The Magical Properties Of Mercury

Few substances on Earth are stranger. It shines like a mirror, conducts electricity and is as much of a metal as copper or iron.

Yet this material is a liquid, one of only five naturally occurring elements that are liquid at room temperature.

It is the stuff of legend, the key to alchemy and witchcraft, a deadly poison and yet also a potent medicine. We use it to weigh the air, generate reflections and also to measure our temperature.

And now Brussels is banning it. Of course, not even the European Commission has the power to ban a chemical element, but what they have done is forbidden its use in traditionally made scientific instruments on health and safety and environmental grounds. Full Story

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