Making science - the Beano way
Back when I was about 5 or 6 years old, I had started to read the Beano comics for the first time. One Beano cover had Dennis and Gnasher up to their usual menacing antics, with Dennis probably firing his pea-shooter, but Gnasher was blowing into a pepper pot, to make their victims sneeze.

So, that's where I started my experiment. Could I make people sneeze, just by blowing into a pepper pot? I sneaked into a room, with a pepper pot in my hand, breathed in a gulp of air, and proceeded to blow into the pepper pot.

A cloud of pepper had gone straight into my eyeballs, and I had to be taken to A&E, to make sure my eyes weren't permanently damaged.

Conclusion: Science in comics isn't always accurate, but I managed to discover the effects of pepper spray.
(The Entity Remembered his login details on, Thu 16 Aug 2012, 0:10, 4 replies)

What?
Pepper spray is made from chillies.
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Thu 16 Aug 2012, 5:00, closed)

I'd imagine that black pepper to the eyes
would have much the same effect as actual pepper spray.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 16 Aug 2012, 12:45, closed)

yup
Self defence sprays use a few different ingredients but the most common is capsaicin, from chilli peppers. Illegal in the uk, but easy to make with some insanity sauce, water, and a spray bottle.

Other variations are cs, mace, etc
(tyrellsOwl, Thu 16 Aug 2012, 12:45, closed)

I once tried to throw pepper into my own face to see if it'd make me sneeze.
Instead, I just threw it straight into my eyes, not the most enjoyable!
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Thu 16 Aug 2012, 13:36, closed)