June 2012 - Quirky Science

11Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Mad Hatters, Felt, and Mercury

[caption id="attachment_2497" align="alignright" width="440"] Harry S. Truman Felt Fedora Hat - Image: National Park Service[/caption] Associated with the hat making business, how do felt and mercury produce mad hatters? Felt hats have been produced from small animal pelts since about the 14th century. During the 19th century, fur was removed from the skin using camel urine. Some hatters used their own urine, instead. The active ingredient in urine was nitrogen-rich urea. Why Urine? Those who used their own urine and were being treated for syphillis produced superior felt! This was due to the mercurous chloride (HgCl) they'd taken as medicine. Urine was replaced by orange-colored mercuric nitrate Hg(NO₃)₂. [caption id="attachment_19437" align="alignright" width="240"] Tertiary syphilis. A horrible disease, generally avoidable.[/caption] Mad Hatters The vats of solution and the drying process generated…

11Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 3 Comments

Aluminum Foil: One Shiny Side?

Manufacturing

[caption id="attachment_2492" align="alignright" width="440"] Aluminum Foil[/caption] Ever wondered why ordinary household aluminum foil comes with a shiny side and a dull or matte side? Think maybe there’s some special reason for a shiny side? Or for the matte side? Life is complex — but aluminum foil is not. Here’s the explanation. Made from Sheet The metal foil is made by repeatedly thinning metal sheet — finer and finer — using highly polished rollers. It is possible to do this only to a point. That point is just slightly before reaching the desired thickness. Although it is possible to obtain the foil that is shiny on both sides, that foil would not be thin enough for practical, inexpensive use. Two are Better Than One If manufacturers tried to continue the process…

09Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Leaded Gas: Any Ongoing Health Issue?

Health

[caption id="attachment_22186" align="alignright" width="440"] Tetraethyl Lead[/caption] What's special about leaded gas? And since it was eliminated, are there health issues in the environment because of it? For more than fifty years, internal combustion engines such as automobile engines have used a high compression ratio.” This means gas mixed with air, by carburetion or injection, has been severely squeezed by pistons in cylinders. Spark was then applied, igniting the mixture. This was done to increase power and save money. Enter Leaded Gas In order to prevent pre-ignition, one or more octane improving agents was added to the fuel. The most common of these, used since about 1924, was tetraethyl lead, (C₂H₅)₄Pb. Later, low compression engines became the standard, which minimized the need for octane improvement. This was because of recognizing that…

08Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

BHA and BHT in Your Food – What are They?

Food

[caption id="attachment_17284" align="alignright" width="440"] Ever feel like you're a Guinea Pig?[/caption] You enjoy good food when you can prepare it, but sometimes you must settle for store-bought. The box that comes in contains a huge list of ingredients in super small print. Most of them don’t sound like something you'd put in food! Among these are two items written as acronyms, only—BHA and BHT. BHA and BHT? What are they? BHA BHA stands for butylated hydroxyanisole. Now you know that’s not food. Butylated hydroxyanisole is actually a mixture of two chemicals. One is 2-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole. The other is 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole. Its structures are seen at left. It is an antioxidant. Yet, it is not so much an eating kind of antioxidant, but in the preservative sense. It may be either added to…

08Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Thimerosal in Vaccines? What is it?

Health

When you go to the doctor for a flu shot, you may be asked to sign a waiver or release form. It indicates you no known negative responses to the presence of thimerosal. Perhaps you've never heard of this before? Well, perhaps you have under a different name. Many years ago it was called Merthiolate. Properties Thimerosal is an antiseptic, antifungal compound. It is used as a preservative. It is also known as thiomersal. The prefix “thio” refers to the presence of sulfur. Thimerosal also contains an atom of mercury. Structure Its structure is seen in the image associated with this article. The S atom is sulfur, the Hg is hydrargyrum (mercury). The ring is a benzene ring, and the line segment to the right of the mercury atom is…

06Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Aquaponics: Symbiosis of Plants and Fish

Food

[caption id="attachment_9328" align="alignright" width="440"] Commercial aquaponics system. - Image CC-SA 2.0 Generic by ryan griffis, Growing Power, Milwaukee.[/caption] About once a month I paid a visit to a couple that live about twenty minutes from me. One day they discussed with me their new found interest in aquaponics.1 I received a royal tour of the greenhouse, which holds a basin for fish, pumps, tubs, tubing, gravel beds, and filters. I was favorably impressed! One Man's Poison Fish produce body wastes. The word wastes in this instance can be changed to treasure, as the fish wastes serve as food for the plants. The waste water is pumped through plastic piping above tubs of pea gravel, in which the plants are rooted, free of soil. The piping has small holes. This sprinkles…