cant get over the idea of dozens of very serious, very wealthy men, spending hundreds of hours boiling piss in secret.

[@user-to9ge8ii9n]

The more the world changes, the more it stays the same.

[@luipaardprint]

Fortunately they never realised it required the sacrifice of a large amount of human souls to create a meaningful amount of philosophers stone.

[@LH-rr1iz]

Says who?

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

He discovered Mountain Dew!! 😏

[@josejaimes-ramos1546]

Phosphoric acid is an ingredient in Mountain Dew.

[@Anton-ji4td]

The morale of this story is, if you are going to buy a house do not buy it near a Phosphorus factory as you might not be able to sell it or open the windows in the height of a very hot summer.

[@f_r_e_d]

who painted 0:10?

[@ladyJustis]

If you zoom in there is a name in the left bottom corner. Starts with 'n'? I see a human skull 😮

[@f_r_e_d]

@@ladyJustis it's: John William Waterhouse: The Magic Circle - 1886

[@adam.not.sandler]

John William Waterhouse

[@notPSOJosh]

Me

[@exoticfanta]

I did

[@DevilMaster]

Imagine an alternate history where Boyle interprets the "somewhat that belonged to the body of man" clue in a different way. Imagine that he dismisses the "pee and poo" solution as something immature, and goes for something more sinister: human bones. He exhumes bones from a graveyard, grinds them to a powder, mixes the powder with coal, and applies the same dry distillation method. He successfully extracts phosphorus from the hydroxyapatite that makes up the bones. He notices that if phosphorus is set on fire, it cannot be extinguished until all of it is consumed. And he also notices how poisonous it is, both in short term (killing people immediately when administered in large doses) and long term (causing a progressive disease in the jaw following repeated small dose exposition). He dutifully writes all of this in a diary. Then, an uneducated person retrieves his diary, and interprets all of it under a religious light, becoming convinced that Boyle was a necromancer who discovered how to bring the fires of hell into the mortal realm.

[@jamesgizasson]

Thus, matches are banned as being "tools of the devil", and we live in a world where EVs predate gas lamps. :3

[@atrumluminarium]

3:14 sounds like the NileRed video😅

[@caspervandalen5584]

They should've called it Urinium

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

The bad news is gold doesn't come from other metals. If anyone want to know where gold comes from, look to the periodic table. Gold is always found with silicon. Look to the periodic table to add 79(gold) + 14(silicon) + 1 and let me know what element you come up with. It is the same reason why you always find silver(Ag) in lead(Pb) mines that have an excess of Bromine(Br) gas in them.

[@void________]

Gold doesn't even come from earth.

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

@@void________ Oh... Sorry... I forgot... It was the aliens that delivered it here. So... Do you know where the aliens got it from and left it here for us to find?

[@FaceFcuk]

Gold comes from exploding stars 🌟 aka supernovas 🎉

[@Jordan-o6w1f]

In your equation 79au+14si+1 what is the +1? And what measurement are you using for each of the 79 and 14? How do I get 79 au and 14si? Lastly, are you suggesting that you have discovered a real method of combining elemental solids to transmute them into different elemental solids? This does seem to make sense, needs more investigation but on the surface makes logical sense.

[@Jordan-o6w1f]

​@@void________everything on Earth comes from Earth. Everything. (No response necessary, I don't really want to talk to you)

[@EamonnO]

This is excellent --great science history which is a subject in itself. A video on James Clark Maxwell and his achievements would be interesting. He is known for his work on electromagnetism but little else is known about his other achievements such as his work on colour.

[@happyvirus6590]

2:14 *sad gallium noises*

[@wrjtung3456]

It needs higher temperatures than mercury and wasn’t discovered at the time

[@ItzTheDragon]

It’s solid at room temperature, melts at slightly higher such as the warmth from your hand

[@PoorMansChemist]

What an excellent video!!! Well done, sir!!!

[@oldschoolman1444]

The plants in my yard like urine! 😊

[@PodcastOnTheSpectrum]

Put 1500 gallons on them see how well they do

[@trevormcintosh5564]

​@@PodcastOnTheSpectrumthey aren't Olympic swimmers lol

[@dstrbd223]

Only a little. Too much and the salt in the urine will kill them. That’s what dog piss turns grass yellow

[@krautismo]

FYI the putrification of elements / the decomposition of matter is not uncommon practice. It is thought to breaking the ingredients down to their prime elements from where something new can be formed, i.e gold

[@DrHenrik]

na the weiredest is still that time the usa popped a nuke made and though how awesome it would be if there would be some new stuff in that radioactive could. So two jets collect the top of the mushroom cloud and against all thing holy they discovered two new elements

[@legday1337]

3:18 Hennig must have been the loveliest neighbor to have at that time

[@naradaian]

Henning is alive and well

[@RealMoukeycat]

I only clicked the video to see if i could guess what element it was. Im at 6:06 and I'm guessing phosphorous. If I'm wrong I'll have to delete this comment. Edit: Lol. I paused it to comment right at the reveal.

[@FontaineLovers]

imagine the millions of incredible untold stories of unknown alchemists around the world lost to history and never get the chance to get rocorded.

[@lanFred-js8bt]

Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.

[@magickmarck]

Thank you

[@GarthWatkins-th3jt]

I needed this. Thank you is insufficient, but there you go, it's all I have.

[@MariaEvelin-wh6cu]

Real magic in relationships means an absence of judgement of others.

[@Critical-Smoke]

what?

[@ketas]

i bet it was nice smell to boil 7 tons of sour piss

[@realdragon]

Honestly I find it weirder it took so long for someone to boil piss

[@LordMondegrene]

Witches had been boiling pins in urine for centuries. Somehow, it didn't destroy their enemies. But they kept doing it, probably to keep neighbors away.

[@LordMondegrene]

Witches boiled pins in urine for centuries. It didn't kill their enemies, but it kept neighbors away, so they kept at it. 😂😂😂

[@Osama_Zyn_Laden]

Well I was boiling a jug of piss in the backyard and my mom got mad at me😂 she didn't believe me when I told her I was doing science😂😂

[@Delta7Smith]

My former understanding of the discovery was the urine was first purified until maggots were present(I've been unable to accomplish this step), then it was mixed with diatomaceous earth and heated vigorously for hours

[@the_lyrical_woodsman]

Love the storytelling and vocal presence! 🎉

[@ragemonkey3163]

there were no maggots. Brandt left the urine to condense until it bred worms. This was a reference to the hazy strands of phosphorus that form in concentrated urine. it does not refer to maggots.

[@TheNimaid]

I'm sure if those fellows looking for his secret spoke to his neighbors, they would have gotten a pretty good hint at what substance it was extracted from.

[@Erewhon2024]

Hey now, human waste is indeed a practical "source" of phosphate. It is called resource recovery. Keep fertilizer out of receiving waters (where it causes algal blooms & other eutrophication) and make it available to farmers as fertilizer. Elemental P might not be practical via that route, but it isn't something we need much of, compared to fertilizer.

[@usx06240]

A few years ago I experiment with "watering" a marigold. It got twice as large as the one a few feet away

[@josephclayson2714]

What do we want? A series on the history of molecular biology! When do we want it? Now!!!!!!

[@4everseekingwisdom690]

I find it fascinating that he actually correctly identified the prima materia as it is indeed urine

[@johndee2990]

Failing Upwards is such a Great Discovery

[@thebush6077]

I like how people back then were just making up their own quests. "Yeah I have no idea if this is even possible, but I think it is... I'm gonna call the thing I'm looking for the philosopher's stone.... Also, idk, it also give immortality or something I guess..."

[@johnhuldt]

Great video. Thank you!

[@_macrophage]

It's amazing how these guys were just "playing" around with White Phosphorous like it was dirt or table salt. Jesus-fuckin-christ.. How we survived as a species is truly amazing.

[@FrankGardner-w7e]

We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.

[@Voodoomaria]

I remember this story from school, an alchemist figured since all gols is yellow, everything yellow must contain gold, so he reasoned if he boiled down his own urine, he'd get rich. This led to the discovery of phospherous, and the founding of the first HOA formed by his neighbours to force his eviction. The last part was a joke obviously, BUT can you imagine that SMELL? One of my roommates had a cat that P*ssed on the stove burner and we didn't discover it until the burner was lit [gas stove]. The stink cleared the house.

[@mike62mcmanus]

The wife would have been a detractor, it would make a good monty Python skit...