For New Year’s Eve, Toast The Chemistry Of Champagne

 

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Champagne, unlike other wines, undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle to trap carbon dioxide gas, which dissolves into the wine and forms the fabled bubbles in the bubbly. More than 600 different chemical compounds join carbon dioxide in champagne, each lending its own unique quality to the aroma and flavor of champagne.

But even with all of that flavor, champagne would be just another white wine without those tiny bubbles. As the bubbles ascend the length of a glass in tiny trains, they drag along molecules of those 600 flavor and aroma substances. They literally explode out of the surface as the bubbles burst, tickling the nose and stimulating the senses.

Some historian say that a French Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon discovered champagne in the mid-1600s, and became namesake for the famous champagne cuvée, Dom Pérignon. The video notes that early champagne makers had a tough time with that second fermentation. Some bottles wound up with no bubbles at all while others got too much carbon dioxide and exploded under the enormous pressure, wasting the precious vintage.

So what’s the best way to pour a glass of bubbly and maximize the sensory experience?

For an answer, this video by BiteSizeScience references a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. It turns out that pouring champagne on an angle retains up to twice as much carbon dioxide in the champagne when compared to pouring down the middle of the glass. Those additional bubbles carry out more of the hundreds of flavor compounds in champagne.

A Year of Discovery – Top Science Stories of 2011

This year was another remarkable year in science, with space shuttles retiring and new particles being detected (perhaps). Some of these top discoveries could very well have an immediate effect on our lives. The impact of others may not be felt for years. Some discoveries may vanish altogether. But no matter what, 2011 was a huge year in science & revealed major surprises all across the world! So, go back through the past 12 months with us as we present our list of the most interesting science stories of 2011. 

1. Fukushima Nuclear Accident/Tsunami

 

On March 11, following astounding video footage of ships passing over farmers’ fields, as the tsunami washed over the Japanese landscape, came news that the nearby nuclear reactor had been compromised. Immediately, news stories recalled Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Fear washed over North America and Europe, as explosions ripped through the reactor buildings. But in fact, no one died from the reactors themselves, and what could have been a major disaster was averted.

Thanks to heroic efforts on the part of the workers at the plant, sea water was poured on the overheated reactor cores and the melting nuclear fuel was prevented from escaping. Radiation that did get out was carried by steam into the atmosphere and water running into the sea, but while it was detectable around the globe, the levels were so low they were less that what we are exposed to naturally.

It will take years to clean up the site, and the accident renewed fear of nuclear power in the public mind, just at a time when many believed the industry was about to experience a renaissance as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

2. 7 Billion and Counting

 

On Oct. 31 (an arbitrary date chosen by the UN), world population reached seven thousand million, a number that is hard to fathom. If we all joined hands with our arms outstretched, we would form a line that would circle the Earth about 175 times, or reach all the way to the moon and back about nine times. If everyone on Earth lived to the same level of consumption as Canadians, we would need several more Earths to provide all the food, water and energy. It was a time to take a serious look at our impact on the planet, as we continue to gobble up everything in sight and drive species to extinction at a rate similar to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

To ensure our survival, consumption must come down, which is not happening, and most experts say that people living in developing regions need better access to family planning. But the latter issue is more of a cultural and religious issue than a scientific one.

3. Faster than Light?

 

Scientists in Switzerland fired a beam of neutrinos to a receiving lab in Italy, more than 700 kiometres away, and the sub-atomic particles seemed to arrive a few billionths of a second early, suggesting they had traveled faster than the speed of light. If that is true, the longstanding theories of Einstein would be proven wrong, shaking the very foundations of physics.

The scientists themselves admit their measurements could be wrong, even though they have done the experiment twice. They are calling for other labs in the U.S. and Japan to try the same experiment.

If the results match, we could witness a fundamental change in the way we look at the universe, or at the very least, refine our measurements of it. It won’t likely lead to time travel. Then again, we could just be wrong. New results should come in the next year.

4. Award for The Dark Side

 

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the discovery of Dark Energy, a mysterious force that is pushing the universe apart.

This is the only force known to work against gravity and it is causing the expansion of the universe to speed up. The odd thing is that Dark Energy, along with Dark Matter, make up 95 per cent of the known universe, yet no one has a clue what either of them is.

Interesting that here in the 21st century, when we think we have so much figured out, most of the universe is still unknown to us. Further work at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, which glimpsed the mysterious Higgs Boson, may also discover the nature of Dark Matter.

5. Not the “god Particle”

 

After half a century of searching for the hypothetical Higgs Boson, scientists at CERN say they got the first glimpses of the particle believed to have been responsible for all the mass in the universe.

Proof of the existence of the Higgs particle validates what is called the Standard Model of the universe, describing events at the very first moments of the Big Bang. The Higgs Boson was suggested as a missing piece of the mathematical model. If it is not proven to exist, physicists would have to re-write the theories of how the universe, as we know it, came into being.

6. End of an Era

 

After 30 years and more than 100 flights, the space shuttle program ended with the landing of Atlantis last July. Coincidentally, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first human in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Almost to underline the point, now that the shuttles are retired, the only way for Americans to fly up to the International Space Station is to hitch rides on Russian Soyuz rockets, their former rivals.

The shuttles accomplished a lot in space, building the Space Station, launching and repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. But they were also hugely expensive and dangerous. Two shuttles were destroyed in accidents killing 14 astronauts. In the end, each launch of a shuttle was costing more than $1 billion. It was time to let them go.

NASA unveiled plans for a new heavy lift rocket, but it won’t be ready to fly for years. Now it’s up to the Private Sector to take over.

7. Back To Mars and Beyond

 

While humans are restricted to spaceflight around the Earth, unmanned robotic probes continue to go where no one has gone before. The largest rover ever sent to another planet, Curiosity, was launched to Mars with the goal of looking for signs of life on the Red Planet. It will land next August.

Sadly, an equally ambitious Russian mission to one of the moons of Mars, Phobos, failed to leave Earth orbit and is expected to fall back to Earth in mid-January.

Another probe went beyond Mars to the largest asteroid, named Vesta, revealing a strange-looking round world that is a leftover remnant of the original material that built the planets, including Earth. And in the opposite direction, a probe named Messenger arrived at Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.

 

Discover more on the amazing science of 2011 with this awesome interactive timeline

How Does Santa Do It? Science of Course!

All those presents, all those kids, how does Santa do it?  North Carolina State University’s Dr. Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering let’s in on Santa’s secrets to getting what seems impossible done in one night.

According to Dr. Silverberg, Santa uses nanotechnology to miniaturize the presents (solving the problem of the bulk) along with what he calls “relativity clouds” which bend time and space to allow Santa the needed time to visit all those homes.

What seems like a blink of the eye to us outside the cloud, is months to Santa and his trusty team of reindeer.

Still, reindeer are equipped with jet packs to increase their speed. Dr. Silverberg is a aerospace engineer after all.  The naughty vs.  nice tracking is done with a powerful listening network.

Read more in the researchers blog here or read the NC State news release

Don’t forget, NORAD will get in on the Santa business again this year with   their Santa Tracker.  I’m going to tag this with “manned spaceflight” for obvious reasons!

FUN Holiday Science – Poinsettia pH Paper!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Many plants contain pigments that are responsive to changes in acidity. An example is the poinsettia plant, which has colored ‘flowers’ (really specialized leaves called bracts). Although poinsettias are perennials in warmer climates, most people are likely to see them used as a decorative houseplant over the winter holidays. You can extract the red pigment from deeply colored poinsettias and use it to make your own pH paper strips to test whether a liquid is an acid or a base.

Materials

  • poinsettia ‘flowers’
  • beaker or cup
  • hot plate or boiling water
  • scissors or a blender
  • filter paper or coffee filters
  • 0.1 M HCl
  • vinegar (dilute acetic acid)
  • baking soda solution (2 g / 200 mL water)
  • 0.1 M NaOH
How To Do It – 
1. Cut flower petals into strips or chop them in a blender. Place the cut pieces into a beaker or cup.
2. Add just enough water to cover the plant material. Simmer until the color is removed from the plant. (Personally, I would just microwave the chopped bracts with a little water for about a minute and allow the mixture to steep, like a tea.
3. Filter the liquid into another container, such as a petri dish. Discard the plant matter.
4. Saturate clean filter paper with the poinsettia solution. Allow the filter paper to dry. You can cut the colored paper with scissors to make pH test strips.
5. Use a dropper or toothpick to apply a little liquid to a test strip. The color range for acids and bases will depend on the particular plant. If you like, you can construct a chart of pH and colors using liquids with a known pH so that you can then test unknowns. Examples of acids include hydrochloric acid (HCl), vinegar, and lemon juice. Examples of bases include sodium or potassium hydroxide (NaOH or KOH) and baking soda solution.
6. Another way to use your pH paper is as a color-change paper. You can draw on pH paper using a toothpick or cotton swab that has been dipped in an acid or base.
Learn more about pH levels here :

Edible pH Indicators 

Chem4Kids.com – Reactions : Acids & Bases 

12 Days of Christmas – Cool Science Christmas Presents!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
It’s possible I’m a little biased, but I think science-y Christmas presents are the coolest! There are all sorts of chemistry sets, crystal growing kits, glow in the dark experiments and other educational toys and gifts. You can apply your knowledge of science to impress by making personalized presents, like handcrafted perfume, soaps, colored fire chemicals and more.
You’ve seen those lists of gifts that crafty people can make. Those gifts are nice, but gifts made by science geeks are sooo cool!
  • Space Mud
    Space Mud is a great gift. No one under the age of 12 will tell you otherwise. If you are making a gift for someone either more mature or less into ooze you might want to go for the fizzy bath bomb.  You can either make the space mud, put it in a zipper baggie with a festive bow, or you could make up a package of ingredients so the recipient can make their very own Space Mud!
  • Fizzy Bath Bombs
    There comes a point where it’s time to wash away the daily grime and relax. Fizzy bath bombs are perfect. You can fragrance them or include soothing essential oils. The best part is how they fizz under water.
  • Colored Fire Care Package
    Fill a basket with pinecones which have been treated to produce colored flames. Add a festive bow. Seriously, what gift could be better than colored fire?
  • Absinthe
    … and the answer to that question is: A basket of colored fire pinecones accompanied by a bottle of lovingly home-crafted absinthe. Absinthe is at the adult end of the gift-giving spectrum.
  • Crystal Snowflake Ornaments
    You can either make a set of crystal snowflakes as gifts or to attach to gifts as decorations or you can package the borax with instructions and pipecleaners so the recipient can grow their own crystals. The snowflakes can last for years.
  • Invisible Ink
    There is more than one way to make invisible ink. Why not package them all up together with tips on how to write and reveal secret messages? You can use corn starchbaking soda, or lemon juice. This is a great last-minute gift for kids you probably can make without shopping.
  • Custom Perfume
    You can distill your own essential oils and use them to create a signature scent to make a one-of-a-kind gift.

Not feeling crafty but still looking for ideas? Here are some more great science gifts that you can purchase:

Chemistry Kit

A chemistry kit is the obvious choice for a chemistry toy or gift. There are lots of different types of chemistry kits available, ranging from chemistry kits focused on food or slime to more advanced kits that allow you to explore a wide range of chemicals.

Molecule Kit

This is sort of like tinker toys… for chemists. You can make molecules from atoms, joined together by stick-like bonds. A molecule kit is a great way to get a hands-on feel for how molecules are put together and shaped.

Lab Coat

How do you recognize a chemist? If they are an organic chemist, it might be by the way they smell. Otherwise the dead giveaway involves the lab coat. Every chemist needs a lab coat. Messy chemists may need more than one.

Crystal Kits

Growing crystals is a lot of fun! You can grow crystals that resemble gemstones, crystals that grow before your eyes, and crystals that glow. Most of the crystal kits contain multiple projects, so one kit can keep you busy for a long time.

Polymer Kits

A polymer kit is a special type of chemistry kit which allows you to investigate the way molecular subunits join together to form larger structures called polymers. The projects in polymer kits typicall allow you to make bouncy balls, polymer ‘worms’, slime, and jelly marbles.

Rock Tumbler

Rocks are composed of minerals and minerals are chemicals. Plus, there’s actually quite a bit of chemistry involved in the polishing process. If you’re looking for a geochemistry-related gift, this one’s perfect.

Search For The God Particle

 

The Large Hadron Collider is a superstar in the physics world, if only because it’s one of the few physics tools that have crossed over into mainstream consciousness.  Basically everyone is aware of the LHC, thanks to the comic books and pop-up children’s books and

the whole “it’s going to destroy the world!” furor that surrounded the launch of the LHC.  Well, as it turns out, all those mini-big bangs may have yielded the ultimate discovery.  The CERN team at the LHC is bringing in reporters to its Geneva, Switzerland,  headquarters and are expected to announce the discovery of the Higgs boson, AKA the God Particle.

First postulated by Peter Higgs in 1964, the Higgs boson is the lynchpin to the unified theory of physics, which states that all matter is composed ultimately of the same subatomic materials organized in a different way.  The Higgs boson, according to scientists and the current theory, is the reason why we have elements and materials and all the things we take for granted (because we are composed of them).  The Higgs is the glue that holds together subatomic particles.

This may be the first real evidence of the Higgs boson, and it’s all thanks to the world-threatening LHC.

Google Doodle Honors Bob Noyce, Inventor of the Microchip

If I said the name Bob Noyce to you, odds are you won’t know who he is.  I didn’t, until I clicked through on Google’s Doodle of the day today.  Today’s Google Doodle is a giant semiconductor.  As it turns out, Google has changed its home page to honor the inventor of the microchip, Robert “Bob” Noyce.  Today would have been Bob Noyce’s 82nd birthday, and as it turns out, he was one of the titans behind the rise of the American computer industry.

Dubbed The Mayor of Silicon Valley, Bob Noyce founded not one, but two revolutionary companies:  Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.  He is also credited alongside Jack Kilby as the inventor of the microchip semiconductor, AKA the backbone of the modern computer and the entire computing industry.  He was also one of the first titans of Silicon Valley, and one of the most powerful men in the technology industry at the time of his death in 1990, if only from a sheer vision standpoint.  After all, Noyce was nicknamed Rapid Robert by his classmates at Grinnell College and MIT, so you know he had a sharp mind and no hint of sloth.

Not bad for a guy from Grinnell, Iowa, huh?

Last Lunar Eclipse until 2014

Look in the western sky Saturday morning before dawn, and if the weather is clear and you’re in the right place, you will be rewarded with the last lunar eclipse of 2011.

For just under an hour, the disk of the full moon will almost disappear, turning a dark, rusty red.  The catch for Americans is that you’ll miss almost everything unless you’re west of the Mississippi.  Totality — when the moon is completely consumed by Earth’s shadow — begins at 6:06 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, and ends at 6:57 a.m. Even on the Pacific coast, dawn will start to brighten the sky before the eclipse is over.

Still, if you happen to be up, a lunar eclipse can be a quiet, refreshing experience.  Depending on the atmospheric conditions where you are, the moon may turn a rich orange, or it may become hard to pick out in the sky. The reddish hue comes from sunlight that is bent by Earth’s atmosphere. As happens during a vivid sunrise or sunset, most colors other than red are absorbed by the air. Read More

Did You Know?
A lunar eclipse takes place when the moon, following its orbit around us, passes directly behind Earth as seen from the sun.  It is the opposite of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. Since the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, the bodies do not align perfectly during most months — but the rules of orbital mechanics are such that in any given year, there will be at least two and no more than seven solar or lunar eclipses.

See Google’s Lunar Eclipse “Doodle” from June 2011

Wasps Can Memorize Faces!

Image Source: Pixabay.com
Wasps have amazing ability to memorize and later recall the figures of other wasps, from native cluster. Findings add to other remarkable capacity of these social insects, providing new information on the specializations from the animal world.

 

Wasps are downright phenomenal when it comes to intelligence. They manage to learn, and recognize the figures of other wasps, very quickly. And not only the ability to recognize different physiognomies, but also make the difference between wasps and other insects only after facial analysis.
Studies have shown that wasps recognize different physiognomies, but are also able to remember for a
time of about one week. As these insects live in communities with multiple queens and must follow a strict hierarchy, entomology theories claim that wasps have evolved in this direction to avoid intra-specific conflicts.

Memorizing faces has a very important role in establishing and maintaining social interactions, thus serving survival of social animal species.

Read more about this study on National Geographic 

New Elements Fl & Lv Headed For The Periodic Table!

Earlier in the year, there were a great deal of new elements discovered by a team of Russian physicists and American chemists.  Of those elements, 113, 115, 117, and 118 are still needing names; elements 114 and 116 are going to be called Flerovium and Livermorium, according to the teams that discovered them.  It’s up to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, to approve of said names.

The new elements have names that honor the history of the two teams that worked on discovering them, Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  Livermorium is obviously named for Lawrence Livermore and Livermore National Laboratory; Flerovium is named for Georgiy Flerov, the founder of Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, where the reactions were synthesized.

“Proposing these names for the elements honors not only the individual contributions of scientists from these laboratories to the fields of nuclear science, heavy element research, and super-heavy element research, but also the phenomenal cooperation and collaboration that has occurred between scientists at these two locations,” said Bill Goldstein, associate director of the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate at Livermore.

So what would you name the new elements? Read the full story here

Click here to see the current periodic table of elements 

Check out this cool interactive periodic table