10-Year-Old Accidentally Discovers New Explosive Molecule

[Lunar Templar]

well, unlike a certain person with a polygon fox avatar on this thread, i think this is pretty cool.

sure it needs testing, but meh, still cool, good for the kid
(here's hoping its something cool)

Every week scientists make great discoveries but barely anyone cares, a child randomly does it and suddenly it's news?"

You just answered your own question mate. Children don't understand how molecules work; CHILDREN don't spend hours working on synthesizing new molecules and trying to unravel the secrets of the universe; CHILDREN don't have years of training, education and experience; CHILDREN don't go making great discoveries every week. And yet she managed to discover something no scientist had bothered to try.

dood ... burn XD

 

[Mozza444]

Okay technically she made a hypothetical molecule that turned out to be synthetically possible.
Generally though it's not a good idea to let ten year old muck about with actual base elements (which is really what she was doing) so making a model is really the best she could have done. Technically it did form a precipitate, those models are made so that you can only connect them with as many atoms as the actual elements they represent.

Spoiler: Precipitate Definition

Chemistry . to separate (a substance) in solid form from a solution, as by means of a reagent.

Anyway getting back on track...

Really any combination you put them in is possible, whether or not they exist is a different matter.

And whether or not they are possible is also a different matter.
They may not 'exist' now but they will if they are invented, if they are theoretically possible the only thing stopping them becoming real is time and research.

In this case: Why put time and research into something that we have no idea how to make and what it will even do for that matter, just because a 10 year old girl said so.

That's not how advancement in chemistry works.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I wonder if her Erdos number [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdos_number] is the same as her age. (I suppose Einstein number would be more appropriate, but if Natalie Portman can get one for a psych paper I imagine there must be a path into math from physics.)

 

[Electrogecko]

So did the child just put together a model for the craic or did she intentionally put it together with full knowledge of what she is doing.

If it's the former then I really don't care. If it's the latter then "Good for you".

Bit harsh. In the world of real growny-uppy scientists things get discovered accidentally all the time.

That's good for them but if the former is true (in my original post) then it means she isn't gifted or anything and should be praised as much as anyone else who discovers things with no real use ie not much.

If she discovered it and then she found a way to sythesise it in real life and found a use for it then that's fantastic and she should be praised for it but I think the Professor should get more praise in this case as he is actually going to investigate it and its uses.

EDIT Boom, I was right

"But that?s what happened when Clara Lazen, 10, randomly arranged a unique combination of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon atoms."

http://now.humboldt.edu/news/not-your-average-fifth-grade-assignment/

Randomly

I agree with you for the most part, although there's no way of knowing how mentally engaged she was during the process of putting this thing together. She's no chemistry genius, I don't think anybody here is arguing that she is, (although I do think there'll be a nice footnote about her in future textbooks) but you don't need to be a chemistry genius, or even have remedial knowledge of the subject in order to put together a model compound. I'm tempted to believe that this was a fluke, but it's very possible that she's skilled in critical thinking was able to do this by thinking of the activity as a puzzle and nothing more.

 

[TheNaut131]

...Guys, why can't everyone get a bit of praise? Think about it, the girl made it, the teacher saw the potential, and the scientists release said potential? They all played a role, and if this thing can actually do something useful, everyone should get a bit of the cake. Someone discovered the atom, everyone else broke it down and looked at it.

Though, I'll wait till we find out if it even exist in the physical world and if it can be useful. If it can, yay! Chemistry cupcakes for everyone! If it can't, then someones an idiot. And it isn't the girl because she simply put the thing together.

 

[Amgeo]

I really hope that this inspires the kid to focus in on science later in life. If nothing else, it'd make an awesome story for her memoirs. "I realized I had an interest in science when I was ten, when I rearranged the atoms found in nitroglycerin and accidentally discovered a new molecule. In many ways, that was my crowning acheivement."

 

[Agow95]

Either she was a chemistry genius or she just liked rearranging those models they give you to how how bonds form, but still very impressive

 

[Yoshisummons]

Statement loathed enough by multiple people

Matthew94, you deserve this

Spoiler

You've earned it my friend, you've earned it.

 

[ph0b0s123]

10-Year-Old Accidentally Discovers New Explosive Molecule

Wanted for questioning by the FBI under the Patriot Act, was what I was expecting.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Well. The next time I hear someone say "girls aren't good at science" I will walk up to them and say "Clara Lazen" and throw some tetranitratoxycarbon at them.

And then hopefully I can outrun the fireball.

 

[Lawlhat]

Every week scientists make great discoveries but barely anyone cares, a child randomly does it and suddenly it's news?

Yes, because this one is out of the ordinary. Not saying it's a good thing, but that's how it is.

 

[Vykrel]

That's good for them but if the former is true (in my original post) then it means she isn't gifted or anything and should be praised as much as anyone else who discovers things with no real use ie not much.

nobody said she is gifted... nobody is giving her praise for being some genius child...


does it really bother you that much that something new was discovered by accident? id hate for you to learn just how many things have been discovered by pure chance. i wouldnt want you to collapse from listing off all of the people you think dont deserve any credit.

nobody is showering her with praise. this news story exists simply because it is interesting. its cool that a child has made a small scientific achievement, even if it was totally by accident. the fact that it was by accident is actually sort of funny.

what if the little girl in this news story was your daughter? would you tell her shes nothing special and her discovery was just a coincidence, or would you say "Hey, good for you! That's pretty cool."

i really hope you wouldnt react the same way as you have on here.

 

[awsome117]

I don't care that much, I just made a comment showing my utter apathy for her which has "offended" many people as we aren't showering this child with praise.

Mainly because you're saying you have utter apathy to a girl who is ten years old for really no good reason. Whether or not by accident (which is how a lot of things get discovered/made) she deserves some credit for what she did. Many scientists do what she did; make some random hypothesis, put it on paper, go "is it real/does it work?" and tada! You have science. Also praise and acknowledgement are two different things. Let her have those 15 minutes of fame, I'm sure you would if you did the same thing even at (insert your age here).

Every week scientists make great discoveries but barely anyone cares, a child randomly does it and suddenly it's news?

You pretty much answered your own question. We know great things get done/created every day/week, but when some child randomly (which happens more often than most people think, do some research into science) discovers something that seems pretty news worthy.

Honestly, I don't see what the big issue is.

EDIT: Then again, it could be jealousy or something along those lines. Not saying it is, but just something for people to have in the back of their minds.

 

[Fijiman]

An example of scientific discovery at its finest; made through complete random chance.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

"Is This real?"
"No, but it will be soon"

He had the intelligence to actually use his discovery unlike this person.

She's 10.

Beethoven may have been publishing his sonatas around that age, but he wasn't taking them to the publishers himself.

And he understood that music theory, she just put molecules together randomly.

Yeah because I'm sure Beethoven NEVER tried putting notes together randomly to see how they sounded before he wrote his first sonnet. *eye-role*
Besides Clara's father didn't take her on tour with a chemistry set when she was 6. You can learn to play an instrument at that age (especially if your father's a musician and you happen to be a child prodigy) but unfortunately no one thought to take her on tours of the GE science labs while she was still learning to walk.

And yes Fleming had the intelligence to use his discovery, but he also had the means to use it. All she had were a few wooden balls, sticks and some springs. If I had discovered a new molecule, you can be dam sure I'd want to find how it could be used, and on my own to If I had my own laboratory to test it in[/B].

Every week scientists make great discoveries but barely anyone cares, a child randomly does it and suddenly it's news?"

You just answered your own question mate. Children don't understand how molecules work; CHILDREN don't spend hours working on synthesizing new molecules and trying to unravel the secrets of the universe; CHILDREN don't have years of training, education and experience; CHILDREN don't go making great discoveries every week. And yet she managed to discover something no scientist had bothered to try.

LOL

*pats on the back*

nice one mate and i agree completely, seriously she is 10 and this is probably one of her first times actively engaging in chemistry, regardless of how random/lucky it was, it was still her INITIAL IDEA that sparked this (not saying the teacher shouldn't get credit!) and i think giving her a thumbs up and tell her to keep going is more than acceptable.

but then again, we have some of the most pessimistic "oscar the grouch" types on here...*sigh* the first actual positive piece of good news we've had in a while and it turns into a "wow this kid is shit, i was so much better at that age"

 

[Waaghpowa]

Ok guys seriously. It's cool that a little kid discovered this, but it's unremarkable because it was totally random. The fact that she discovered it is not indicative of her intelligence because it was at random.

 

[CleverCover]

That's really cool. I like it when the science blossoms from everywhere. Accidental discoveries always makes me happier.

Maybe she'll develop a bigger interest in chemistry hoping to learn more about what she discovered and eventually move on to curing cancer.

A girl can dream.

The teacher deserves a bunch of cookies as well. I know that another teacher might have just dismissed it and sent the kid back to her desk to try again. He looked at it and actually thought about how it could work. Although how he developed that from her random mash of sticks and balls I will never understand.