AngelEyes - 27-10-2005 at 06:49
Saw this:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pollution-05zn.html
...and figured it qualified as Mad Science. Someone here will find it interesting I'm sure.
neutrino - 27-10-2005 at 13:31
Ammonia to hydrazine. Very interesting.
I wonder if this could turn out to be a viable alternative to the standard routes of synthesis? Take a couple of pounds of a cheap ammonium salt, add
some kind of food, some micronutrients, and ferment. Or is there some catch I'm not seeing?
Perhaps someone with more biochemistry skill could post their thoughts?
The_Davster - 27-10-2005 at 15:34
From that article I did not understand whether the bacteria produce hydrazine and ammonia, or if hydrazine is only an intermediate in the
bacteria's conversion of ammonia to nitrogen, and none is actually secreted. If they are actually producing hydrazine, and the bacteria are
being used to detoxify sewage by removal of ammonia, I imagine the sewage would be more toxic with hydrazine than with ammonia.