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 →

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 →

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 →