[Brenda Marais]

Brenda Marais asked the Naked Scientists:

Can you gas an entire family at night and rob them?
   
Friends of ours in South Africa were robbed the other night. The robbers broke a window and stole items like ipods, phones, laptops- some from right next to their beds inches from their faces-nobody woke up. The urban legends are that robbers some how distribute a gas which makes everyone sleep and they can move around the house freely. Is this true and possible? Pretty scary ideas.
   
Thank You
Brenda Marais

What do you think?

[Madidus_Scientia]

Chloroform might do the trick, but you wouldn't gas the whole house, otherwise the robbers themselves would pass out. If put on a rag and left over the victims face for a while it would work, but the stuff is no good for you and if left there too long would kill them. Maybe they were just very skilled and quiet robbers.

[SquarishTriangle]

The urban legends are that robbers some how distribute a gas which makes everyone sleep...

I had this funny impression that people tend to do that at night anyway, sleep!

If you gas the house and then get caught, you're going to be in trouble for TWO crimes.

Reckon if you monitored each member of the family closely enough, you might be able to work out when each person goes to bed (or if they all hit the sack simultaneously, all the better)...estimate when each will reach their deepest state of slumber and rob each room accordingly. ...hypothetically.

[RD]

In South Africa, gas is used to deter thieves ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/232777.stm
(Is it OK to use this on traffic wardens ? [])

[SquarishTriangle]

Speaking of burglary, a friend of mine once had her house broken into one night. The burgular had collected all his items of desire, all set to go...and then noticed the latest copy of some trashy women's mag on the coffee table. Opens it up to have a shot at the crossword. Family arrives home. Panic. Scurries out of the house minus any of the appliances he had intended to steal. Leaves the mag open on the crossword page...complete with his details to enter the weekly competition!

Moral of story: idiots are not cut out to be thieves.