Fun Friday Fire Project - Homemade Fountain Firework
Friday July 31, 2009
Today's pyro project requires only two ingredients, which you already have if you have made smoke bombs. The fountain firework shoots smoke and violet fire into the air. You may ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 31
Friday July 31, 2009
On July 31, 1999, NASA's Lunar Prospector mission ended with a dive into the south pole of the Moon. Lunar Prospector was part of the Discovery Program, NASA's attempt ... Read More
Oxford Scientists Make Transparent Aluminum
Thursday July 30, 2009
You may remember Scotty made a giant aquarium out of transparent aluminum back in Star Trek IV. The scientists at Oxford aren't producing transparent aluminum on that scale, but they ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 30
Thursday July 30, 2009
July 30th is Vladimir Zworykin's birthday. Zworykin was a Russian born, American engineer who was a major contributor to the early development of television. He designed a method of transmitting ... Read More
Wordless Wednesday - Make Hot Ice
Wednesday July 29, 2009
Got vinegar and baking soda? If so, you can make hot ice or sodium acetate. This safe chemical can be used to make your own heat pack or you can ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 29
Wednesday July 29, 2009
July 29th is NASA's birthday. In October of 1957, the Soviet Union greatly injured the pride of the United States by launching their first satellite, Sputnik into orbit. The United ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 28
Tuesday July 28, 2009
July 28th is Charles Townes birthday. Townes was the American physicist who created the first working maser. A maser is a device that was the precursor to the laser that ... Read More
Safe Bottled Water
Monday July 27, 2009
I imagine you've heard about the cover-up relating to the benzene contamination of the Camp Lejeune water supply, which resulted in about a million people drinking and bathing in carcinogenic ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 27
Monday July 27, 2009
On July 27, 1844 John Dalton died. Dalton was an English chemist and physicist who proposed what has become known as Dalton's atomic theory. This theory puts forth the idea ... Read More
Make Copper Sulfate
Sunday July 26, 2009
Copper sulfate crystals are among the most beautiful crystals you can grow, but you might not have access to a chemistry lab or want to order the copper sulfate from ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 26
Sunday July 26, 2009
July 26th marks the passing of William A. Mitchell. Mitchell was a food chemist for the General Foods Corporation and the inventor of products like Pop Rocks and the orange ... Read More
What Color of Light Do You Emit?
Saturday July 25, 2009
Scientists have known for a while now that humans emit very low levels of visible light. I'm not talking about infrared radiation or heat... this is light in the visible ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 25
Saturday July 25, 2009
July 25th is Louise Brown's birthday. Brown was the first successful "test-tube" baby to be born. She was born as a result of research done by Dr. Patrick Steptoe and ... Read More
Fun Friday Fire Project - Burning Money
Friday July 24, 2009
Today's fun fire project demonstrates fire doesn't necessary burn what it touches. In this case, you're going to set a bill alight and watch it not-burn. Are you confident enough ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 24
Friday July 24, 2009
On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 capsule returned to Earth and splashed down near Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. The three astronauts were picked up by the USS ... Read More
Element Valence Periodic Table
Thursday July 23, 2009
You're probably aware there is more than one way to define valence in chemistry. In general, it refers to the number of bonds that can be formed by an element. ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 23
Thursday July 23, 2009
July 23rd marks the passing of William Ramsay. Ramsay was a British chemist who discovered four new gases in the atmosphere. He liquefied air and separated each different gas as ... Read More
Wordless Wednesday - Glowing Alum Crystals
Wednesday July 22, 2009
These are glowing crystals that you can grow in your kitchen. Try it!
On This Day in Science History - July 22
Wednesday July 22, 2009
On July 22, 1933, aviator Wiley Post completed the first solo flight around the world, setting a speed record for around the world travel. Post set the previous record two ... Read More
Poisonous Mushrooms
Tuesday July 21, 2009
Did you know eating raw (edible) mushrooms could be bad for you? I'm talking about the type you might get from the grocery store and slice up to put on ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 21
Tuesday July 21, 2009
July 21st marks the passing of Alan Shepard. Shepard was one of the original seven Mercury astronauts and the first American to enter space. He was supposed to command the ... Read More
My Favorite Blog Comment
Monday July 20, 2009
I enjoy reading comments made in response to my blog posts. The post which has received the most comments was an innocuous (or so I thought) warning that eating too ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 20
Monday July 20, 2009
On September 12, 1962, President John Kennedy made a speech at Rice University in Texas affirming America's commitment to its space program. At one point in the speech he said:
We ... Read More
Element 112 is Named Copernicium
Sunday July 19, 2009
Element 112, which has been going by the name "Ununbium", has been given a new name, "Copernicium". Copernicium has been named for Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed the heliocentric solar system. ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 19
Sunday July 19, 2009
July 19th is Edward Pickering's birthday. Pickering was an American astronomer and director of the Harvard Observatory for 40 years. One of the more notable achievements of his tenure was ... Read More
Attractive and Repulsive Forces in Light
Saturday July 18, 2009
You may or may not be aware that attractive and repulsive forces have been theorized to exist in light. Theory is all well and good, but scientists prefer empirical data. ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 18
Saturday July 18, 2009
July 18 is Robert Hooke's birthday. Hooke was a central figure in English science through the latter half of the 17th Century. As the Royal Society's Curator of Experiments, he ... Read More
Fun Friday Fire Project - Flaming Gel
Friday July 17, 2009
This week's fire project comes from one of NurdRage's YouTube videos. It's a recipe for flaming gel, which they call flaming jelly. You only need 3 common household ingredients to ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 17
Friday July 17, 2009
On July 17, 1975, an Apollo capsule carrying three astronauts docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule carrying two cosmonauts. It was the first time two different countries met in space. ... Read More
Comprehensive List of Chemistry Journals
Thursday July 16, 2009
Back in my graduate student days, my doctoral research advisor asked me to write up my results and submit them for publication. He wanted me to learn how the process ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 16
Thursday July 16, 2009
July 16, 1945 marks the beginning of the Atomic Age. The United States tested the first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. It was the result of three years ... Read More
Wordless Wednesday - Rainbow in a Glass
Wednesday July 15, 2009
This pretty rainbow density column only requires sugar, water and food coloring!
On This Day in Science History - July 15
Wednesday July 15, 2009
July 15th is Jocelyn Bell Burnell's birthday. She is an Irish astrophysicist who discovered the first four pulsars. She was a doctoral student under Antony Hewish who built a radio ... Read More
I Blame the Bohr Model
Tuesday July 14, 2009
The other day I mentioned that I had added an index of 11th grade chemistry topics and that I was hyperlinking content so you could learn high school chemistry online. ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 14
Tuesday July 14, 2009
July 14th marks the passing of William Perkin. Perkin was an English chemist best known for starting the synthetic dye industry with his accidental discovery of the aniline dye mauveine. ... Read More
11th Grade Chemistry Topics
Monday July 13, 2009
If you're taking chemistry in high school it doesn't have to be in the 11th grade, but it seems like most schools offer 10th grade biology, 11th grade chemistry, and ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 13
Monday July 13, 2009
July 13th marks the passing of Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz. Kekulé was a German theoretical chemist who figured out how carbon atoms could have a valence of 4 and ... Read More
Have You Heard about Graphene?
Sunday July 12, 2009
Graphene is a carbon sheet that is one atom thick where the carbon atoms are bonded to each other to form a honeycomb array. The film is stronger than its ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 12
Sunday July 12, 2009
July 12th is George Eastman's birthday. Eastman was the American inventor of rolled photographic film. He formed the Eastman Kodak Company to bring photography to the average person. For $25, ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 11
Saturday July 11, 2009
On July 11, 1979, NASA commanded its Skylab space station to tumble and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. NASA believed the tumble would cause the station to break up as it ... Read More
Fun Friday Fire Project - Green Fire
Friday July 10, 2009
Green fire is the easiest and possibly most spectacular color of fire you can produce. You only need two inexpensive, readily-available ingredients. Although some people think the bright green color ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 10
Friday July 10, 2009
On July 10, 1962 NASA launched AT&T's Telstar 1 satellite. The satellite was designed to relay television and telephone signals between the United States and Europe. Shortly after orbit was ... Read More
Importance of Chemistry
Thursday July 9, 2009
What is the importance of chemistry? If you have to take a chemistry class, you may be wondering the answer to that question. Knowing why you're taking a class somehow ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 9
Thursday July 9, 2009
July 9th marks the passing of an important figure in chemistry, Amedeo Avogadro. Avogadro was the Italian chemist who formulated the ideal gas law that equal volumes of gas at ... Read More
Wordless Wednesday - Rock Candy
Wednesday July 8, 2009
Grow your own sugar crystals or rock candy. These crystals are good enough to eat!
On This Day in Science History - June 8
Wednesday July 8, 2009
June 8th marks the passing of Josef Loschmidt. Loschmidt was an Austrian chemist who is best known for his close estimation of the size of air molecules. His value was ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 7
Tuesday July 7, 2009
June 7th is Giuseppe Piazzi's birthday. Piazzi was the Italian astronomer who discovered the asteroid Ceres. He first believed he had observed a new star but found it had moved ... Read More
Colored Fire - Where to Find Metal Salts
Monday July 6, 2009
Since Ira Flatow's Science Friday show aired on NPR, I've been getting requests for additional information about where to find the metal salts that can be used to make colored ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 6
Monday July 6, 2009
On July 6, 1885, Louis Pasteur tested his rabies vaccine on Joseph Meister. Meister was a nine year old boy who had been badly bitten by a rabid dog ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - June 5
Sunday July 5, 2009
June 5th is the birthday of John Howard Northrop. Northrop was an American biochemist who perfected a method to isolate and crystallize enzymes. This allowed him to examine the chemistry ... Read More
Make a Smoke Ring Cannon
Saturday July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July! Here's a project for you to try today: make a smoke ring cannon. This is a tube that you fill with smoke that has a hole ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 4
Saturday July 4, 2009
July 4th is the American Independence Day typically celebrated with firework displays. In 2005, NASA arranged their own fireworks display by purposely ramming part of their Deep Impact probe into ... Read More
Fun Friday Fire Project - Homemade Firecrackers
Friday July 3, 2009
Of course! You need to get primed for the big fireworks displays tomorrow, so get started with firecrackers. Now... the thing about this project is, the more gunpowder you use, ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 3
Friday July 3, 2009
July 3, 1969 was supposed to be the day the Soviets launched their new N1 rocket. The N1 was their largest rocket design and their answer to the United States' ... Read More
Dr. Anne Helmenstine on NPR's Science Friday on July 3rd
Thursday July 2, 2009
Annette Heist of NPR asked me if I'd join her for Science Friday on July 3rd to talk about science projects for kids, especially 4th of July science projects. It ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 2
Thursday July 2, 2009
July 2nd is the birthday of Hans Bethe. Hans Bethe was a German-American physicist who was awarded the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics for describing how stars create their energy. ... Read More
Wordless Wednesday - Easy Smoke Bomb
Wednesday July 1, 2009
You only need two non-toxic ingredients to make smoke bombs for the 4th of July. I've got a video tutorial for you or you can use the written step-by-step smoke ... Read More
On This Day in Science History - July 1
Wednesday July 1, 2009
July 1st marks the passing of the man who discovered the process to vulcanize rubber. Charles Goodyear spent several years trying to find a method to convert rubber into a ... Read More