Iridium, Why Was it Named After a Goddess?
What got me thinking about iridium this morning is that it's currently at $234/gram---more expensive than gold. Its volatile price, has gone up by a factor of 7 between 2018 and 202. It is influenced by the growing demand for iridium in the aerospace,…
Sherlock Holmes: "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."
Sunday morning formula. Can easily be derived by induction. For n = 0,1,2,3...
The organization that lacks scientific credibility is Trump's mafia
Oak forests are now rare due to human exploitation, with old-growth forests—those with very large, long-lived trees and abundant deadwood—comprising only 1% of Europe’s forests. Deadwood, often dismissed as “useless,” stores carbon, enriches soil as humus, and supports countless saproxylic organisms
#mathhumor #mathematics
This reminds me of Sagan's book, Cosmos, which I read in my youth. It also featured a proof of why the root of 2 is irrational.
The Search for Truth: Why Do We Value It?
A friend of mine asked several interesting questions. Something I've always found strange: the universe didn't have to be intelligible, yet it is. Why? Why does mathematics map the physical world so uncannily? Wigner called it ‘the unreasonable…
#sciencehumor
Corny #sciencehumor Apparently neutrinos have mass. I didn’t even know they were Catholic; I was going to tell you a time travel joke, but you didn’t like it; Did you know Mr. Spock had 3 ears? Left, right and the final front ear; Why didn't the photon have any luggage? He was traveling light.
Top 10% in the U.S. have 67% of the country's wealth. And U.S. corporations hold a couple of $trillion offshore.
#sciencehumor
Robert Bateman(1) spent 20 y teaching Geography in high school. He chose the discipline as an excuse to be outdoors. (2) was originally an abstract artist (3) has never had his works displayed at the National Gallery (4) his foundation uses art to promote a connection to nature and the environment.
The amount of redbaiting Americans do is ridiculous. Meanwhile they, for the most part, turn a blind eye to bank bailouts, corporate COViD aid, tax-free deals given to Amazon& Tesla, free extension of copyright laws for Disney's pocketbooks, handouts to fossil fuel companies and to the military.
It's an old article, but Lonborg's bias has been exposed more recently. www.desmog.com/bjorn-lomborg/
Agreed. Enbridge, for example, is a pipeline company that also invests in wind energy. Ditto for BP( UK). Some CO₂ can be captured; methane leaks, detected. Fossil fuel companies can also focus more on petrochemicals & less on fuels. If the former are recyled, their ecofootprint can be decreased.
This is may have served as the inspiration for the #BatSignal: In 1875, from the roof of the Siemens Halske factory in Berlin, electrically-generated rays were bounced off a large mirror and projected onto dark clouds while an awe-stricken crowd looked on. (Shown: 1875 Scientific American article)
Oceanus Procellarum is the largest of the #Moon's seas, and the only one classified as an 'ocean', its area is greater than that of the Gulf of Mexico on Earth. All "mare" are large, dark basaltic plains formed when ancient lava-flows filled impact basins. Photo credit: greg dunlap
Superb symposium included Weissman's insights into in vivo CAR T therapy's advantages over in vitro; serendipity's role in the mRNA vaccine development; #RKJr 's dangerous hepatitis B policy; Joe's witty intro to #vaccines and a lot more @mcgilloss.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/tmF0CDq...
In vivo CAR T therapy for killing cancer cells has several advantages over the ex vivo approach www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi... Nobelist Drew Weissman described it at the 2025 Trottier Public Science Symposium last night @mcgilloss.bsky.social
Cooking tips( temperature& pH included) to encourage Maillard reactions, which enhance appearance and especially the taste of food containing protein and sugars.
Promotional image by the Royal Society of Chemistry featuring colorful fireworks labeled with chemical elements like Strontium, Copper, Sodium, Barium, Calcium, Aluminum, and Magnesium. Text states "Chemistry is full of wonder. Watch science light up the sky this Diwali. Enjoy the celebrations!"
💫 Celebrate the festival of lights safely, and let the chemistry of joy shine bright!
Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Diwali filled with love, light, and laughter. #RSCIndia #ChemSky #Diwali2025
Consumers in New Mexico and beyond may soon see a new warning label put on everything from nonstick pans and furniture to cosmetics and baby clothes that contain intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). cen.acs.org/policy/New-M... #chemsky 🧪
Scientific American has a beautiful graphic based on a 2025 study on the perception of smells. More complex mixtures tend to be more pleasant. The Nature paper is freely available: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... #chemsky
'Love #nerdyFacts. The chemistry consultant for the Breaking Bad series, organic chemist Donna J. Nelson from Oklahoma State University, was also 2016 ACS President and is currently on the Scientific American's board of advisors. Not every chemist gets their pic flashed on 7th Av! I ❤️ NY. #chemsky
#chemsky Bierling found that among smells perceived to be disgusting, those containing only 1 compound scored 67%; spices 42%. The categories with the most pleasant smells were sweet, scoring 88%, followed by bakery& fruit(44%), whose smells consist of many compounds. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The author criticizes both alarmist narratives, which emphasize worst-case scenarios, & dismissive ones, which treat pesticide fears as mere “scare stories”.
It's not a “science vs. vibes” thing— public concern is more than irrational emotion; it's a legitimate risk perception. #pesticides
Robert Bunsen was the co-inventor (along with Kirchhoff)of the flame spectroscope.The invention relied on the Bunsen burner, developed by Bunsen after asking the university mechanic, Peter Desaga, to build a prototype that improved on Michael Faraday's version . uwaterloo.ca/chemistry/co... #chemsky
Doesn't work for me. I can't remember what Michael Jackson looked or sounded like. 😁
"I’m a former creationist. Here’s why ‘follow the science’ failed." archive.ph/2025.09.23-0...
