Ten Things You Don't Want to Touch Quiz

Answer: Perchloric acid

Actually, you probably don't want to touch any of them. Perchloric acid, also known as hyperchloric acid, is used to make ammonium perchlorate, used in rocket fuel. An explosion involving perchloric acid in Los Angeles, California in 1947 killed 17 people, injured another 150, and destroyed over 25 buildings. Hands off!

Answer: Blue-ringed octopus

A single specimen has enough venom to kill over 20 adult humans. Their bites are often painless, meaning victims are frequently unaware of their dire predicament. There is no anti-venom, however it is possible to survive being envenomated if artificial respiration is provided until the toxin wears off. No touchie!

Answer: Polonium

None of them are good news, but polonium is really, really bad news. One gram of isotope 210 of polonium is enough to kill millions of people. Since it emits alpha particles, it can't cause harm on the outside of the body, but if even the smallest amount is ingested or absorbed or inhaled, a quick and unpleasant death is likely. Nie dotykać!

Answer: Poison Ivy

If it includes the word "poison", you might want to stay away on general principles. Poison ivy is easily identified by its shiny group of three leaves. Poison oak and sumac are similarly noxious. Poison elm isn't a thing. Ne touchez pas!

Answer: Capacitor

Capacitors and batteries both store energy. While batteries release stored energy over a period of time, capacitors discharge their energy almost instantaneously. A highly charged capacitor could be bad news even if one unplugged the computer with which it was associated. Stay away!

Answer: Mercury

Yeah, it's really cool to look at, but touching or even inhaling the vapors of mercury is bad news. The Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland" was based on the actual mental deficiencies of hatters in the day, resulting from exposure to mercury during the fur treatment needed to make the hats. Ne tuŝi!

Answer: Surstromming

It apparently smells so bad it is normally eaten outdoors, which for my money puts it squarely in the category of things I don't want to touch. Or smell. Or taste. I am willing to look at it through a powerful telescope. For those still reading this, in Swedish Trasig toalett means broken toilet, Fruktansvarda lukt means awful smell, and Dalig mat means bad food. Ror inte! (Sorry about the lack of diacritical marks, but the system doesn't support them).

Answer: Coral snake

A coral snake and a scarlet king snake both have red, yellow and black bands. On the highly venomous coral snake, the red and yellow bands are adjacent. On the harmless scarlet king snake, the red and yellow bands are separated by black bands. The stonefish and some tree frogs are poisonous, but cannot be identified by red, black or yellow bands.

Some stick insects can give one a nasty pinch, but that's about it. Look, don't touch.

Answer: Cyanoacrylates

Super Glue and Krazy Glue are the best known examples of this adhesive. While the others are powerful glues, they don't set as quickly as cyanoacrylates, meaning you are much less likely to have a catastrophic gluing incident when using them. If the worst should happen with a cyanoacrylate, nail polish remover is a highly effective remedy. Keep yer mitts away!

Answer: Rotavirus

Rotavirus is spread through the oral-fecal route. An infection may result in diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and/or abdominal pain among other symptoms. The rest of the choices are unpleasant to say the least, but are not spread from human to human. Usiguse!