Memetic, a viral idea. Reference to Captain Planet, a weird 90s american cartoon. I was barely born when it aired, but what I *do* know is a part of the theme that goes earth, fire, wind water heart. It's an easy punchline that comes to mind if you know it.
The image is titled “Classical Periodic Table” at the top. The image is in the shape of a periodic table. Bromine and mercury are marked as water. Francium, astatine, all actinides and lawrencium are marked Fire. Air is hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, chlorine, argon…
I would think of these as the Chinese periodic table more than the yin/yang.
My first tattoo used these five elements, but I used a pen rather than brush to draw them for the artist, so I have to live with my own pathetic calligraphy.
Back when I studied Hsing Yi Chuan as a soldier.
I hated chemistry in high school. Don't know why, but just didn't care for the subject. Years later I read Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon, which is the history of the periodic table. One of the most interesting books I have ever read. Should be recommended reading for every chemistry class.
Just pointing out a lot of the air elements are in fact also fire elements as fire is just really damn hot gases although using the ones that just disappear into radiation works better
There’s a concrete silo at sellafield that is pumped full of inert gas because we can’t be certain the used uranium inside hasn’t formed a pyrophoric compound. A little bit of a terrifying possibility 😅
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When created, it is so surprised by its own existence that it almost immediately tries to not exist again.
*Sir Pterry is of course the absolute authority on this.
But really air is mostly nitrogen, earth is mostly oxygen, water is mostly oxygen and fire is a reaction enabled by oxygen. Like:
The monkey's paw curls
Air is pale blue, fire is reddish-orange, water is a darker blue and earth is brown.
The Avatar can use all 118.
Just the Ying/Yang circle
My first tattoo used these five elements, but I used a pen rather than brush to draw them for the artist, so I have to live with my own pathetic calligraphy.
Back when I studied Hsing Yi Chuan as a soldier.
Alt text: https://explainxkcd.com/2975#Transcript
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