Chemistry
Is the World Cup Trophy Hollow?
Thirty-two football (soccer) teams from around the globe are battling it out in South Africa this month for the World Cup. The trophy isn't a cup, though. It's a gold statue of a man holding up a globe. The trophy's creator, Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga, described it:The lines spring out from th...
June 15, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Musical Interlude
One more suggestion that I left off of Tuesday's holiday gift list: The band They Might Be Giants released their album "Here Comes Science" earlier this year. And here are videos from three of the songs, "Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)," "Meet the Elements" and "Sci...
December 10, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Picture of the Week—Pentacene
If you've ever taken a chemistry class, you have seen plenty of diagrams of molecules. If you made it to organic chemistry, you fiddled with one of the tinker-toy-like molecule kits, building your own hydrocarbons and amino acids (I probably still have my kit somewhere). But we take it for granted ...
September 04, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Stopping Sharks by Blasting Their Senses
Chemist and businessman Eric Stroud develops shark repellents to protect sharks from being ensnared in commercial fisheries
July 17, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Picture of the Week—Fireworks
It's sad to say, but fireworks are not environmentally friendly. They use potassium perchlorate as an oxidizer (to provide oxygen so that the fireworks can burn). The perchlorate is a pollutant that has shown up in water supplies. In addition, those pretty colors often come from heavy metals, which...
July 04, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Periodic Table of Videos Celebrates with Cake
Cake may normally fall under the purview of Food and Think, but I couldn't let them have these videos. Last week, The Periodic Table of Videos (I've shared their ytterbium and hydrogen videos in the past) celebrated one year on YouTube by baking a cake in the lab (first video) and then trying one o...
June 29, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Drugs' Odd Side Effects
You know those prescription drug ads on TV, right? At some point, they’ll list the drug’s side effects (often trying unsuccessfully to fit the list into the commercial “naturally” as if people really talk to each other that way). I’m sure I’m not alone in tuning that part out; we all learned our le...
June 01, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Become a Mad Scientist
If you ever meet Theo Gray, you’ll realize that the name “mad scientist” is probably a good description. He has serious credentials (he co-founded the company that produces the ever-useful Mathematica computer program), but his Wooden Periodic Table Table (for which he won an Ig Nobel Prize in Chem...
May 04, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Just What Is Ytterbium Anyway?
The Last Page column (our funny page) in Smithsonian’s May issue is dedicated to people who missed the cut for Macarthur “Genius” Grants. An example:STAN LINDBERG -- EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTForging new frontiers in chemistry as he seeks to be the first man to consume every single element of the periodi...
April 21, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Meet the Elements
There are 118 elements in the periodic table, from hydrogen to ununoctium. Chemists at the University of Nottingham set out to produce videos explained each one (available at The Periodic Table of Videos). They accomplished that recently and are now improving upon their original work. Just released...
January 12, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Cook Your Bird with Thermite!
Combine aluminum powder and a metal oxide (such as iron oxide) and you get what is known as a thermite reaction, which is very hot and very fast. Thermite’s main use is to bind train tracks. I suppose you could try cooking with it, but despite the video evidence above that it has been done, I would...
November 27, 2008 |
By Sarah Zielinski
