"How many gallons of normal human pee would it take to make enough ammonium nitrate to blow the lid off a garbage can?"
I have no idea and must admit that I haven't given the topic that much thought. There probably are people who have, before they moved on to bigger bangs, but that's not the kind of company I keep. With seven billion humans peeing several times a day there'd surely be enough to blow up more than a few trash cans.
Now, according to Wikipedia, Roman Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on the collection of urine from public urinals, which was used for laundering and tanning. Google also throws up another reference re. using 'chamber lye'.
It reads - 'Chamber lye was a useful laundry product, even though it couldn’t be made into soap. Precious urine collected from chamber pots, its many uses included stain removal and pre-wash soaking. It also removed natural oils from wool, and set dyes, not to mention its many uses in medicine. In some areas of the UK it was called "lant", "weeting", or "wash".'
and
'Before that you suffer it to be washed, lay it all night in urine, the next day rub all the spots in the urine as if you were washing in water; then lay it in more urine another night and then rub it again, and so do till you find they be quite out.
Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, 1677'
I wouldn't bother with picking fly poop from my pepper. Mine is stored in air tight containers, but if there was, how would I know anyway? If you sprinkle it on your steak you would be none the wiser and it all goes down the same way, boosting your immunity to boot. [this post was last edited: 10/19/2012-10:10]
