Homely Scientist

While apparently posts about chocolate are rather popular, I’d like to tackle some more of your questions (the gum in your stomach for 7 years myth is still outstanding …).  So, come on people!  I’ve got a stack of my textbooks waiting to be poured over.
Okay how about this … let’s pick a topic.  Food.  Ask me your food science questions.  Like, what’s with high-altitude cooking instructions?  Or … how does kneading make bread better.
You can do it, I know you can.
Tags: food science, science education, chocolate science

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Don’t know if Mark W. and I were the inspiration for this theme day, but across this entire channel we’re talking about quitting smoking today.  My part?  Well I’m in the process of quitting smoking right now.  I have tried a few times before doing the cold-turkey route with no success.  This time, I’m trying the patch.  Which brings me to the topic of this post … How does the patch work?
First let’s understand the problem.  Smoking makes you addicted to nicotine.  You body craves it when you don’t get it, then makes you really unpleasant as you start to …read more

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Okay, chocolate might only be tasty and not pump us full of feel good chemicals, but did you know that you can use chocolate chips and your microwave to measure the speed of light? Yeah no kidding.
I first found this on Curious Cat some time ago and have been meaning to write it up for a while. Okay the instructions are on Superpositioned and it basically works like this. Take a plate of chocolate chips, nuke them for a few seconds and measure the distance between melted spots.
This works because the distance between the edge of the …read more

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I was catching up on Tara Smith’s Aetiology blog and caught the headline "New study shows HIV isn’t sexually transmitted?" (note question mark, please … Tara and I are on the same side of this issue).  While I can’t delve into her excellent rebuttal of the study, way out of my league and scientific comfort zone, what I can say is that this is one of the problems science and scientists face.  Here is a study that looks to most people and journalists to be pretty good.  The conclusion is pretty startling … wait HIV isn’t transmitted by sex?  Yahoo!  …read more

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When you’re feeling a bit down, do you reach for the chocolate?  I do for sure.  Chocolate chips aren’t safe in my house (I usually buy twice as much as I need for baking, because I’ll snack on the rest).  For a long time we’ve thought that there were "feel good" chemicals in chocolate like theobromine and serotonin and these give us a little boost in the mood department.  Well, apparently while those chemicals are there … but they don’t boost our mood.  In fact, eating chocolate might have an opposite effect.
From the Discovery Channel Canada …
When socked with a …read more

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Have you ever wondered what actually makes popcorn pop?  It’s really simple … water!  Well, actually pressure makes it pop, but the pressure comes from steam (water).
Here’s the deal.  Inside each kernel of popcorn is a little bit of water.  As you heat the popcorn, the water turns to steam.  The steam has nowhere to go and once the pressure gets great enough it explodes (pops) the kernel.  The process of heating cooks the kernel as well so it’s tasty.  Now, not all corn can pop, at least pop up light, fluffy and crunchy.  Varieties of corn are bred to …read more

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Curious Cat has post some links for science education and science for kids.

Students put Scientific Principles to Use
Engineering is Elementary
Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids
Science for Middle School Students
Colorado Science Teacher of the Year
Science to Preschoolers
Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics
Many more posts for science students and k-12 teachers

I’ve bee enjoying catching up on her blog. You can bet that there will be more posts inspired from her.
Tags: science education, science for kids

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While checking out Steve Spangler’s blog while reading up on the Mentos-pop geyser post, I saw that one of his fun things to do is to make simple rockets with school classes.  The instructions are in this PDF file (PVC Rocket Launchers), and while this isn’t a "just whip these up in a second" kind of experiment, they look fun.  I think a trip to the hardware store might be in order soon.  Looks like the toughest part is making the launcher, but that’s a one-time thing.  The rockets seem easy enough that kids can make them.  Sounds like summer …read more

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It is common knowledge that G.W. Bush isn’t in the Global Warming camp.  His environmental record is less than stellar to say the least.  All of this pales in comparison to this article I found on IPS News: When Science Inconveniences Bush.
The Bush administration seems to be following a plan to intimidate, silence, etc scientists whose results run counter to what the administration would like to do.
Just one example cited in the article is Mike Kelly of Fisheries.  He found that lowering water levels in the Klamath River would threaten protected salmon species.  The Bush administration wanted to divert more …read more

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Yeah we know the rest of the song.  So what gives beans that wonderful side-effect?  Incomplete digestion, fermentation, and bacteria.  Lovely, eh?  Here’s what happens.  When you soak beans prior to cooking, they soften (which is good) and start to ferment a bit.  When the cooked beans are cooked, bacteria in your intestine find these partially fermented (and undigested) bit, consume them and expel … methane gas.  So you fart because bacteria are farting (a gross simplification).
Okay, so what can be done?  Researchers at Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela found that adding Lactobacillus casei and L. plantarum to the soaking …read more

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