Pergelator

Chlorophene

2026-11-09T15:56:47.341-08:00

Monday Starts on Saturday

I'm reading Monday Starts on Saturday by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, but only intermittently. I keep it in the car and pull it out when I am waiting for someone, usually my wife. Today I'm reading along and on page 100 I find this sentence:

Singing and talking strains appeared, and the descendants of the most ancient species now fed exclusively on a mixture of pyrethrum and chlorophene.

They're talking about bats, the book is mostly a bunch of confused nonsense, so 'pyrethrum and chlorophene' could be just words the authors invented, but let's see what our lord and master Google has to say.

Pyrethrum is pretty straight forward:

Pyrethrum refers to certain perennial daisy-like plants—most notably Dalmatian chrysanthemum and painted daisy — belonging to the aster family. These plants are famous for producing pyrethrins, natural organic compounds in their seed cases and flower heads that act as potent, fast-acting natural insecticides.

Chlorophene is another kettle of fish entirely:

Cychlorphine (often referred to or misspelled as chlorophene) is an emerging, highly potent synthetic opioid belonging to a class of compounds known as "orphines".

Key Facts About Cychlorphine

Potency: Laboratory and pharmacological data indicate cychlorphine is potentially up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, making even microscopic amounts life-threatening.

Origin: The compound was originally described in 1960s pharmaceutical research (such as a 1967 patent by Janssen Pharmaceuticals), but it was never approved for human use or medical application.

Illicit Supply: It has surfaced in the illicit drug market mixed into or masquerading as other substances, including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and counterfeit prescription pills.

Detection Challenges: Cychlorphine is not detectable by standard fentanyl test strips or routine hospital opioid urine screens, requiring specialized laboratory toxicology testing to confirm.

Overdose Reversal: While naloxone (Narcan) is still the primary emergency treatment, severe or deep respiratory depression from cychlorphine may require multiple doses of naloxone.

Google's first link goes to the National Library of Medicine page about Chlorophene where we find:

3.2.1 Physical Description

Ortho-benzyl-para-chlorophenol appears as white to light tan or pink flakes or white crystals. Insoluble in water. Slight phenolic odor. (NTP, 1992)

How do you know what it smells like, since inhaling a microscopic amount could kill you?

7.3 Reported Fatal Dose

3. 3= MODERATELY TOXIC: Probable oral lethal dose (human) 0.5-5 g/kg, between 1 oz and 1 pint for 70 kg person (150 lbs).

On one hand even microscopic amounts can be life-threatening and on the other a fatal dose could be as much as a pint. Something does not compute. There's probably some footnote in there somewhere that explains the discrepancy, but I ain't a chemist.

Anyway, looking over the page about Chlorophene at the National Library of Medicine (it's a very long, very sparse page), I found a surprisingly long list of manufacturers (67) of this drug. Being on the list may not mean anything other than they have the formula for the drug on their books.

	National Library of Medicine
Number	Company Name	PubChem SID	Purchasable Chemical
51	001Chemical	439988649	DY510814
28	10X CHEM	491495581	TX000R5M
9	A2B Chem	443817784	AA33494
27	AA BLOCKS	374150557	AA000PX6
23	AbaChemScene	463562650	CS-0066335
62	abcr GmbH	316400672	AB125458
2	Accel Scientific	507558058	EC000S5Q
15	Accela ChemBio Inc.	517727033	SY048947
63	Achemtek	508824336	MSK2543
29	Acmec Biochemical	485434378	B60870
55	Activate Scientific	442122558	AS140265
33	AiFChem an XtalPi Company	508424768	ACXEQC261
57	AKos Consulting & Solutions	105981470	AKOS001434264
64	Aladdin Scientific	504751675	B152826
19	Alfa Chemistry	486317154	APS120321
19	Alfa Chemistry	486412739	ACM120321
19	Alfa Chemistry	527715894	PI120321
47	Ambeed	377506182	A335646
1	Angene Chemical	207118804	AGN-PC-0JK8JM
1	Angene Chemical	521716097	AG000PZY
6	AppChem	503289682	AI33494
12	AstaTech Inc.	458781152	D88696
66	BenchChem	445697205	B1669242
8	Biorbyt	516470329	orb1909603
8	Biorbyt	525002152	orb3139480
8	Biorbyt	528787049	orb1940359
31	BLD Pharm	377352155	BD17759
5	BOC Sciences	341110978	120-32-1
5	BOC Sciences	488319150	NP2809
11	CAPOT	152240834	15819
50	CATO Research Chemicals Inc.	513788494	CCPD100935
16	Chem-Space.com Database	434441788	CSSB00000211996
44	ChemoSapiens	514148688	314486
46	CHIRALEN	532080698	C965305-CT
61	Clinivex	497168154	RCLST000573
10	Cooke Chemical Co. Ltd	478258996	A1588712
49	CymitQuimica	470236302	CQ_120-32-1
41	DC Chemicals	439515919	DC33723
48	Debye Scientific Co. Ltd	387058932	DB-041547
22	DempoChem	523957873	120-32-1
67	DSL Chemicals	475715860	C004749
52	eMolecules	490660654	519767
26	Enamine	473167828	EN300-21338
26	Enamine	475368553	Z104495406
26	Enamine	521602300	EBC-332138
43	eNovation Chemicals	496389750	Y1466745
17	Finetech Industry Limited	164796459	FT-0611303
25	Fluorochem	527865544	F320130
20	Hairui Chemical	375645451	HR100007
32	Hangzhou APIChem Technology	92710176	AC-10752
24	J&H Chemical Co. ltd	469489269	JH619864
24	J&H Chemical Co. ltd	477518052	JH486095
30	Key Organics/BIONET	442079612	BS-20052
21	LGC Standards	340508030	DRE-C10572000
21	LGC Standards	485254505	TRC-C375000
21	LGC Standards	495993976	TRC-C375000-10G
18	Mcule	167376482	MCULE-8594187019
45	MedChemexpress MCE	488241725	HY-118547
7	MicroCombiChem GmbH	483477734	MCC10433
42	MolCore	405441982	MC510814
42	MolCore	446214617	DY510814
34	Molport	87623734	MolPort-000-145-915
35	MuseChem	355154639	R056891
4	Oakwood Products	312606154	320130
13	Pi Chemicals	322089174	PI-32433
60	Quality Control Solutions	522887188	RG-A261687
14	RR Scientific	472449995	R004004
65	Sigma-Aldrich	24879046	548618_ALDRICH
39	Sinfoo Biotech	404796854	S018324
53	Smolecule	438454079	S524058
59	Starshine Chemical	464752353	starbld0586441
40	SynHet - Synthetic Heterocycles	506016282	CAS-120-32-1
38	TargetMol	494442850	T25266
36	TCI (Tokyo Chemical Industry)	87563799	B0812
56	Thermo Fisher Scientific	459260104	GID_900000007869679
3	TimTec	124530890	ST029301
3	TimTec	143431076	SBB056562
37	VladaChem	381009696	VL264710-100G
54	Win-Win Chemical	438495889	1008
58	Yuhao Chemical	347739804	RT12304
58	Yuhao Chemical	463761116	LL0468

10 Short Videos #6311

2026-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6311

run Sweetpea run 🤣🤣 - Turkeys
Westernize or Die: Japan’s Meiji Calculation - Sarah Paine
Why Britain Gave Up America - Sarah Paine
When This Restaurant Used a Dice Roll to Make Customers Order More Food
Quantum Entanglement Explained 🤯
Book Goblin is running out of space.
This Grass Becomes Something Millions Use Every Day - Tatmai mats
"Rigger": The Parachute Packer and Inspector, the Guardian of Paratroopers' Lives - Thailand
Fair is fair MOM 🤨
The KGB Bugged the Typewriters

Funnies

2026-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

More China

2026-11-08T18:48:12.157-08:00

China Was Ahead for 700 Years. So Why Did Britain Industrialize First?
Gribnax

Iowa Man sent me this excellent video. Previous China post.

Round Butte Dam Shut-off Valve

2026-11-08T17:47:43.324-08:00

Power for Tomorrow: The Round Butte Dam Modernization Story
Portland General Electric

Round Butte dam is on the Deschutes River about ten miles west of Madras.

Round Butte Dam, 1965, Looking South

Deschutes River
Click to embiggenate

Helium & Quantum Mechanics

2026-11-08T13:40:16.213-08:00

I finally saw quantum mechanics with my own eyes... (It's spookier than I expected)
Veritasium

Pretty great video, as are most of the videos Veritasium produces. He lays out the ground work clearly, talking about where we get helium and the early research into trying to reach absolute zero. At the end he throws in a bit of philosophy about scientific research.:

"So perhaps sometimes making the breakthrough doesn't require any extra intelligence, hard work or even luck. Maybe all it takes is for us to let go of the way we believe the world to be and instead, just for a moment, try to see it as it really is."

And then we have this short video I came across that gives us a very clear and short explanation of quantum entanglement.

Quantum Entanglement Explained 🤯
RootedWisconsin

Funnies

2026-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6310

2026-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6310

Earth from the stratosphere
THE DIAL REWRITES ITSELF - Wristwatch
How a Machine Threads Nut After Nut Without Backing the Cutter Out Each Time
How We Replace Those ORANGE Balls on Power Lines! 🚁⚡
today's mushroom finds 🍄
Elizabeth Holmes at her next interview...
30 seconds. That’s all it takes to learn how to deploy the R7. - Anti-drone drone
China’s $44B Impossible Railway The Hardest Project Ever
October 21, 2026 - Ben & Jerry's dog treats
And That's Why Picard Was the Best Starfleet Captain - USB connecters are 4 dimensional

10 Short Videos #6309

2026-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6309

con viento 🛬👨🏼‍✈️🌲 - with wind - small plane lands on dirt strip
The gazelle played those dogs 🤣🤣
Anduril's New Bolt M kamikaze drone!
Giant harvester
Captain, crew and engine. All me 😂🇫🇮🔥 - Self service ferry
Heaven's IT Guy - When Your Faith Keeps Crashing
PART 7 READING EMAILS - Electrician reading customer fantasy
Cost in Units of 2012 Chevrolet Camaro - Military munitions
If they made comedy like this 😂 we would have less stress - Trunk monkey
My life is a lie pal 🐒 - Sam Alkhatib

Funnies

2026-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

China

2026-11-06T18:39:17.435-08:00

is it so different?
Nanjec
"The biggest natively spoken language on the entire planet." (40 second mark)
We have watched several Chinese historical fantasy dramas on Netflix, half a dozen this year. The clothes and sets are fabulous, and there are long scenes where we have fancy people just standing around and talking. The talk is mostly in consequential, but every so often someone drops a hint and, if you are paying attention, you will start to pick up on the evil plot the bad guys are making. But they all end the same way, happily, the guy gets the girl, the villains are foiled, and all is right with the world.

We watch these shows in Chinese and read the subtitles. Even after all this exposure, spoken Chinese to me is still incomprehensible, so the I found the above video to be enlightening.

Inside Chongqing’s Massive Hot Pot Industry
saintcavish
I don't much care about Hot Pot (an interactive, communal dining style where diners cook raw, bite-sized ingredients right at the table in a pot of simmering soup or stock), but first minute and a half he gives an overview of the town of Chongqing, and I found that interesting.

Changqing is in the middle of China

Chongqing is a big place. This map is about 500 miles wide.

There's a lot going on in China and my knowledge of the place is decidedly lacking. I have a pretty good understanding of the history of Western Civilization, but my understanding of the history of Asia is pretty poor. To that I end I looked up the section on Chinese history at Powell's City of Books today. Powell's, if you don't know, is big place, it's three story building and covers a whole city block. They've got a zillion books, but surprisingly, the section on Chinese history was only two books cases, and one case was devoted entirely to Communist China, i.e. the People's Republic of China (PRC), not be confused with the Republic of China (ROC - Taiwan).

Anyway, I picked up a copy of Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh. Don't know when I'll get around to reading it. I'm only halfway through the copy of A Quantum Mythology that I picked up in Las Vegas two months ago.

I've also encountered a few short videos about China, collected in a playlist here.

Intel

2026-11-06T15:53:36.403-08:00

Agentic AI Concept – AI Generated

Talking to my lawn man the other day and he tells me about the Hillsboro Herald, a local news site / blog, so I go take a look and I find some curious stuff, like this story about the local politcal fight over data centers, and this story about Intel:

The Call Intel Couldn’t Give — Why Wall Street Misread the Fab 28 Panic

Sum dood has been collecting financial data about Intel for a few years and is feeding it an AI program, presumably to predict the future so he can make good bets in the stock market. It's kind of a long and complicated story about AI and finance. I'm not really interested, but you might be.

10 Short Videos #6308

2026-11-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6308

Bunny came back for a rematch ! - dogs racing quarter horse
My new Halloween costume🎃| 2026
This Bird Can Fly Again
(Adrenaline / Drift Focus): SIDEWAYS AT MAXIMUM LEAN ANGLE! Kawasaki Ninja H2R Slow Motion Drift
I used to dream of this - Flying cars
Smallest Fighter, Biggest Weapon - Crab & jellyfish
卷 4️⃣同行先天打工聖體人 - Volume 4️⃣ Fellow Travelers with Innate Working Spirits
Do you think he liked his present - highland cow
Cobra Picks a Fight With the WRONG Cow! 🐍🐄
Check out the latest creation from Kindig-It designs named “Shark Bite”

Funnies

2026-11-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

1964 Plymouth Barracuda

2026-11-05T15:59:57.207-08:00

1964 Plymouth Barracuda

1964 Plymouth Barracuda Interior

273 V8 Small Block Engine

Base price of the Barracuda in 1964 was $2,512. According to Wikipedia, that is equivalent to $26,000 in today's money. According to the Pergelator (me), that $2500 is equivalent to $250,000 in today's money, which means cars cost only about one-fifth of what they cost 60 years ago. This is what modern manufacturing has brought us - material goods that are vastly cheaper in terms of real value than they used to be. What this also means is there is a whole lot more profit to be made from making and selling things, which might explain the proliferation of very wealthy people.

CPAP

2026-11-05T14:24:08.154-08:00

Disassembled Philipps Respironics CPAP Machine

I have been using a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine for about ten years. I was having a terrible time sleeping, went to a sleep clinic, did an overnight sleep study and I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. So my airway would collapse, I would stop breathing which set off an internal alarm and I would wake up momentarily and resume breathing. This was happening over and over every night, which kind of explains why I wasn't feeling rested in the morning.

Doc prescribed a CPAP machine and it made a heck of a difference. I'd wake up in the morning feeling rested. It was a god send. I've been using it every since.

I went back for a check up maybe a year later (maybe more) and doc prescribed a new machine. The one I had had been running for eight hours a night which is like 3,000 hours a year. Ok, no sweat off my brow, insurance paid for it all. The new machine was smaller and started automatically, so I used it.

About a month ago it started acting up. Wouldn't start reliably and sometimes it would just stop. Coaxing it didn't help, so I pulled out the old one and started using it and it's been working fine.

Being mindful of the old dictum that "two is one and one is none", I thought I would see if I could get the new one fixed. Turns out you can't, not without going through the doctor. The CPAP people have got this market sewn up tight, they have the power of the Federal government behind them and the only way you can get one is through your doctor. Quite a racket. Did find that CPAP machines only have a service life of five years, after that they won't even try to repair them. Since mine is ten years old there was no point in even trying to get it repaired.

New machines cost around a thousand dollars, and at least one place has a tame doctor that will prescribe one for you.

Looking for information, I came across some posts on reddit talking about building your own. It should be a fairly simple matter. All you need is a small blower and a way to calibrate the pressure. I think mine is set to around 4 cm of water, with is like 1/20th of a PSI, which isn't very much, and maybe that's all you need. You could get fancy and monitor the pressure and adjust the blower speed on the fly, but you would want some kind of fail safe. You don't want it to start blasting higher pressure air into your lungs. You might wake up before that did any damage, or would you? Not something you want to mess with.

There's also the problem of how you measure pressure that low. There must be a way, after all Philipps does it.

Anyway after I got done poking around on the internet I decided to try taking my new machine apart. The only tricky part was the tiny screw holding the exhaust port on. It was too small for any of my regular Torx drivers, but fortunately one of the bits in my set of security bits was small enough. Three more normal screws and then it was just a matter of bending the locking tabs enough to release the components and now we have the results at the top of this post.

I put it back together and it seems to be as happy as it was before I took it apart. With luck it appreciated my poking around and will go back to working properly. With luck the old one will last for another ten years.

And even if it doesn't, I sleep just fine curled up on my side in my recliner.

P. S. Siemens (which makes Respironics machines) has completely pulled out of the U. S. market after someone complained about the foam they were using to muffle the sound of the fan. I suspect a U. S. company was stirring the pot and Siemens decided they didn't need the headache and just quit.

10 Short Videos #6307

2026-11-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6307

It's way easier to get a driving licence in some countries compared to others
Funniest moments of life 13 - Africans
When you have to show your talent to win her over - dancing bird
The Ripper 2.0 - Making heavy cuts with a lathe
just another day in the rut in Pennsylvania - bucks butting heads
My Thunderbolt 1000AT Test - Manual Activation - 10/6/26 - Air raid siren
Lasern is mei Lem! - Laser cutting is my life!
You need to spend five minutes with someone to realize they're an idiot | Ricky Mokel
Bluetooth ratchet chain EZ Binders - read the comments
This 2,000HP Yacht is on EVERY millionaire's wishlist... 🤯 - read the comments

Funnies

2026-11-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

1958 Plymouth Fury

2026-11-04T16:46:48.954-08:00

1958 Plymouth Fury

1958 Plymouth Fury Interior

1958 Plymouth Fury 350 Cubic Inch Displacement Engine

Google stole the interior and engine photos from Hemmings, but the original page is gone.

Dreams

2026-11-04T15:23:55.764-08:00

A couple of short dreams I've had over the last couple of days.

1) I am out for a walk. I see a tall man walking. He might be six inches over six feet tall, he's slender and light brown in color. He might be African, hard to tell. It's Mr. Runner. I call him that because I have seen him running in the area several times, though I have never spoken to him. But now he's walking, slowly. As I get closer I call out to him, but I get no response. Now I see that he is barefoot. I call out again and this time he turns and starts heading in a new direction. He mumbles a few words of gibberish that I cannot understand. I'm not sure he was even speaking to me as he never makes eye contact. We continue on our separate ways.

2) Mr. Roomer rents a room in Mr. Jabon's house. Mr. Jabon has just returned home from work and Mr. Roomer has something he wants to show him so he walks down the hall to the living room and knocks on the door. The door is an oversized, plain brown wood, sliding door. It is not a barn door, but it is not a fancy bit of woodworking either. we can hear the drone of the TV coming from behind the door. The lady of the house opens the door. She is of average height and build (not obese), conventionally dressed and pleasant. She tells Mr. Roomer that Mr. Jabon has had a hard day and is not available right now. Now we hear Mr. Jabon call out, "it's all right" and hear him getting up.. Mr. Jabon comes to the door and and he and Mr. Roomer go off to the kitchen.

There was a third dream, but it has escaped.

10 Short Videos #6306

2026-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6306

Canada is all over the place with metric adoption
So it turns out it's not that easy for them to find a wife, either - Golden-collared manakin bird
Flying the famous Eiger line - wingsuit
After four hours of intense competition, who came out on top and who lost? - Orca versus seal
My expression was just as surprised as that fish's. - sea snake works with big fish to hunt small fish
🛑 599CC INLINE-FOUR SCREAMER UNLEASHED IN FULL LEAN & GRAVITY-DEFYING LEVITATION! - Motorcycle racing
Boston Buried Its Highway Underground 🛣️
No Workers Needed! Somax SM-21M/07A Auto Serging Hemming Workstation = Zero Labor, 2x Speed!
How a 1992 Ball Bearing Let Yo-Yos Sleep for 30 Minutes
An aquatic turtle living in the desert

Funnies

2026-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Funnies

2026-11-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6305

2026-11-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

10 Short Videos #6305

U.S. Marines: This Sounds INSANE at Full Volume! 😂
Thanks to this capture team, it can finally feast to its heart's content. - Whale shark
Seals Are Incredible
How Does a Submarine Launch a Missile From Underwater?
This Tiny Lathe Is Actually REAL!
Another surprisingly good question from conspiracy dummies - Moon landing
When Bro Gets His Allowance. - Flying outboard motor boat
Smooth skills
Two Islands 35 km Apart, Two Different Worlds: The Wallace Line
The Black Hole That Makes Stars

Ghost Riders

2026-11-02T22:54:05.027-08:00

Neil LeVang - Ghost Riders In The Sky (1961) 4K
Classic Hits Studio

Riders of Skaith posted this video which got me thinking that maybe I had posted this same video before. I have posted Ghost Riders In The Sky before, three times in fact, once in 2010, again in 2016 and lastly in 2022, but it was the version by Sons of the Pioneers. And I also found Attack of the Ghost Riders by The Ravonettes. I guess this is a ghost rider friendly blog.