Surprise! It turns out that the plasticine we played with as children was actually used to build tanks

Did you know that science is full of happy accidents and blunders that have helped shape the world we live in today?

The Careless Microbiologist and His Penicillium

Penicillin is the first antibiotic discovered in the world and has been used extremely widely. Its successful mass production has saved thousands of lives from bacteria. But the discovery of penicillin was purely accidental.

Let's go back to the day penicillin was discovered: Alexander Fleming returned to his lab from his holiday cottage and found a petri dish that had been improperly stored while studying Staphylococcus aureus, and it was now contaminated. But wait, before he disposed of the dish, he noticed something extremely unusual - a group of special molds, surrounded by an area completely devoid of other bacteria. Fleming immediately made a hypothesis, he thought that the mold secreted a compound that could kill other bacteria in order to protect itself and its living space.

His guess was completely correct, and this compound was penicillin, which later saved the lives of millions of people.

The world's first anesthetic

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is the world's first anesthetic. Before anesthetics were discovered and widely used, doctors tried every possible means to relieve patients' pain.

As early as 1772, chemist Priestley prepared laughing gas and recorded that it was a "slightly sweet gas that makes people feel pleasant." By the end of the 18th century, chemist Humphrey discovered and recorded the feeling of inhaling laughing gas: it can make people feel dizzy, excited, and muscle relaxed, and then laugh uncontrollably. For a long time afterwards, the medical use of laughing gas was only to treat diseases such as gout, cramps and headaches, while people preferred to use laughing gas to have parties.

The person who really applied nitrous oxide to surgical anesthesia was dentist Wells. Wells watched a demonstration of nitrous oxide in 1844 and keenly noticed that some people who inhaled it felt nothing even when their skin was broken or their bones were broken. When he returned to the clinic, he inhaled nitrous oxide and had his students pull out a tooth for him. He felt no pain at all during the whole process. Since then, science has controlled pain.

Plasticine was originally invented to build tanks

Have you ever wondered how the plasticine we often played with in childhood was invented? In fact, it was originally produced as a substitute for natural rubber. During World War II, a large number of chariots and tanks were manufactured and put into the battlefield. Natural rubber, the raw material for tires, was in short supply for a long time. In order to seize this business opportunity, the American company Coutor wanted to prepare an artificial product that could replace natural rubber.

However, their product was too soft and sticky to replace natural rubber. Kutor Company took a different approach and decided to re-launch this batch of "failed products" into cleaning mud, but its sales in the cleaning field were still not satisfactory.

Until they found that children had a special liking for this cleaning mud and made many cute little mud dolls. Eventually, Kutor Company removed the cleaning ingredients in the mud and instead gave it bright colors and a good taste - the plasticine in childhood memories was born.

Fleming was originally studying Staphylococcus, Wells was actually watching a performance, and researchers at Kutor wanted to prepare artificial rubber... The final results were beyond everyone's expectations. Perhaps as Roger Kornberg, president of the World Association of Top Scientists, said: The nature of discovery cannot be planned, they come from aimless research and unexpected gains.