I have just returned from over a week working at DESY (das Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron) at Hamburg, and when I am not so tired I hope to write up some more synchrotron stuff for you all.  We were working over the Easter holiday, and while the DESY Bistro provided a magnificent brunch over that four-day period, on Sunday and Monday the only place within walking distance where we could find something to eat in the evening was Burger King (very appropriate for Hamburg, don’t you think?)
 

I have an issue with the ladies of Hollywood. As a scientist, I find diamond a most useful material, and the way these glitterate use these stones for personal adornment does, I think, only serve to grossly inflate their price.
 
 Diamond is famous for two properties, firstly its wonderful transparency and secondly its hardness, which are put to good use in the diamond anvil cell.
 

 Now here’s an interesting chap.
 
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences [1] was founded in 1751 with Albrecht von Haller (1708 – 1777) [2] as the main driving force in the setting it up.  He had very definite views on what an academy should be.  The historian Morris Kline writes:–

Does Spiderman get wet? The hunt has been on for some time now for what are called superhydrophobic surfaces.  These would be ideal for see-though surfaces such as windscreens and coating for solar cells, where any dirty water that splashes on will simply roll off it like the proverbial duck’s back.

 Can one make plastic from glucose?