Chemistry

I am something of a historical repository for my family.   So I have some cool stuff from way back, like a photograph of my great-great-great grandfather, and then also more recent items, like…

Recently Scientists have figured that Malagasy spiders spin world’s toughest biological material (link to the full article given below). There was another article on the secret of oysters…

One of the things that I learnt from my father, who was a chemical engineer, is that halide ions are aggressive towards metals, and steels in particular.  Now bleaches contain a lot of chloride…

Phosphorus is a critical ingredient in fertilizers, pesticides, detergents and various industrial and household chemicals but once phosphorus is mined from rocks, getting it into products is…

A video posted on A Blog Around the Clock a few days ago discusses the mechanisms behind hydrogen bonding. The first half of the video is visually basic -- simple diagrams to illustrate the points in…

McGill chemists using a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy say they can  identify the composition of pigments used in art decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist…

One month to go before the Physics Department closes!  And I have the job of classifying and disposing of unwanted and waste chemicals.  This year, when “everything must go”, this is…

A completely man-made chemical enzyme has successfully neutralized a toxin found naturally in fruits and vegetables.   Dr. Jeannette Bjerre at the University of Copenhagen showed how a…

A few days ago, while talking about mundane business issues, I learned that today, August 19th, was the birthday of that famous childhood delight, the 'black cow', what would later be called a root…

I expect most of you have heard this song, with its sad words.  It’s full of letters sad and blue, a photograph or two, roses, tokens …. Not for me!  But as I am clearing out our chemical…