Many times have I innocently looked on as a colleague has picked up a lab report from a lab bench only to see it crumble into a myriad of icy shards. I must have spilt some N2. But that was in my wild and rebellious youth. Something happened a while back which made me mend my ways. I've never told anyone about it before, but I may as well come clean now.
Liquid nitrogen is cold.
Extremely cold, in fact. Liquid nitrogen is colder than that. Minus 196 degrees centigrade. Dip something in it and expect to see something else emerge. Something that shatters in the twinkling of an eye.