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insulates the drop to minimize further evaporation. so you see a
drop dance around without boiling away, and without
interacting with the table and getting slowed down or smeared
out. then, i continued... i mentioned that the same principle
makes it possible to dip a wet hand into molen lead, or to drink
liquid nitrogen without injury.

i had done the latter several years earlier in a cryogenics lab,
and remembered the physics behind how it worked. naturally,
people around me were skeptical. "you can't drink the stuff...
it'll freeze your whole body... remember terminator 2?" but i
was sure of myself. i had done it before, and i believed in the
physics behind it. so, naturally, i poured myself a glass and
took a shot.

simple. swallow. blow smoke out nose and mouth and impress
everyone at the party. within about two seconds, i had
collapsed to the floor, unable to breathe or feel anything other
than intense pain. ambulance arrives. police arrive. trip to
hospital. admission. try to explain to ER staff exactly how
something like this happens. then i pass out. wake up next
morning connected to many machines, some beeping, others
performing more important functions like digesting my food
and breathing for me.

turns out that, in accordance with popular belief, you really
should not drink the stuff. i eventually learned a few things
about liquid nitrogen. like... while you can safely put it in your
mouth, and blow neat smoke patterns, you should never ever
ever swallow. first off, the closing of the epiglottis prevents the
nitrogen gas from escaping, so it is forced into your body
instead. second, your esophagus naturally constricts around
anything inside it, so, even if there is a thin protective gas layer,
the esophagus will find a way to make contact with the liquid
nitrogen.

also turns out that my memory was flawed. when i had done it
six years ago, i put it into my mouth and didn't swallow. over
time, that fine line between parlor trick and near fatal accident
must have blurred.

so... the consequences... my entire upper gi tract, from
epiglottis to the bottom of the stomach was badly burned,
scarred, and perforated. the gas also expanded quite a bit while
inside my body. it filled my chest cavity with several liters of
nitrogen gas, which was under enough pressure to collapse a