Forget the God Particle, now science world is stuck on Belfast boffins' super solvent

[The Straight Story]

Never mind the 'God Particle'... environmentally-friendly solvents invented in Belfast that can dissolve virtually anything have been named the Most Important British Innovation of the 21st Century.

The 'super solvents' developed by boffins at Queen's University have beaten 11 other ground-breaking British innovations to be named the discovery that will have the greatest impact in the coming century.

In the public vote – part of the Science Museum's initiative on great British innovations – ionic liquid chemistry even beat the historic discovery of the Higgs boson, which has revolutionised the world of physics.

The Belfast scientists' work also came in ahead of graphene, the lightest ever solid material, which is only one atom thick and has won its creators a Nobel Prize in Physics.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/forget-the-god-particle-now-science-world-is-stuck-on-belfast-boffins-super-solvent-29156985.html

[Fridays Child]

1. Can ionic liquid solvents separate Republicans from their hatred?

Can it remove the stupid from teabaggers and birthers? Can it dissolve Fox News from cable TV channel line-ups?

[Berlum]

2. + 1,000

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

3. I checked in for "boffin".

I like to read about a good boffin, when I'm able. But then I got to thinking about the alchemists' universal solvent. Then I started thinking, what if you spilled this stuff? "Honey, I dissolved the cat!" "Honey, I dissolved a hole to the center of the earth! This green stuff came out, the kid touched it and turned into a wolf-man!" Then I read the article. Then I decided maybe staying up for 24 hours isn't a good idea, for the mental focus when reading internets.

Anyway, interesting link. Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkahest