Category Archives: Chemistry

By Jamie Fisher By Jamie Fisher June 9 Weike Wangs Chemistry is the most assured novel about indecisiveness youll ever read. Consider its opening lines: The boy asks the girl a question. It is a question of marriage. Ask me again tomorrow, she says, and he says, Thats not how this works. The boy is Eric; the girl, our narrator, goes unnamed. Both are graduate students in chemistry: He has just graduated; she has one year left. They have been together for four years, and their relationship has reached the point where whenever she invites friends over for dinner, they assume she will announce her engagement. But when Eric really does propose, she hovers, uncertain and unnerved. Eric is cheerful, capable, from small-town Maryland. (The narrator wonders why he left a place where every ice-cream shop is called a creamery to work seventy-hour weeks in lab.) Their relationship is bashful and enormously endearing. He compliments her vials. When he gets the job offer hes been hoping for, he puts a doily on her head and dances her around the kitchen. So why wont she say yes? The title Chemistry also, of course, alludes to love. But in Chinese the word … Continue reading →

[+]Enlarge Smart kid: Coloring an introduction to chemicals. Credit: Neil Garg When his daughter Kaylie was four, University of California, Los Angeles, chemistry professor Neil Garg noticed a disturbing trend: She was scared of chemicals. I would give her something new, and she would say, Is that a chemical? Garg remembers. So Garg set out to help Kaylie and her older sister, Elaina, understand that chemicals are vital to some of their favorite things. Because they love to color, he thought a coloring book might be the perfect vehicle to spread that message to his girls and other kids their age. Garg involved Elaina and Kaylie in creating The Organic Coloring Book, starting with deciding which chemicals to present. We came up with the chemicals that they were curious about, he says. The family started with a chemical question, such as Whats a chemical that makes soap so foamy? Then they determined the chemical answer, presented in the book as a structure. I really liked making the chemical questions. I thought that was fun, Elaina tells Newscripts. Coming up with the chemical answers was cool too. Elainas favorite chemical is dimethylpyrazine, which is a vital part of bacons smell. Kaylies … Continue reading →

The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry are a how-to guide written 20 years ago for chemists and chemical engineers. They provide insight on developing new chemicals and chemical processes and for revitalizing existing ones so that they achieve their desired function while being environmentally and economically friendly. Its a creative challenge to put the 12 principles into action. Five technologies that have succeeded in meeting that creative challenge are being recognized with 2017 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. Merck, Dow Chemical, Koehler, Amgen, Bachem, UniEnergy Technologies, and University of Pennsylvania chemistry professor Eric J. Schelter will be honored for their achievements at a ceremony held on Monday, June 12, at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D.C. As the name suggests, the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards encourage chemical companies and academic researchers to improve processes and products and recognizes their successes for developing innovative technologies with demonstrable human health and environmental benefits. These benefits include reducing toxicity of chemical products, reducing the use or generation of hazardous substances, introducing a renewable feedstock, saving water or energy, and reducing waste even if its not hazardous. The awards program was established by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1995 as a competitive effort … Continue reading →

A group of area students took a peek into the world of science Thursday night during Texas Lutheran Universitys CHAOS Chemistry Fair. Amanda Galvan was among the area residents to visit the fair with their children. My kids are both interested in science, and Im a student here at TLU, as well, she said. I felt like it was a good opportunity for them to actually do some small experiments and see the college students do experiments. This was the third year the fair was held, with this years theme being Chemistry of the Earth. This is our chemistry outreach night, where we have a lot of hands-on activities for students, TLU chemistry professor Alison Bray said. A lot of the experiments are based on different properties of the earth: the water thats on Earth, volcanoes, were doing some iron oxide rust experiments, a lot of things that are hands-on, and you can make snowflakes in the back. The event is run by TLUs Pi Rho Chemistry Club and the volunteer staff was made up of TLU chemistry students. Were an organization that does a lot of outreach at local schools and we do this once every year, club member … Continue reading →

Forbes The Time Isaac Asimov Clowned On Chemistry Forbes April Fools' Day is the worst day on the Internet, so let's appreciate a hoax that's actually good. It's one of the best scientific jokes ever told: Isaac Asimov's masterful send-up of academic science writing. Isaac Asimov in 1984. (AP Photo/Mario ... More here: The Time Isaac Asimov Clowned On Chemistry - Forbes … Continue reading →

Greetings, Jackolytes! Once again I must apologize for the long time between communications, but my time has been occupied with important research. I am writing to you today from a secret location and am transmitting it to the editors through an encrypted system because this information is potentially dangerous. But in the interest of the safety and well-being of every other person in this city, I must take the risk to myself and my family. As I said, I have been doing some extensive research, specifically into local environmental concerns. I dont put much stock into conspiracy theories. But someone (who will remain nameless) alerted me to a potential threat and, since I trust this person, I felt it warranted some attention. I also have a passing knowledge of basic chemistry. At least, I gained enough knowledge to pass Intro to Chemistry in high school. So I put what knowledge I retained to the test and did some digging. And I have discovered one whopper of a secret: Our water system has been contaminated with extremely high concentrations of a chemical known as hydric acid chemical name: dihydrogen-monoxide. I know I use humor a lot, but I am not kidding … Continue reading →

SMSU seniors Katie Carter, left, and Megan Bruns watch the student reactions as their elephant toothpaste begins to erupt. Explosions of light and sound, disappearing water and other cool chemistry reactions despite oftentimes being awe-inspiring and mysterious are not to be mistaken for magic, members of the Southwest Minnesota State University Chem Club said. People always call our shows magic shows, but we consider them more of reaction shows because we dont want to teach magic, SMSU chemistry major Tori Henry said. Chemistry isnt magic. Its science. Holy Redeemer School students recently had the opportunity to learn about and experience the power of chemistry during a chemical reaction show presented by Henry, Megan Bruns, Katie Carter, Easton Popma, Austin LaFollette and Rhiannon Sears. We enjoy doing the reactions on our own we would be fine because its fun doing it but then watching all the kids reactions out of it, its a really fun thing for us, LaFollette said. LaFollette had the role of heating mixtures of chemicals inside a balloon, stretching out as far as he could with a long-handled torch. Its a little exciting, he said. You never know whats going to happen. Its an art and a … Continue reading →

A study that used a new digital library and machine reading system to suck the factual marrow from millions of geologic publications dating back decades has unraveled a longstanding mystery of ancient life: Why did easy-to-see and once-common structures called stromatolites essentially cease forming over the long arc of earth history? Stromatolites are contorted layers of sediment formed by microbes, and they are often found in limestone and other ancient sedimentary rocks deposited beneath oceans. "Geologists have known for a long time that stromatolites were abundant in shallow marine environments during the Precambrian, before the emergence of multi-cellular life" more than 560 million years ago, says Jon Husson, a post-doctoral researcher and co-author of a study now online in the journal Geology. "But, stromatolites are rare in the ocean today." The new study measures the slide in stromatolite prevalence based on descriptions of rocks sifted from more than 3 million scientific publications. "Paleontologists have largely attributed the decline in stromatolites to the evolution of animals, starting some 560 million years ago," says Shanan Peters, a professor of geoscience at University of Wisconsin-Madison and study first author. "Many multi-cellular animals, like snails, eat microbes. The evolution of these big microbe-grazing animals … Continue reading →

What Is Chemistry? Chemistry is the study of matter and energy and the interactions between them. This is also the definition for physics, by the way. Chemistry and physics are specializations of physical science. Chemistry tends to focus on the properties of substances and the interactions between different types of matter, particularly reactions that involve electrons. Physics tends to focus more on the nuclear part of the atom, as well as the subatomic realm. Really, they are two sides of the same coin. The formal definition of chemistry is probably what you want to use if you're asked this question on a test. Because understanding chemistry helps you to understand the world around you. Cooking is chemistry. Everything you can touch or taste or smell is a chemical. When you study chemistry, you come to understand a bit about how things work. Chemistry isn't secret knowledge, useless to anyone but a scientist. It's the explanation for everyday things, like why laundry detergent works better in hot water or how baking soda works or why not all pain relievers work equally well on a headache. If you know some chemistry, you can make educated choices about everyday products that you use. … Continue reading →

SANTA MONICA, Calif. Kristaps Porzingis was the first to see something and say something when he expressed that despite the Knicks early-season success, something was missing. The second-year big man proved to have great foresight. I think it was pretty easy to tell from the inside that were not that good of a team, Porzingis said after Sundays practice. We can win games based off of our talent, but thats not going to last long, and thats exactly what happened. Porzingis said he felt that way when the Knicks were 14-10, but he never thought it would turn out as bad as it has. Since then, they have gone 13-32. Theyve clinched a fourth straight losing season and, according to Derrick Rose, need a miracle to make the playoffs. The Knicks are 6 12 games behind the Eastern Conferences last playoff spot with 13 to play. Theyre closer to getting a higher draft pick than making the playoffs. We all expected big things out of this year, said Porzingis, who should return Monday night against the Clippers after missing the previous game with a bruised left thigh. . . . I felt like we would make good runs but we … Continue reading →