[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;530024]Element 4, beryllium, is probably the nastiest alkaline earth to deal with. I wouldn't want [i]any[/i] pure beryllium around.[/QUOTE]We have to agree to disagree. A lump of metallic Be is essentially harmless. I wouldn't want to swallow it (though almost all would go through normal channels) but I would very happily wear a Be pendant. I would quite happily eat BeO in multi-gram quantities.

Non-chemists tend to have very strange ideas about the dangers of particular chemical elements. For a start, they tend to be completely clueless about the properties of their compounds.

Take Pb as an example. Metallic lead is almost completely harmless unless it is inserted into the human body at high velocity, in which case the deletorious effects are caused by the deposition of kinetic energy. An acknowledged inert metal, Pt for instance, would cause similar damage for the same reason. A very large number of people have survived several decades with >1g quantities of lead inside them.

Inorganic lead compounds may or may not be toxic in the medium (1-20 year) timescale. PbNO[SUB]3[/SUB], being water-soluble, is unpleasant. PbSO[SUB]4[/SUB], which is very insoluble in water, is essentially harmless.

Organo-lead compounds are almost entirely extremely nasty. Tetraethyl lead, which is Pb(CH[SUB]3[/SUB]CH[SUB]2[/SUB]O)[SUB]4[/SUB], will kill you very rapidly if you ingest it in milligram quantities. Curiously, it was added to petrol/gasoline until quite recently.

[QUOTE=xilman;530031][quote=Dr Sardonicus;530024]The other alkali metals (sodium, potassium, etc) are if anything more reactive, but all are solids.[/quote]And if they are not anything?[/QUOTE]The Periodic Table will need extensive revision.

[QUOTE=xilman;530032]We have to agree to disagree. A lump of metallic Be is essentially harmless. I wouldn't want to swallow it (though almost all would go through normal channels) but I would very happily wear a Be pendant. I would quite happily eat BeO in multi-gram quantities.[/quote]
Indeed, as long as you have [i]solid lumps[/i] of either Be or BeO, you'll probably be fine. [i]Finely divided particles[/i] of either, however, can cause chronic and debilitating, even fatal illness, especially if inhaled.

I suppose the alkaline earth radium, being highly radioactive, is just as insidious. And, just think! It was once a component of consumer items, from luminous paint to toothpaste and hair cream.
[quote]<snip>
Tetraethyl lead, which is Pb(CH[SUB]3[/SUB]CH[SUB]2[/SUB]O)[SUB]4[/SUB], will kill you very rapidly if you ingest it in milligram quantities. Curiously, it was added to petrol/gasoline until quite recently.[/QUOTE]
The use of tetraethyl lead in gasoline probably constitutes the largest mass poisoning in human history. It put so much lead in the environment, it frustrated the work of a graduate student named [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clair_Patterson]Clair Patterson[/url] who was trying to measure the age of the earth. His solution to the problem (achieved after he got his Ph.D.) was described in a 2014 episode of [i]Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey[/i] (a sequel to Carl Sagan's series [i]Cosmos[/i]), entitled [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clean_Room]The Clean Room[/url].

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;530078]I suppose the alkaline earth radium, being highly radioactive, is just as insidious. And, just think! It was once a component of consumer items, from luminous paint to toothpaste and hair cream.[/QUOTE]
You will be fine [URL="http://theradiumgirls.com"]trust me.[/URL]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;530079]You will be fine [URL="http://theradiumgirls.com"]trust me.[/URL][/QUOTE]Reminds me of the "matchstick girls" of the late Nineteenth Century. White (yellow) phosphorus was [i]great[/i] for making "strike-anywhere" matches. Not so great for the jaws of people working with the stuff, though...

In tentatively happy news, we submitted my first paper as first author today :) have one prior paper and a recently finished (but not yet published) book chapter, while the second paper that l'll be first author on is hopefully within a month of submission

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;531477]In tentatively happy news, we submitted my first paper as first author today :) have one prior paper and a recently finished (but not yet published) book chapter, while the second paper that l'll be first author on is hopefully within a month of submission[/QUOTE]
Congratulations!

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;531477]In tentatively happy news, we submitted my first paper as first author today :) have one prior paper and a recently finished (but not yet published) book chapter, while the second paper that l'll be first author on is hopefully within a month of submission[/QUOTE]

Congrats!! That is a nice first. I haven't done that yet and probably won't for a little while yet (curse of being a Research Assistant) but have 2 published, 1 preprint and ~4 in progress.
What subject area do you work in? I am in medical statistics.

[QUOTE=henryzz;531572]Congrats!! That is a nice first. I haven't done that yet and probably won't for a little while yet (curse of being a Research Assistant) but have 2 published, 1 preprint and ~4 in progress.
What subject area do you work in? I am in medical statistics.[/QUOTE]
I'm in the closing stages of a PhD in Plant Breeding (just passed my oral prelim a couple weeks ago). Hoping to finish in May 2020 if I can get the remaining papers whipped out quickly. My fiancee is an Oncology Pharmacist, so it's been nice being able to put my skills to use in various projects she's worked on. One of the biggest changes my field is seeing is a lot more "big data" emphasis and the associated shift in requirements towards statistical methods and coding skills. Interestingly, Ronald Fisher, who created much of the statistical analysis techniques still in use today was also a crop geneticist, and I think we're going to finally start making similar contributions once again with the new challenges facing us in the analysis of data.

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;531579]...and I think we're going to finally start making similar contributions once again with the new challenges facing us in the analysis of data.[/QUOTE]

I never had the patience for school, but I greately admire those who do. So long as they apply their training for advancement.

Well done! :tu:

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;531579]I'm in the closing stages of a PhD in Plant Breeding (just passed my oral prelim a couple weeks ago). Hoping to finish in May 2020 if I can get the remaining papers whipped out quickly.[/QUOTE]
Congrats on passing the prelims.

I learned early in grad school that "Qual" (shorthand for "Qualifying exams") was German for "torture." The rejoinder was that "Prelims" was [i]English[/i] for torture.

Getting in front of a panel of profs who almost certainly know the subject you're studying better than you do and taking questions from them can be a harrowing experience. And there are cases of grad students who failed their prelims, so never got their PhD's, because they simply "froze up" when the questions began.

Passing prelims is legal justification for getting drunk.

So is having your first paper as lead author accepted. Good luck!