07Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

Why Urine is Yellow

Chemistry
[caption id="attachment_3172" align="alignright" width="366"] A urine sample.[/caption] Admit it. You've always wondered why. Why is urine yellow? What chemical or chemicals are involved? Consider the primary red blood cell component, “heme.” Heme & Porphyrin Dorland’s Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers, 2007, informs us heme is “an iron compound of protoporphyrin which constitutes the pigment portion or protein-free part of the hemoglobin molecule.” Heme is the colorful portion (red) of our blood. Notice, in particular, the partial word in the definition, porphyrin. Recycling & Trash Red blood cells become old and need to be replaced. What happens to the old red blood cells? They are, first, consumed by macrophages in the blood. For the person who has his or her body intact, much of this occurs within the spleen. It also…
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02Nov 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Potato Varieties: Nutritional Differences

Food
[caption id="attachment_3153" align="alignright" width="440"] Photo by Scott Bauer - USDA Agricultural Research Service[/caption] Potato varieties just may be the spice of life. The humble potato is a tuberous vegetable. Some give it a bad reputation. Many consider it to be a massive source of calories and little nutritional value. This is wrong. Most potato shortcomings result, not from the potato, but from the way in which it is prepared. As an example, consider the potato chip: thin potato wedges fried in oil and practically dipped in salt. Or what about the baking potato? Is it served with great gobs of sour cream or, perhaps butter or cheese? Even potato salad is hard to rationalize as salad. Chunks of potato goodness set in a veritable sea of high-fat dressing? Bad for…
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25Oct 2012 by Vincent Summers 14 Comments

What Really Causes Washboard Road?

Physics
What is a washboard road? And what causes one? No doubt you’ve ridden gravel roads that made feel like you were driving across a washboard. You felt like you were being shaken to pieces. Then you noticed the road's parallel ridges and grooves. Each groove was two or three inches from the next one. You slowed your speed to reduce the vibration and thought, “What causes washboard road surfaces, anyway?” Many previous to you have asked this same question. Washboard roads are miserable to travel. Car control suffers from lack of road contact. Accidents result. One Common Explanation for Washboard Road Some suggest1 it is a vehicle’s suspension system that causes seeming random forces to change into a harmonic, feedback pattern that results in compactions (or valleys) and upward displacements…
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12Sep 2012 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Executed Innocent? Poison Dismemberment Murder

Forensics
[caption id="attachment_3119" align="alignright" width="293"] Hawley Harvey Crippen[/caption] A poison dismemberment murder? In England in the year 1910, Michigan, USA-born homeopathist Hawley Harvey Crippen was tried and convicted. The he waas hanged for the apparent Jack the Ripper style poison dismemberment of his wife. She was the aspiring singer, Cora Crippen (stage name, Belle Elmore). Crippen family descendants have wondered, for decades, about the history and validity of the conviction. Bothersome Detail Leads to Re-investigation The case bothered forensic investigator and murder by poison expert, John H. Trestrail III. If he was guilty, why had Hawley Crippen dismembered her body? Mr. Trestrail’s findings were broadcast by the Public Broadcasting System. It was in an episode of Secrets of the Dead in the episode entitled “Executed in Error.” The broadcast is well…
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29Aug 2012 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

The Y Chromosome: In Danger?

Biology, Medicine
[caption id="attachment_3050" align="alignright" width="480"] Y Chromosome - Image: NIST[/caption] The Y Chromosome. Some feel it is endangered. Why? Male and female have been differentiated in non-biological ways throughout human history. Privileges and responsibilities—royalty and headship—are traced through the male. Although distorted by humans, this follows Bible headship, described at 1 Corinthians 11:3. As we will see, the biological distinction of male and female lies with the y chromosome. This chromosome might appear in danger. What danger? What does it imply? Humans and Heredity [caption id="attachment_15979" align="alignright" width="344"] Unraveling the DNA of an X-Chromosome.[/caption] Every human organism, though largely similar, displays varying family and individual traits. The information “portfolio” lies in certain macromolecules called DNA. These macromolecules are contained in tiny structures—genes—which are themselves contained in 23 pairs of heredity bearing…
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11Jun 2012 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Mad Hatters, Felt, and Mercury

Chemistry, History
[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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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