Sunday, August 28

Chemistry Tutors in Singapore (Adapted from About.com Chemistry)

Do a Science Fair Project

Kids age 5-7 wearing safety goggles.

Find an Idea and Get Started

Doing a science fair project is a great way to learn about the scientific method and explore topics that interest you.
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Science Fair Help


Fire Magic Tricks

Eric is breathing fire by blowing corn starch over an open flame.
Use chemistry to command fire! These science magic tricks allow you to control the temperature of fire, light it without matches, change its colors and more.
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Fun Fire Tricks to Try

Chemistry Spotlight10


National Bow Tie Day



Sunday August 28, 2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011 is National Bow Tie Day! Why should you care? Well, for one thing, a traditional long tie is a safety hazard in the chemistry lab. Perhaps that is why the stereotypical sharp-dressed chemist is portrayed wearing a bow tie. Or maybe it's because chemists are just that cool. Either way, now that you know about the holiday, what are you going to do to celebrate?
Photo: Svante Arrhenius, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1903), but the classic bow tie never goes out of style!
Chemist Photo Gallery | Lab Safety Contract

This Day in Science History - August 28 - Godfrey Hounsfield



Saturday August 27, 2011

August 28th is Godfrey Hounsfield's birthday. Hounsfield was an English electrical engineer who developed the computer assisted tomography or CAT scan with Alan Cormack. Hounsfield thought about a device that could determine the contents of a box by scanning it with x-rays from different angles. He programmed a computer to accept data from x-ray scans to create 'slices' of an object and combine them into an image.


He built a small prototype and scanned a preserved human brain, a cow brain, and ultimately, his own brain. The first successful use of CAT scanning as a medical diagnostic device was in September, 1971 where it was used to locate a cerebral cyst. By 1975, he constructed a full body device.


Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.


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How to Make Matches



Saturday August 27, 2011

Really this should be entitled "why you don't want to make your own matches". There are a couple of recipes for matches, pretty much using chemicals the average person doesn't want to store, use, or dispose. You can mix antimony sulfide (poisonous) and potassium chlorate, with a little cornstarch as a fuel and gum to hold it together. Alternatively, you can use sesquisulfide of phosphorus instead of an antimony compound. White and red elemental phosphorus also work, but they are extremely toxic. Friction matches on a stick are familiar to most people, though if you coat paper with the mixture, you can fold the paper and draw a fine splint of wood across the coating. Tell me more...

This Day in Science History - August 27 - Osamu Shimomura



Friday August 26, 2011

August 27th is Osamu Shimomura's birthday. Shimomura is a Japanese organic chemist who shares the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with with Roger Tsien and Martin Chalfie for their discovery of the green fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein glows green under fluorescent light and is used widely as a bioindicator in the studies of gene transfers and gene transcriptions. The GFP gene can be attached to the gene or protein that is being investigated so any future proteins made will have a GFP attached to it. When a fluorescent light shines on the sample, the distinctive green glow will show where all the modified proteins are located. Shimomura was the first to isolate GFP and identified which part produced the fluorescence.


Happy Birthday Shimomura! Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.


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