I like to bake. I really, really like to bake. But I don’t have a problem. I can stop whenever I want….. I have no formal training other than my mom was a Home Ec. Teacher and I have access to the internet. I do, however, come from a long line of people […]
Gaze deeply into the depths of the newest object in our Hall of Gems & Minerals and your mind’s eye will feel like it’s traveling along the path of comets as they journey through space. But what you are really looking at are actually naturally occurring rutile inclusions in quartz. What are rutile inclusions? […]
Density is an important concept to understand when you are trying to figure out if something will float or sink, but it can also affect the gas in our atmosphere and even liquids in mixed drinks! Layered drinks look very impressive, but it’s really simple science that makes it all possible. The layers are able […]
Since HMNS is one of the featured charities at Okra Charity Saloon in September (read about it here), we’re doing a series of blog posts about cocktail chemistry this month. Get to know your drinks on a more molecular level. We’ll explore acids and bases, surface area, density, and fluorescence. It’s going to be elemental. […]
Since HMNS is one of the featured charities at Okra Charity Saloon in September (read about it here), we’re doing a series of blog posts about cocktail chemistry this month. Get to know your drinks on a more molecular level. We’ll explore acids and bases, surface area, density, and fluorescence. It’s going to be elemental. […]
by Kaylee Gund What’s in a number? They’re symbols we use to quantify the world around us, the basis for astrophysics and time measurement, and among the first things we learn in language. 5: right angle meets curve. 1: straight as a ruler. Using some mental glue, stick these together and the result is 51, […]
My mom was a chemistry and home-ec teacher, so I grew up in a home where ingredients were carefully measured and food items were attractively arranged. While I got to help out in the kitchen as much as I wanted, I always liked being in the kitchen around the holidays. There were always new tricks […]
I like wine. And I make my own. Not huge batches, mind you. Just about 30 bottles per month in the winter months. I learned the hard way the chemistry of wine. If you let the wine get too hot while it’s fermenting, it can radically alter the taste. I let one of my batches […]
The Fourth of July just isn’t the same without pyrotechnics. And while the inevitable giant fireball from Dad lighting up the grill may be exciting in the moment, I’m actually referring to the giant chemistry demonstration we watch at night. Fireworks are basically a bunch of combustion reactions, which are rapid chemical reactions involving oxygen […]
Math is beautiful and inescapable. Especially in nature, patterns and equations just keep showing up. The path of an orbiting planet, the growth of a nautilus, arrangements of leaves on a stem, the efficient packing of a honeycomb; we can find rules and algorithms and make predictions from them. Crystals, with their obediently repeating structure, […]
