Homely Scientist

I found this YouTube video on b5’s new Searching Bones blog (about the show Bones).  I love the show, despite the fact that the Kathy Reichs’ books are rather different.

But hey, how often can I watch a show and know if the science is wonky or not?  Heck I bet I could go head to head with Hodges on pollen identification.  Back in the day I had an easy 200-300 types in my head that I could positively ID without checking a reference.  Push to 500+ the ones that I was pretty sure of.  Of course the price I paid …read more

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Okay this is better.  This is so cool that, well, you just have to see it.

I found this on BL Ochman’s blog (she looks at the marketing end, not science) and the rest of the site looks extremely cool.
One very fun thing to notice in the video is the swinging pop bottles.  Why?  Physics of course!  Note how the bottles swing with all the energy shooting out the top.
Now, could you make a rocket from this little experiment?  Yes, certainly.  Here’s the sticky part (pun intended), you have to engineer a way to keep the Mentos and the Coke apart …read more

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Yes, and in a new house, in fact. That’s why I’ve been, ummm, rather absent lately. I didn’t think I had gathered so much stuff in such a short period of time! Regardless I’m in my new place on beautiful Pender Island (here’s my Flickr photo set of various Pender pics). One of the coolest things about Pender is that beach access points are everywhere. This means that there are tons of opportunities to see wildlife. Lorraine took this amazing picture of a sea anemone (note the cup sponge to the right as well). So, that’s it. I’m pretty much …read more

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Another month and another theme day for SciHealth.  Our theme is Sun. June, summer, fun, sun.  Ouch!  Sunburns!
Although it’s pouring rain here right now (not much of a chance of a sunburn today), I thought I’d explain how sunblock works.
I found a decent explanation at the Library of Congress and it’s pretty simple.  Sunblock contains things that deflect or prevent absorption of UV A (the ones that make vitamin D) and UV B (the burning rays)  by our skin.  Commonly zinc oxide is one of the main ingredients.  Now, there is some question about the over use of sunscreen and …read more

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NB: The information in this post is not intended to replace the advice and information provided by your doctor or another healthcare professional.  Your doctor is always the best source of information about your health.

Yeah besides that.  The extra laundry, the ginger ale, crackers, soup.  No, I mean you get a giant gap in posting.  We have a little contest going here on the Sci-Health channel, the person who posts the most, gets a litte prize in July.  I don’t think I’m going to be winning, unless I pull out some of my old 6-10 posts a day stuff like …read more

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You never know when you’re going to hit on something popular on a blog. Well my Mentos-soda geyser  post was one of those posts.  Lots of searches for that topic.  That and home rocket experiments.  Well I wrote a couple posts on that one (Air rockets, pop bottle rockets) too.  Okay, now it’s your turn. Let’s see some pictures, movies, whatever.  Get your 15 k of fame (as compared to 15 mins in the real world) and let’s see that fountain of soda in the yard.  The explosion of water as your 2 litre pop bottle launches above the trees.
Me?  …read more

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According to Wired, the home chemist is under siege, from the U.S. Government!  It seems that the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) feels that home chemists and the chemicals they purchase could be a threat to safety and national security.  It’s not the meth labs they are worried about, but people making explosives, etc.
The Wired article talks about United Nuclear, where you can buy all manner of fun science stuff from ultra strong magnets to supplies to make firery volcanoes.  All was well until the police showed up to raid them.  They are now fighting the good fight to allow …read more

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Norway maples (Acer platanoides), imported into Canada–Toronto and Montreal specifically–because they handle urban like better than Canada’s famous sugar maple (Acer saccharum), are now considered an invasive species in the US and Canada.  According to the Discovery Channel, plans are being considered to uproot small trees and replant with our native species.  What’s the problem?  Well those dern Norwegians are crowding out and out competing the sugar maple.  This is not good.
Just another example (like Kudzu in the South, Scotch Broom and Himalayan blackberries out here) of good ideas, gone wrong.  When you bring any plant or animal into a …read more

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