The 80th element
Alarmed Florida high school officials lock down their campus when students bring thermometers to school — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation
By The Week Staff | December 8, 2012
Only in America #1
ThinkStock/Photos.com
A
Florida high school went into lockdown after chemistry students brought thermometers to school. Asked to bring in an element from the periodic table, several students brought in thermometers containing mercury. Alarmed school officials, citing the toxicity of mercury, locked 2,200 students in their classes and summoned a hazmat team. "It's almost stupid," said sophomore Kyle Salvaggio.
MOST READ
MOST SHARED
- The last word: He said he was leaving. She ignored him.
- How typeface influences the way we read and think
- WATCH: Australia's army chief demonstrates how you address sex abuse
- Turkey's 'Standing Man': Can a lone protester change history?
- 32 TV shows to watch in 2013 [Updated]
- Ben Bernanke to Wall Street: It's the beginning of the end
- 7 grammar rules you really should pay attention to
- Everything you need to know about investing in gold
- The FBI has purposefully — and, it says, justifiably — shot 150 Americans since 1993
- What the Chinese public is saying about Edward Snowden
- Michael Hastings, remembered
- How typeface influences the way we read and think
- Former employees say Bank of America lied to a lot of homeowners
- How immigration reform could save taxpayers nearly $1 trillion
- The last telegram ever is about to be sent
- The last word: He said he was leaving. She ignored him.
- WATCH: Australia's army chief demonstrates how you address sex abuse
- The daily gossip: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have allegedly chosen a baby name, and more
- Can fetuses masturbate?
- What language is your baby speaking?
