Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Two men are in a lab and they've been working hard to try and make antifreeze. They mix two chemicals together and expect to make a clear liquid. Instead, they end up with this black mess.
Kind of like licorice, I suppose.
It is not what they had in mind and they have to start all over, but it's late, so they decide to go home and deal with the mess in the morning.
The next day they come back to the lab, they try to clean up the lab, get rid of this thing that they'd made the day before. So they put it in the sink and they can't for the life of them wash it down the sink.
They throw everything at this blob and just like nothing dissolves it.
It was resistant to oils, to fuels, to solvents. It was elastic, it was chemically stable, and basically what they'd come up with was rubber, a synthetic form of rubber.
My name is Mark Fennell, and this synthetic rubber would go on to be used in cars, rockets and spaceships, and ultimately would be responsible for one of the deadliest space missions in history.
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Chapter 2: How did two men accidentally create synthetic rubber in 1926?
Great.
Okay. So to begin, you're going to take us back to 1926, quite literally 100 years ago, actually. And we're in Kansas City. Now, for people that, just to build an image in people's heads, like what is Kansas City like a century ago?
So in 1926, Kansas City was essentially this major Midwestern rail, ag and industrial hub. It's a very prosperous time, late roaring 20s. And America is going through this major industrial expansion. There's not a lot of regulation. There's not a lot of oversight. So It's sort of a time ripe for experimentation and entrepreneurship. People are just trying stuff out.
Good time to be a crazy mad scientist, yes?
Yes.
Okay, so that leads us to two gentlemen, Nathan Mnookin and Joseph Patrick.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did they face while trying to dispose of their creation?
Who are they? Well, let's start with Joseph Patrick.
We know a lot more about him than Nathan Mnookin. And he is interesting. He was a doctor. He worked in the US Army. He then segued to chemistry and he clearly had more of an interest in chemistry than in medicine. And he liked to come up with things in his lab.
And there was one day where they came across something kind of by accident. Walk me through what happened this one day in the lab.
Okay. So in the 1920s, automobile ownership was expanding. Everyone wanted a car and people needed antifreeze fluids. They were in demand. We wanted to come up with inexpensive antifreeze products. So that's what Nathan and Joseph were working away at in their lab, or at least attempting to. So- Apparently it's close to midnight.
The pair have come back into their lab and they're inspecting this chemical compound that they'd been mucking around with earlier in that day. And so when they come into their lab, they expect to find a clear liquid. But instead what they find, it's this sort of A black strap of molasses, kind of like licorice, I suppose. And they're surprised by what they find.
The next day, they come back to the lab in the morning. They try to clean up the lab, get rid of this thing that they'd made the day before. So they put it in the sink. And they can't, for the life of them, wash it down the sink. Doesn't matter what solvent they pour over this globulous thing that they'd made, it just wouldn't break down. So they just end up clogging up their sink in their lap.
In my mind, I have this image, and it's basically that old B movie, The Blob. Am I close to that?
I think so. I mean, it stinks, it's hard and they can't get rid of it. But, you know, rather than being like, oh, we just want to tidy up the lab and we just, oh, this is an inconvenience. They realise this thing that they've created is resistant to solvents and that's really significant because most experimental by-products dissolve or degrade and this one doesn't.
Basically, what they had created by accident was a brand new kind of synthetic rubber. It takes them a couple of years to realise just how big a deal this was going to be, but by the late 1920s, they patent it and create a company, which they call Fire Coal.
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Chapter 4: What significance does synthetic rubber have in automotive and aerospace industries?
It was quite intense. It was quite an intensive process, wasn't it?
Yeah. So America relied basically solely on British controlled Southeast Asian plantations. So coming up with a synthetic form of rubber was really significant, particularly when everyone wanted to own a car.
What is it that synthetic rubber can do that natural rubber can't? Because there's actually some quite big distinctions there, isn't there?
The main early use for this rubber that Thiokol came up with was for gaskets, for sealants, coatings and adhesives, that kind of thing. But basically any application where solvent resistance and weather resistance was really important.
One thing that's probably worth pointing out is compared to natural rubber, it kind of stank, didn't it?
Yes, it really stunk. Rotten eggs is the main description that I've come across.
That would be the sulphur, right?
Exactly. It stunk so much that locals complained about this horrible odour when it was being manufactured in Kansas City, which actually meant that they had to relocate to New Jersey to a kind of rubber industrial area where they could kind of stink the place out and no one cared. So, yeah, the smell was significant.
Okay, so you've got your stinky, weather-resistant, durable and affordable product that Americans can make without having to rely on the British. Fast forward to the 1940s and the synthetic rubber is no longer just being used for cars. They start to use it for rockets.
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