• Question: wat is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?

    Asked by nataliamay to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I’ve done a few dangerous things since working at the museum. I did a “flash bang” chemistry show that had this really scary reaction in it – it went wrong one day and blew up in my face! You won’t believe this but I had little shards of silver in my face – all these black dots. It was awful!

      I also made plasma in a microwave and was having my photo taken for the Manchester evening news. The photographer made me put my head right next the the microwave window – i was scared in case it blew up! i also have a fire tornado. it’s a metal cylinder that you light a fire in and turn a turnstyle which makes the fire go into a tornado. Again, posing for a picture for the paper, the guy i was doing it with knocked the cylinder over and fire went everywhere.

      All of those events have really annoyed me and upset me!

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hi Nataliamay!

      Crossing the road is the most dangerous thing I have ever done.

      What a wimp, eh? But I am quite serous about that. When I was 12 I didn’t pay sufficient attention one day and got hit by a car. It broke my leg but I was very lucky not to be more seriously injured.

      I do work with some quite dangerous equipment. For instance, we do experiments at the Diamond Light Source – a particle accelerator near Oxford which produces very intense beams of X-rays. They could be deadly but the set-up is designed to ensure our safety. We are not allowed in the experimental room when the X-rays are on – and the room is built from lead and concrete to prevent the X-rays escaping – so it’s not dangerous at all.

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I am pretty risk averse and generally avoid danger as much as possible. My wife calls me “the house safety officer” because I often nag everybody about unplugging hairdryers and removing trip hazards etc. I did once try white water rafting (it was my brothers stag weekend, so I didn’t have much choice). It was utterly exhilarating, and not all that dangerous I think.

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I used to smoke…..

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