Chucking a bunch of Mentos into a fizzy drink usually yields some decent, harmless results. But add in some more 'sciencey' materials and you have a nice little projectile on your hands.
However, when you've got something that genuinely looks like it could do some damage, it's probably not the best thing to leave some of the preparation up to untrained professionals.
Credit: Network 10/Studio 10
Oh, I forgot to mention you probably shouldn't do it on live television with help from a TV host - not that there's anything wrong with those people, it's just they might not have the right skills to handle the potentially volatile material.
That's what Australian breakfast show Studio 10 experienced this week, when they invited a bloke on to do some science experiments. Host Natarsha Belling and Sweaty Betty Chief Roxy Jacenko joined YouTube science star Jacob Strickling to see what happens when cola reacts with liquid nitrogen.
Jacob does the first two experiments, which sees the cola bottle rocket through the air at some impressive speeds, only to float back down to Earth when completely empty.
To wrap up the segment, the YouTuber invites Natarsha to launch one of the bottles and explains when the liquid nitrogen is poured in, there's only a few seconds spare to turn it upside down and let it go.
When the two liquids combine, the TV host doesn't realise how quickly she needs to move and the full bottle misses her face by just a few centimetres. On its way up, it manages to rip off a tree branch and leaves Natarsha deaf in one ear.
Credit: Network 10/Studio 10
"I told you this was going to be the best live television ever," said Strickling.
Thankfully everyone was fine (after a while), however, that stunt could have gone very, very wrong.
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Roxy said in the Daily Mail: "Tarsh got a shocking fright and it was so lucky the branch that broke off from the explosion never hit her on the head. I was lucky to only catch a fright and end up smelling like Coles cola."
Strickling tried to plug his book once the experiment was over, standing next to a deaf Natarsha and shocked Roxy.
One person watching the clip wrote: "I can't believe people think playing with liquid nitrogen is safe. That shit is not safe for toying around and there are these wannabe scientists who promote that kind of shit, like find some other kid-friendly science shit too do, you ain't Bill Nye!"
That's a pretty apt description, to be honest.
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Sources: Daily Mail
Topics: Science, World News, Australia News, News