I miss Derek Lowe's "Thing I Won't Work With" series. I know there have always been large gaps between those posts, but it's been seven years since the last one so I guess they might be over. An excerpt from a favourite of mine:

"But I have to admit, I'd never thought much about the next analog of hydrogen peroxide. Instead of having two oxygens in there, why not three: HOOOH? Indeed, why not? This is a general principle that can be extended to many other similar situations. Instead of being locked in a self-storage unit with two rabid wolverines, why not three? Instead of having two liters of pyridine poured down your trousers, why not three? And so on - it's a liberating thought. It's true that adding more oxygen-oxygen bonds to a compound will eventually liberate the tiles from your floor and your windows from their frames, but that comes with the territory."

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...