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About Chemistry

Does Your Bed Cause Breast Cancer?
I think this story is pretty far out there, but Geekologie has alerted me to research which may explain why breast cancer is 10% more likely in the left breast than the right. The answer? Bed springs may act as giant antennae, focusing all of that nasty FM and television radiation into your body while you sleep. More people sleep on their left sides than right (for reasons unknown to me... I switch sides), so the left side would get a greater radiation dose.

It sounds pretty shady to me, but feel free to let me know what you think. I would tend to think a more likely explanation might have to do with lessened circulation of the compressed side, but who knows? Maybe it's the bed.

Does Your Bed Cause Breast Cancer? originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 11:49:40.

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This Day in Science History - July 31 - Who is Buried on the Moon?
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 at creating "faster, better, cheaper" planetary missions. A mission goal would be outlined, budget set and open to just about anybody. If an industry, team of students, or government lab felt they could accomplish the task for the money, they could submit a proposal to a review committee. If the proposal was selected, a mission was created.

Lunar Prospector was the third mission in this program. It was designed to return to the Moon in a low polar orbit and conduct experiments. Among these experiments was the search for water ice. The final act of Lunar Prospector was to impact the Moon to search for ice under the surface of the South Pole.

Lunar Prospector carried a cargo of 28 grams of the remains of a person. When the craft buried itself in the Moon, it buried the first and only person to be buried on the moon. Find out who it was and what else occurred on this day in science history.

This Day in Science History - July 31 - Who is Buried on the Moon? originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 00:05:02.

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This Day in Science History - July 30 - Vladimir Zworykin
July 30^th 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 pictures with sound electronically using a cathode ray tube called a kinescope. He also designed a camera system based on the same technology he called the Iconoscope. Much of the basic technology used in today's 'tube' television sets is based on Zworykin's work.

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

This Day in Science History - July 30 - Vladimir Zworykin originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 00:05:07.

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Detergent and Water for Flea Control
If you live in an area with fleas, you know how quickly they can get out of control. In addition to the host of products on the market for flea control, there are some safe and natural flea treatments you can try. One of these is to set a dish of water under a nightlight. Stir a few drops of detergent into the water to lower the surface tension of the water so that the fleas that are attracted to the light will land in the water and drown. This is a much less expensive (and sticky) method of trapping fleas than using glue traps, yet it is effective.

Do you have any natural flea treatments that work for you? If so, post a response! Better living through chemistry...

Natural Mosquito Repellents | My War Against Fire Ants

Detergent and Water for Flea Control originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 15:50:32.

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Make Your Own Hurricane Storm Glass
Sure, you can look at the National Hurricane Center to see if a tropical storm or hurricane is headed your way, but wouldn't you rather use chemistry to predict whether the storm will strike? Ok, maybe a storm glass isn't particularly reliable, but it's still a fun application of chemistry. Learn about solubility, precipitation, and phases of matter.
Make a Hurricane Glass | Cloud Seeding Hurricanes

Make Your Own Hurricane Storm Glass originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 10:12:09.

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This Day in Science History - July 29 - Happy Birthday NASA
July 29^th 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 States had not given much priority to launching rockets into space. Much of their rocketry research was done by the military to develop ballistic missiles. Sputnik changed all that. Public opinion believed the Soviet Union was already technologically ahead of the U.S. and "something" had to be done. The "something" started when President Eisenhower signed an act to create the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. NASA would start operations on October 1, 1958 with 8,000 employees and an annual budget of $100 million. The Space Race was on.

NASA launched their first satellite in January 1958. In the next twenty years, they put men in space, landed men on the Moon, sent robotic probes to other planets and out of our solar system, created networks of satellites, built the Skylab space station and created a fleet of reusable Space Shuttles.

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

This Day in Science History - July 29 - Happy Birthday NASA originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 00:05:02.

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This Day in Science History - July 28 - Charles Townes
July 28^th 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 amplifies microwave radiation instead of light. Townes worked on a system that used ammonia molecules in a cylindrical cage with metal rods. The rods would be alternately charged to produce an electric field that would excite the electrons in the ammonia and separate excited ions from unexcited ions. The excited ions left the end of the resonator through a small hole. The resulting radiation was of very low power, on the order of a microwatt, but the wavelength was constant.

Masers operate using a different method now, but the principle is the same. They are used to amplify microwaves, radar, and even in radio astronomy to detect very weak signals over a great distance. Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.

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This Day in Science History - July 28 - Charles Townes originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 00:05:25.

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Soy Sauce Isn't Made from Soy Beans? It's Human Hair?
The news services sometimes include unusual stories that relate to 'chemistry'. For example, there's this news report about the use of potentially carcinogenic soy sauce made using human hair instead of soy beans. I learned that the amino acids in human hair can be used to make a condiment with a flavor similar to that of the usual soy variety. Making soy sauce with hair apparently has been in practice since World War II. The cancer-causing chemicals don't derive from the human hair, but rather from the chemicals used to process hair to make it into food. The sauce tends to be used more for Chinese food than Japanese food. I had been craving Chinese food, but I may go for pizza instead now. Ick.
Chirality of Amino Acids | Hair Color Chemistry

Soy Sauce Isn't Made from Soy Beans? It's Human Hair? originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 09:32:40.

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This Day in Science History - July 27 - John Dalton
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 that elements are made up of very small units, or atoms. These atoms are the smallest unit of mass that cannot be destroyed by chemical means. All atoms of a particular element are identical to each other. Dalton's theory also says chemical compounds are formed by combining two or more different kinds of atoms and that a chemical reaction is just the rearrangement of atoms.

This theory explained many unknown chemical phenomenon of the time and was quickly adopted by chemists. Today, we see flaws with the overall theory. Dalton had no idea of the existence of parts of atoms and the existence of isotopes. He also didn't know that atoms could be created or destroyed through nuclear processes. In spite of this, his basic theory lives on in modern chemistry.

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

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This Day in Science History - July 27 - John Dalton originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 00:05:10.

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How Hard Is it to Make Beer?
Chemistry isn't just for the classroom. In everyday life, you encounter chemistry in cooking and cleaning... really, just about everywhere. Some hobbies use a lot of chemistry. For example, if you get into home brewing, you'll learn about how fermentation works, so you can control alcohol and sugar content of your beer. Is beer hard to make? Not at all. The trick is to make good beer.
How Hard Is it to Make Beer? | How to Distill Ethanol
Photo: Michael Connors, morguefile.com

How Hard Is it to Make Beer? originally appeared on About.com Chemistry on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 20:47:10.

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