Super Glue
A short while back I did a series of articles on the greatest tools of all time. The response was pretty fair. But, it has come to my attention that I may have left out one tool that may be the greatest of all.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you Cyanoacrylate. CA to closest friends.
Super glue is so strong that a single square inch bond can life a ton of weight.
Here are a five of the most interesting uses.
- During the Vietnam War, it was included in first aid kits to seal wounds.
- It is used to process fingerprints in some forensic investigations.
- Best thing in the world to glue your ex to a toilet seat.
- Veterinarians use it to repair the shells of injured turtles.
- A demonstrator in Bristol, England glued himself to a tax officer desk as a form of protest.
Reg Adkins writes on behavior and the human experience at (elementaltruths.blogspot.com).
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Comments
Sondra says on October 26th, 2006 at 7:52 am
Superglue is a great tool for musicians as well: spread some over the fingertips of your left hand, and it makes 3-4 hour gigs much easier. It will kind of ruin your calluses though, so use at your own discretion.
Tristan says on October 26th, 2006 at 8:02 am
Wtf, it was used for sealing wounds!?
Don’t forget the loon bots that sniff the stuff, truly this is universal stuff.
Reg Adkins says on October 26th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Hi Tristan,
Yep, sealing wounds. It went like this…
Cyanoacrylates were invented in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover.
Here are his comments about its battlefield use.
“If somebody had a chest wound or open wound that was bleeding, the biggest problem they had was stopping the bleeding so they could get the patient back to the hospital. And the consequence was–many of them bled to death. So the medics used the spray, stopped the bleeding, and were able to get the wounded back to the base hospital. And many, many lives were saved,” Coover said.
“This was very powerful. That’s something I’m very proud of–the number of lives that were saved,” he said.
Ironically, the Food & Drug Administration hadn’t given approval for the medical use of the compound at that point. But the military used the substance, anyway.
Lynna Landstreet says on October 26th, 2006 at 10:08 am
The thing I find so odd about all the claims of its strength is that it’s not strong enough to hold a broken fingernail together for any length of time. I’ve tried it repeatedly on nail breaks and tears, and it holds for maybe a couple of days, but then eventually always gives. I don’t know if it’s the flexibility of fingernails, the fact that people’s hands get immersed in water regularly, or the fact that I usually put nail polish over top of it to camouflage the mending job…
christina says on November 2nd, 2006 at 2:01 pm
its do to the oils that your skin and nails produce thats why it does not stick for that long
Charlie M says on February 22nd, 2007 at 8:59 pm
The acetone in your nail polish remover is a common solvent for super glue, that’s why it doesn’t last long.