Comments on: Mafia snitches overstated corpse-dissolving properties of sulfuric acid http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:55:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: mdh http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036800 mdh Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036800 I believe this, but, a mixture of Sulfuric and Nitric acids in water might just do the trick in a half hour. Journalists, tv writers, and criminals are all not chemists. I believe this, but, a mixture of Sulfuric and Nitric acids in water might just do the trick in a half hour. Journalists, tv writers, and criminals are all not chemists.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1037062 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1037062 For all those here talking about hydrogen peroxide and nitric-sulfuric acid mixes I'd say that anything beyond "Pour this stuff in the barrel" type instructions would probably get the crooks burned by their own chemicals. If I ever dabble in organized crime in Palermo I'll make sure to have a gold piece planted in me with my info on it and a message saying "If you find this I was murdered". They'd need aqua regia to dissolve that. Maybe have it coated in teflon, then they'd need hydrofluric acid (just as likely to dissolve them). For all those here talking about hydrogen peroxide and nitric-sulfuric acid mixes I’d say that anything beyond “Pour this stuff in the barrel” type instructions would probably get the crooks burned by their own chemicals.

If I ever dabble in organized crime in Palermo I’ll make sure to have a gold piece planted in me with my info on it and a message saying “If you find this I was murdered”. They’d need aqua regia to dissolve that. Maybe have it coated in teflon, then they’d need hydrofluric acid (just as likely to dissolve them).

]]> By: tyger11 http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036814 tyger11 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036814 You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig". You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies’ digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don’t want to go sievin’ through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, “as greedy as a pig”.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036816 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036816 > researchers working with pig carcasses I'm pretty sure human bodies have a higher surface area. Regardless, I see the results as being somewhat in the middle. Say, about 12-18 hours. > researchers working with pig carcasses
I’m pretty sure human bodies have a higher surface area.

Regardless, I see the results as being somewhat in the middle. Say, about 12-18 hours.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036830 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036830 A rule of thumb in chemistry is that a ten degree centigrade rise in temperature doubles the reaction rate. So a cauldron filled with sulfuric acid heated to 150C might dissolve a corpse in 15 minutes. Adding hydrogen peroxide would help too. A rule of thumb in chemistry is that a ten degree centigrade rise in temperature doubles the reaction rate. So a cauldron filled with sulfuric acid heated to 150C might dissolve a corpse in 15 minutes. Adding hydrogen peroxide would help too.

]]> By: Ronamo http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1038878 Ronamo Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1038878 Yeah, aqua regia is nitro-hydrochloric acid, but its production is a bit more complicated than just "one gallon nitric, one gallon hydrochloric, one singing stool-pigeon." Wikipedia actually covers what would happen to gold in the two acids if they weren't properly combined, interestingly enough. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia Yeah, aqua regia is nitro-hydrochloric acid, but its production is a bit more complicated than just “one gallon nitric, one gallon hydrochloric, one singing stool-pigeon.”

Wikipedia actually covers what would happen to gold in the two acids if they weren’t properly combined, interestingly enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia

]]> By: cory http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036833 cory Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036833 Same thing I thought of immediately :) Great movie. Same thing I thought of immediately :) Great movie.

]]> By: singingdragon http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036839 singingdragon Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036839 Maybe I'm just weird, but I really want to know what these Georgian criminals are doing that they think will destroy a body, but actually preserve it. Burying it in a plastic bag? Dumping it in an anoxic bog? Sprinkling it with food-grade lye? Maybe I’m just weird, but I really want to know what these Georgian criminals are doing that they think will destroy a body, but actually preserve it. Burying it in a plastic bag? Dumping it in an anoxic bog? Sprinkling it with food-grade lye?

]]> By: bobthecitizen http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036864 bobthecitizen Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036864 If Martha Stewart did this she'd not only get the time right, but come up with a useful or decorative way to use the resultant hoodlum/acid slurry. If Martha Stewart did this she’d not only get the time right, but come up with a useful or decorative way to use the resultant hoodlum/acid slurry.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036888 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036888 "hoodlum/acid slurry" Sounds like a music genre to me. “hoodlum/acid slurry” Sounds like a music genre to me.

]]> By: MrsBug http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036925 MrsBug Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036925 bobthecitizen, she'd use it to acidify the soil for her rhododendrons and azaleas. bobthecitizen, she’d use it to acidify the soil for her rhododendrons and azaleas.

]]> By: millrick http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036936 millrick Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036936 unfortunatly not just in the movies... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton unfortunatly not just in the movies…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton

]]> By: BB http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036940 BB Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036940 Although pigs are similar to humans, they have a much greater fat content than most humans. Couldn't that account for the longer breakdown time? Although pigs are similar to humans, they have a much greater fat content than most humans. Couldn’t that account for the longer breakdown time?

]]> By: AlexG55 http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036942 AlexG55 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036942 John George Haigh could have told them that (if they hadn't hanged him) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_Haigh John George Haigh could have told them that (if they hadn’t hanged him)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_Haigh

]]> By: Neural Kernel http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1037456 Neural Kernel Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1037456 *sigh* nobody proudly displays the corpses of their defeated foes anymore... I tell you... if things don't change I'm going to have to give up the iron spike business... *sigh* nobody proudly displays the corpses of their defeated foes anymore…
I tell you… if things don’t change I’m going to have to give up the iron spike business…

]]> By: Rich Keller http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1036964 Rich Keller Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1036964 But not hydrangeas. The acid would make the blossoms change color and Miss Marple would immediately pick up on that. But not hydrangeas. The acid would make the blossoms change color and Miss Marple would immediately pick up on that.

]]> By: mdh http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mafia-snitches-overs.html#comment-1038056 mdh Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-1038056 um, nitric/sulfuric mixture IS aqua regia. um, nitric/sulfuric mixture IS aqua regia.

]]>