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Carol Potenza

Carol Potenza

New Mexico Mysteries

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Periodic table of Death

Periodic table element Titanium with Ti abbreviation and atomic number. Spilled Skittles Candy is in the background

Titanium, Skittles, and the Periodic Table of Death

October 20, 2022 by Carol Potenza

Let’s start with titanium (Ti). This periodic table element was discovered in the late 1700s and its name is derived from Titans, pretty much because it’s as strong as steel (not an element, BTW, but an alloy of iron & carbon) but less dense (1). Ti is shiny and silvery and hard and is the ninth most abundant element on earth. It’s used to make metal alloys that are stronger and lighter for aircraft, spacecraft, and the expensive golf club your significant other is hiding from you in the trunk of their car. The global production of Ti is huge …

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Periodic Table Depiction of Arsenic (As) with a Skull on top of gold books

Arsenic, Poison Books, and The Periodic Table of Death

October 20, 2022 by Carol Potenza

Does that mean that you’re in danger from poison books? Well, yes, if you inherit a Victorian library from your great Aunt Mary or you visit a rare book collection and are interested in checking out bright green books from the mid-1800s—or bright yellow books or bright orange books.

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Krypton and the Periodic Table of Death

Krypton, Kryptonite, and the Periodic Table of Death

August 16, 2022 by Carol Potenza

Krypton (Kr) is colorless, odorless, tasteless (Hey. Like iocaine powder) except it is chemically inert, which means it really doesn’t react with anything (1). It is essentially harmless. Or is it? All the noble gases can asphyxiate if you visit a small unventilated space that is full of Kr and not full of enough oxygen or have friends in low places because Kr is five times heavier than air. The only upside is that Kr has a whole-body narcotic effect, so death is relatively painless. There is a radioactive version, Kr-85, that is highly toxic (2) and can cause all …

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Nitrogen and the Periodic table of Death

Nitrogen and the Periodic Table of DEATH

August 16, 2022 by Carol Potenza

N2 gas literally bathes us inside and out because air is 78% N2 (5). Wait. Isn’t the air we breathe oxygen? Around 21% of it is, just like your middle school science teacher told you. And though we breathe N2 in, we don’t need it and exhale it out unchanged. But N can be chemically modified with both positive and deadly consequences.

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Iridium and the Periodic Table of Death

Iridium and the Periodic Table of Death

August 16, 2022 by Carol Potenza

An asteroid as large as 50 miles across hits what we now call the Yucatan, vaporizes in the 20,000-degree heat caused by the energy of the collision, catches pretty much everything on fire for 100s of miles, creates tsunamis as tall as the Eiffel tower, pitches the world into darkness for a year because of debris and dust thrown into the sky, and completely wipes out the dinosaurs.

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Calcium and the Periodic Table of Death

Till Death do us Part. (Not Really)

March 2, 2022 by Carol Potenza

Calcium (Ca), Lovers’ Graves, and the Periodic Table of Death  Think of Calcium as life’s structural support element. It’s the fifth most common element in the earth’s crust but easily forms compounds (1). In fact, about 99% of Ca found in our bodies is built into our bones as a complex and complicated mineral component that approximates this formula—Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 (2). When we toddle off this mortal plane and elect to be buried whole, the carbon-based organic portion of our bodies can become nutrition for other living creatures (e.g., bacteria, fungi. Bears.). But consumption tends to stop at the hard crunchy middle, …

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