Friday Cartoon and Quote

"Biologically speaking, if something bites you it's more likely to be female."
Desmond Morris, Biologist / Behaviourist

BI 3203 Natural Pigments

It would appear that if you search Google for your natural source material (blueberry, rose etc.) and the word "pigment" or "dye" you would find the chemical name for your pigment (you may have to choose one from a mixture). You then search for the name of your pigment and the words "extinction" or "absorbtion" and can probably find an extinction coefficient for your pigment.

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And so on ...

Oh yeah, I will have the photo images from this morning on the course webpage soon so keep an eye out for them.

The Continuing Crisis: Demos Gone Bad

Personally I agree with the people at Boing Boing when they say that God was just giving this chemistry professor what he deserved for wearing a tie-dyed lab coat.

The demonstration is called the "whoosh bottle demo" and involves the burning of an alcohol-air mixture in a confined space. All the descriptions I have heard say that this is very dangerous in a glass bottle. This video proves it.

Link to video

Friday Afternoon Quote and Cartoon

"There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle;
the other is as though everything is."
A. Einstein

You Just Gotta See This

Sulphur hexafluoride is a non-polar, colourless, relatively inert gas despite its composition and high molecular mass. With a density 5.1 times that of dry air the gas naturally collects at the bottom of "empty" containers. At a German Science fair the organizers filled an aquarium with the gas and were able to suspend an aluminum boat in the gas. Makes for some amazing video.

Link to video

Welcome Back

Welcome back. I hope you all are well.

Stumbled across this article from "The Onion". I want to make it clear that I do not think that the content of "The Onion" is appropriate for everyone. This article however is so clearly an inside science joke that even some scientists might not see how this is funny.

What do you think?

Link to article