BysteSize Science: Super Buoyant: New Materials Could Make a Horse Float

The crystals of silver nitrate on the surface of these copper mesh boats look a lot like the dendritic silver crystals that we can see under the microscope in our single replacement reactions between copper wire and silver nitrate. At least that's what they look like if the image shown in the video is accurate.

I am consistently amazed at the application of simple concepts that we study in class.

Chemistry of Ice Cream

We're edging toward food science entirely here, but there's still some serious concerns regarding the rate of (ice) crystal growth in ice cream production.

Hard Candy Chemistry!

It can be daunting to do glass batching. You need a kiln, DFCs crucibles, and a fair bit of confidence. Sometimes it's easier to purchase the DFCs than it is to build up the confidence.

Working with candy, however, takes a lot less confidence because the worst that can usually happen is a nasty, blackened pot, and there's a lot that can be learned about glass by using candy as an analogue.

Plus, if you do it right, you get a sweet reward at the end.

MIT: Bottle coating speeds up ketchup pouring

I don't know that leftover ketchup in bottles is one of our society's greatest problems, but I certainly understand that being able to get all the food out of all of its containers would reduce food waste by a a few teaspoons per jar which would add up to a significant savings when added up.

Plus there's the fact that watching ketchup (I'm not going to type catsup, it bugs me) just glide out of the bottle is phenomenally cool.

Ross Nanotechnology Introduction

There's slick and then there's slick.

Ross Nanotech produces NeverWet coating - for which I may just be first in line because it's so cool. They're presented as being super-hydrophobic, meaning that they repel water and any water-based solution - with remarkable efficiency.

A little hydrophobic coating - ScotchGuard and the like - prevents some staining on fabric, but a superhydrophobic coating would make fabrics nearly unstainable - at least from any water-based liquid.

Ring rolling machine from Anyang Forging Press Machinery Industry Co., Ltd

Just about any time I see a video of glowing hot metal (or glass) being worked by a machine or a tradesman, I'm in for watching the video through to the end.

Here we see a piece of metal being hot worked by people who - to my fairly untrained eyes - look like they don't have nearly enough safety equipment. Thanks to the Anyang Forging Press Machinery Industry Co., Ltd for posting the video.

Big Bang Theory: So Funky

I'm assuming that this video will be un-embeddable soon. Most of the Big Bang Theory videos are - unless they're hosted by CBS itself.

Putting oobleck on a speaker can be a great, great time. I particularly recommend something with a massive, thumping bass line and little else. Most actual songs have too many other tones - maybe try a pure tone generator hooked up to an amplifier.

Surprisingly to our Princeton students, "Superbass" is awful for this.