DailyDirt: Chemistry Isn't Just A Class Everyone Hated In High School....

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Chemistry is a fascinating subject, but usually it gets a bad rap. Still, chemistry affects almost every aspect of our lives -- even though most people don't think about it that much. Here are some interesting chemical discoveries that have made it into the news recently. Any reactions? By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: bpa, formaldehyde, helium, plastics, sulfur


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Rose M. Welch (profile), 3 Mar 2011 @ 4:49pm

    I loved chem class. :/

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    slacker525600 (profile), 3 Mar 2011 @ 5:22pm

    as much as I think plastics are dangerous

    there is a point to be made claiming that the research is biased, as the lead researcher has a large stake in a company that produces competing products that do not leech estrogenic compounds.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Raptor85, 3 Mar 2011 @ 6:32pm

    I loved chem..

    Until high school when they decided fire from the burners, the oxygen nozzles, and CHEMICALS were too "dangerous" for students to be around. Once we were restricted to 100% book work my interest in chemistry fell to a minimum until I started getting into small electronics and...er..data destruction.
    Any reactions?
    *groan* The helium 3 problem is actually pretty interesting though, my memory is fuzzy but wouldn't that be one of the side products of a reactor capable of using what's currently being buried as nuclear waste as fuel? (not my area of expertise) If so that's THREE birds with one stone (make helium 3, generate energy, get rid of nuclear waste)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2011 @ 6:52pm

    If your not a part of the solution, your a part of the precipitate.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Andrew D. Todd, 3 Mar 2011 @ 7:19pm

    Making Chemistry Both Fun and Safe.

    Well, you understand, myself, I took chemistry back in the early 1970's. I don't remember the details, but I believe someone did something dumb with carbon tetrachloride one time-- but no harm done. We used nitric acid all the time, and made bits of glassware from tubing in a bunsen burner flame...

    I understand that at U. Oregon, they are doing what they call "green chemistry," meaning, for example, an experiment in which they use evaporating dry ice in a test tube to pressure-extract the essential oils from fruit peels, that kind of thing. There was an article about it in the alumni magazine. I used to know some people in the chemistry department there. There was one professor who was famous for having explosions during his demonstrations, to the point that it became standing joke. Maybe that had something to do with Oregon's early adoption of Green Chemistry.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_chemistry

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2011 @ 9:22pm

      Re: Making Chemistry Both Fun and Safe.

      It could be also banned, someone will eventually get his tongue stuck on the dry ice.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2011 @ 9:34pm

    Chemistry is something, started with cooking thousand of years ago and evolved into what we have today.

    BTW, did you guys know that, Kelvin was a brewer and because he needed to maintain temperatures at exact levels he made some amazing discoveries for what he was honored for eternity by having his name be a measure of temperature? or that airplanes manufacturing in the beginning of the last century was done by furniture manufacturer's?(see Hitler's Stealth Fighter a.k.a. Horten Ho 229 and the Amerika Bomber), or that microscopes came about in the weaving industry because textile manufacturers needed a way to inspect what they produced, I don't think people realize how much transferable abilities there are in their normal lifes.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2011 @ 9:41pm

    Rice was also the first clue used on postal stamps, you know that type of clue used in the back of the stamp that everyone licked, that was glue made out of cooked rice that formed a goo that sticked.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jayce, 3 Mar 2011 @ 10:32pm

    Heh

    Chemistry is just applied physics.

    "Thank you, I'll be here all week."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    ltlw0lf (profile), 4 Mar 2011 @ 7:43am

    I loved Chem class in high school, and even more in college. Then again, I did some stuff in high school chemistry that would likely have gotten me expelled and the teacher fired (some on accident, others on purpose.)

    My most favorite was making hydrogen, then lighting it on fire. Of course, I also accidentally mixed Silver Nitrate with Nitric Acid, and the teacher evacuated the classroom (since I didn't do it under the fume hood.) Cannot remember exactly what I was trying to do, but I had never made Nitrous Oxide (NO) before that.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.